You Run Like A Girl - Edition 5

Good evening,

If you’re new here, hello and welcome. I’m Amita and I’m the creator of You Run Like A Girl, a media brand that gives a voice to women in sport. In this newsletter, my goal is to share the most interesting stories I read, watched or listened to about women’s sports.

In this edition:

• 🏂 How Chloe Kim Rediscovered Her Love Of Snowboarding (snowboarding)

• 🎤 Julie Stewart-Binks on a Career Derailed by Alleged Sexual Assault (broadcasting)

• 🏃🏿‍♀️ Track & Field Legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s Obsession Pushes Her Towards Massive Decision Amidst Career Return (track and field)

Ready? Let’s dive in.

How Chloe Kim Rediscovered Her Love Of Snowboarding

Two years ago, Chloe Kim felt like her snowboarding career was in a rut.

The 24-year-old double Olympic gold medallist recently told Forbes that she dreaded hitting the slopes and contemplated retirement.

If she had, no one could have criticized her. In addition to her Olympic medals, Kim holds World, Youth Olympic, and X Games halfpipe titles, and was the first to win all four major events. She’s been made into a Barbie doll, graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and launched TOGETHXR, a media venture for female athletes with Sue Bird (basketball), Simone Manuel (swimming) and Alex Morgan (soccer). To say she’s achieved a lot is an understatement.

But Kim isn’t a quitter. Through therapy and a commitment to working on her mental health, she found her love for snowboarding again and is now back with a vengeance. Just witness her latest results:

• At the X Games last week, Kim won her eighth halfpipe gold medal, tying Shaun White’s record for most overall.

• She also became the most decorated female halfpipe rider in X Games history.

• A week after her X Games victory, Kim won back-to-back World Cup golds at the U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen.

It’s not uncommon for young athletes (Kim was only 14 when she won her first X Games title), to burn out and/or lose their love for their respective sports. But If 2025 is anything to go by, Kim is firmly in the driver’s seat, as the 2026 Olympic Games approach.

Read the full article here. If that link doesn’t work, try this. (Credit: Written by Michelle Bruton for Forbes.)

Julie Stewart-Binks on a Career Derailed by Alleged Sexual Assault 

Trigger warning: this piece mentions sexual assault

In a brave and moving piece written by Katie Strang for The Athletic, sports reporter Julie Stewart-Binks details how one moment has had lasting repercussions on her career.

From 2013 to 2016, Stewart-Binks worked as a host and reporter for Fox Sports 1. In 2016, a clip of Stewart-Binks and former NFL player Rob Gronkowski went viral. As the video spread, Stewart-Binks took the brunt of the criticism. She was accused of setting back the efforts of women working in sports journalism and betraying feminism entirely. A few months later, FS1 let her go.

If you only read the headlines, it could be easy to blame Stewart-Binks for her misfortune. But if you don’t dig beneath the surface, you miss the full context of what she was dealing with at the time the video was shot.

On January 24th, Stewart-Binks filed a lawsuit against Fox and Charlie Dixon, an executive vice president at Fox Sports and FS1, the company’s sports network. In the lawsuit, she alleged that about a week before the 2016 Gronkowski segment, she was sexually assaulted by Dixon during a meeting at a hotel that he organized under the guise of talking about her Super Bowl week duties.

Strang’s thoughtful reporting brings Stewart-Binks’ pain and resilience to light. Despite the progress we’ve made, so many women continue to suffer in silence when it comes to assault in professional and personal spaces. That Stewart-Binks had the courage to come forward is a testament to her strength.

Read the full article here. (Credit: Written by Katie Strang for The Athletic).

Track & Field Legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s Obsession Pushes Her Towards Massive Decision Amidst Career Return

The first day of the February brought an unexpected delight my way.

I attended the launch of Jamaican sprint star Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce’s new entrepreneurial venue, a line of haircare products. Called AFIMI, everything in the range is formulated with natural ingredients and proudly made in Jamaica.

For readers who may be unaware, Fraser-Pryce is regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time. She is an eight-time Olympic medallist and has won 17 medals at the World Championships. She’s won more individual global sprint titles than any other female sprinter in history and is the most decorated 100m sprinter of all time.

But as with all athletic careers, the lifespan of a professional sprinter is short-lived. As she thought about her future, Fraser-Pryce’s vision included building a business - which brings us back to a bright and cold winter’s day in Manhattan.

The AFIMI launch took place in the heart of Soho. Despite the chill outside, the spirit and vibrancy of Jamaica was alive and well indoors. Music blared from the speakers, the cafe was stocked with tropical juices and treats courtesy of Grace Foods, and one area had been roped off to showcase some of Fraser-Pryce’s iconic wigs.

I should state here that I am the furthest thing from an influencer, but I’m the closest you’ll get to a superfan. I’ve been watching Fraser-Pryce for years - pretty much since she burst onto the scene at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. I ran the 100m up until I was a teenager, thinking that my height would impede me from being a real competitor (I am 5’2”). One of the reasons I admire Fraser-Pryce is that she doesn’t appear to let anything stand in her way of achieving her goals. At 5’0”, she’s tinier than most of her rivals, but packs a powerful punch. Being able to see her speak in real life was a dream I didn’t know I had until I found myself standing at the front of her fireside chat.

In conversation, Fraser-Pryce is charming and down to earth. Yes, I understand that everyone in the public eye is media trained and that this was a product launch. But Fraser-Pryce’s authenticity shone through. During her interview with Teen Vogue Executive Editor Dani Kwateng, Fraser-Pryce shared how personal AFIMI was, and how it represented her roots and identity. She talked about how she used to wash her hair using an outdoor pipe, how difficult it was to find haircare products for her 4C type hair and changes she observed in her hair post-pregnancy.

Why am I talking so much about hair? After all, this is a sports-focused newsletter. But I think (and Fraser-Pryce seemed to agree) that so much of a woman’s identity (for better or worse) is wrapped up in how we look. If we choose to, our hair has the ability to empower us. And as she shifts into a new phase of her career, Fraser-Pryce is hoping to do just that with her newest venture.

Read the full article here. (Credit: Written by Supriya for Essentially Sports).