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#1410: Is It The End Of The Perfect 10?

On this week’s 51%, with the summer Olympics in Brazil, we focus on a sport that captivates many viewers – gymnastics. And we hear from an LGBTQ educator about how schools can best include transgender students in athletic programs.

The Summer Olympic Games in Rio are upon us, and the United States has a women’s artistic gymnastics team that is heavily favored to take home multiple gold medals. But as journalist and former amateur gymnast Dvora Meyers writes in her new book — “The End of the Perfect 10: The Making and Breaking of Gymnastics’ Top Score — from Nadia to Now” — the sport has come a long way in the last few decades. The women at the top of the sport are older and more athletic than ever. 51%’s Jessica Bloustein Marshall spoke with Meyers about the challenges and rewards presented to female athletes, and what we can expect to see in Rio and beyond.   

And while we’ll continue on the theme of sports, we’ll do so in the context of transgender athletes. The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts recently hosted a talk on how schools can best include transgender students in athletic programs. Pat Griffin is the founding director of Changing the Game: The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network Sports Project. Griffin has been an advocate for LGBT equality in sports for more than 30 years and tells 51%’s Jim Levulis the goal of her talk.  

And that's our show this week. Thanks to Patrick Garrett for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1410. 

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