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Amazin Lethi on Asian, LGBTQ Representation in Sports

COURTESY OF AMAZIN LETHI

Amazin LeThi is a Vietnamese American competitive bodybuilder-turned-sports activist who dedicates her time and efforts to advocating for the AAPI and LGBTQ community. She is the first Asian ambassador for LGBTQ rights organization Stonewall, and has been recognized by the Human Rights Campaign for using her platform in sports to fight for equality.

How were you first introduced to sports? 

I was trying to find my place in society, as I struggled with my sexuality and did not see Asian or LGBTQ representation anywhere. I really wanted to find a sense of community, so I went into sports.

I love sports. I was very athletic as a kid, and I felt like it was a channel to get a sense of escape. Sports gave me a sense of purpose. It gave me a sense of self-worth and confidence that I much needed as a child because of all the bullying and racism that I received. Sports really made me the person that I am today. I can’t remember a moment when I wasn’t doing sports – it’s like brushing your teeth.

But as one of few Asian athletes in sports as a kid, I faced a lot of bullying. Some people thrive and find their spirit through team sports – I did not at all. I found team sports very unwelcoming.

And then how did you get into bodybuilding? 

I fell into bodybuilding at six, which is an unusually early age to begin. I literally fell into bodybuilding. There were some dumbbells lying around the house, and I would spend days doing dumbbell curls, sit ups and pushups. I started going to the gym when I was seven or eight. Bodybuilding gave me a sense of self-worth and confidence. And it was something that I could do alone, away from team sports.

At the same time, bodybuilding is a very heteronormative, masculine and toxic sport that revolves around men. Women are in this male dominated space – trying to create muscles and a perceived sense of masculinity within the realm of femininity. We face pushback from men as we try to break down gender norms. I received a terrible amount of misogyny and sexism as a child – at age seven or eight.

When did you seriously start competing as a bodybuilder?

I started competitively competing as a teenager in natural bodybuilding competitions – often with no other Asian athletes competing alongside me. Most athletes were white, two to three times my size and very, very muscular. I was able to compete a number of times and place every single time as well, because I really worked on the craft.

But I knew as a competitive bodybuilder I wasn’t able to go as far as I would have liked to, just because I just didn’t have the physical stature for bodybuilding and being able to pack on the muscular size that I needed to compete against white athletes. I felt that I accomplished everything that I wanted to do within competitive bodybuilding in the few years I competed.

I can imagine bodybuilding is really tough on your body after a long time.

Because I started bodybuilding at such a young age, I was lifting an enormous amount of weight as I was still growing. For me, I felt the only way I could gain credibility in a completely male dominated environment was by lifting as much or more than them. By the time I was a teenager, my body was already very strained. I was squatting nearly 500 pounds. I was leg pressing nearly a thousand pounds.

The competition really took a toll on me – the amount of dieting that I had to do in a tight timeframe. For many female athletes the dietary restrictions and the pressure you put on your body upsets your natural cycle. At times then you don’t have your cycles. Competing at that level, for me, wasn’t a sustainable plan.

Tell us about your transition to becoming a health expert. 

Through all my years in bodybuilding, I just kind of wanted to create this platform where I could share my knowledge and insight with others. Bodybuilding has given me a very holistic approach to fitness. When you’re working on your body you have to be very precise with the food you eat and what you do with your body. I wanted to share what I bring to the table in sports specific training, and sports nutrition, and psychology.

You are an internationally published Vietnamese health and fitness author. Can you talk to me a little bit about your published work and what it means to you?

I started writing as a freelance health and fitness writer – there are few Asian health and fitness authors that have been published. For me, publishing my writing was a golden moment where I could share the knowledge that I had in my head with the public. To be one of a few Asian health and fitness authors to have their book published was a very strange feeling, because I’d wanted to for so long to see an Asian health and fitness author for so long – I had no idea that I was waiting for myself.

You’ve become a very vocal activist in sports. What does it mean for you to use your platform to advocate for the LGBTQ and Asian community? 

As a child, I did not feel supported by my teammates, coaches or the athletic community at large. I suffered a terrible amount of bullying and homophobia.

In 2020, we still don’t see enough representation of Asian athletes in sports. For example,  Jeremy Lin is one of the few Asian-American basketball players to ever play in the NBA. I remember reading a title that one of the mainstream press had written about him. The headline read, “The chink in the armor.” [ESPN fired the writer who used the offensive racial slur in a headline referring to Lin.] And they thought that was okay. The amount of racism that he received at the professional level and the amounts of racism he has shared about enduring while young – that’s also my story. It’s the story of the Asian community, and a reflection of how sports media has negatively framed Asian athletes.

I need to use my platform and speak up. If I don’t, I’m part of the problem. As a member of the Asian community, I know what it is like, and I know what Asian people are still going through. We have very few Asian athletes in sports, let alone Asian LGBTQ athletes. It’s important that we continuously have conversations on how to create welcoming environments for all athletes that want to participate in sports. I know that Asian athletes are still struggling to get to pro level. If I wasn’t resilient and I wasn’t persistent, I would have dropped out of sports given the level of bullying and discrimination I suffered. I don’t want kids to grow up as an adult and think, “I wish I could have continued, I could have been that pro athlete.”

What’s next for you and the work you do?

We’re in a very special time in sports history where several major sports events will be in Asia over the next few years. [The next two Olympics will be hosted in Tokyo and Beijing, respectively.] This gives us an opportunity to open up conversations with Western countries on the question of how “you’re sending your best teams to Asia, but you’re not sending your best Asian athletes to Asia.” I’m having a lot of these conversations as we head into Tokyo 2021. Sports are coming for everyone.

USC’s McKenzie Forbes: From Gap Year to the NCAA Tournament

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate McKenzie Forbes. 

Here are five things to know from our conversation with the graduate transfer from Folsom, California.

#1 Inspired by USC’s Head Coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, McKenzie wants to be a basketball coach or work in the front office in the future.

When weighing in on what makes a good coach, McKenzie said x’s and o’s are important but “Coaching is a lot of relationship managing and people managing. I think you have to be a good people person and be able to build those relationships, but also in that same breath, you can’t be afraid to have people dislike you in moments. I think that’s a big part of leadership.”

#2 McKenzie says the trajectory of her career changed when she made the decision to transfer from Cal to Harvard.

 In order to transfer, she was forced to take a gap year and spend a lot of time in the gym. “I completely transformed my body and, going into the Harvard season, felt like I was a completely different player. Going to Harvard and playing in a more mid-major conference, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I might have if I transferred to another Power 5. It really developed other parts of my game.”

#3 How does McKenzie think USC will do in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament?

“I’m not going to give a typical interview answer. I want a Final Four. We have that potential and capability. Like why not? Why not us? I think we have all the pieces.”

#4 Her older brother, Marcus, was her biggest mentor growing up.

“He was basically my trainer from Elementary school on until he went to college.”

#5 Fun facts about Forbes:

She can juggle and she was the quarterback of her Pop Warner football team. “I was slow but I could throw it!”

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

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