Though professional team sports own the athletic spotlight for most Americans, other sports come to the fore during global events, such as the Grand Slam events of golf and tennis, the soccer World Cup, and, of course, the Olympics. Interest in these international competitions is often amplified by the opportunity for fans to root for athletes of their nation or of their ancestral heritage—a factor that organizers lean into during event promotion. This has some positive effects, such as increasing the connection that diasporic communities abroad have with their ancestral countries and with one another. But there are also negative effects: The hyper-patriotic nationalism surrounding these sporting events has sometimes erupted into racial or ethnic mockery and even violence.

At the same time, international athletics have offered a unique opportunity for many Asian Americans to succeed at the highest level, perhaps because international sports are by definition diverse and inclusive of people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, reducing the impact of stereotypes in restricting Asian American participation. International athletics also includes more sports that emphasize individual, head-to-head competition, another aspect that may enhance participation from communities with less history of inclusion in organized team sports.

This module looks at the role of Asian American athletes in international athletic competition, particularly on the biggest sporting stage of the Olympic Games.