Every once in a while, something on social media stops the 'doomscroll' and makes you rethink an entire sport (not the AI slop or crazy wipeout videos, although those are a fun diversion from the real world).
The Instagram series “Run This Town” by Vik Singh has my head spinning, and I keep coming back to watch it, probably 100 times by now.
The seven-part series is nominally about the professionalization of skiing, and is right on point and continues to draw me in with how sharply it captures the lived reality of elite athletes trying to build a career in a system that was never really designed for them or included them in the conversations (hint, hint, NCAA).
💰 The prize money vs. cost to compete.
🏅 The dependence on the Olympics.
🏛️ The governance conflicts.
💃 The private equity dance.
It all feels uncomfortably familiar if you spend any time around the U.S. Olympic movement.
As a parent, a fan, and someone who’s spent a lot of time in and around Olympic pathways, a lot of this aligns with what I have written in the past and hits close to home.
You see the same pattern: world‑class athletes operating on thin margins, federations and committees juggling “democracy” and commercial survival, and a constant question of whom the machine is actually built to serve.
It’s rare to see that whole story told this clearly, in this format. The delivery, the visuals, and the Sopranos references are all so spot-on.
This is too good not to watch, and too important not to think about and share.
This is an Instagram rabbit hole absolutely worth going down, FULL STOP!
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