While many watching the Games are fans of specific sports or athletes (UofL has 10 current or former students competing in Tokyo), other viewers simply enjoy the fun of the competition.

Few, however, know more about the work that goes into organizing an Olympic or Paralympic Games than UofL professor Mary Hums.

A professor of sport administration from the College of 成人直播 and Human Development, Hums has spent the majority of her career researching, watching and participating in international sport.听

鈥淚’ve worked for the Paralympic Games (in 1996, 2002, 2004, and 2010), one Pan American Games, and one Olympic Games,鈥� she said.

In 2006, Hums was selected by the United States Olympic Committee to represent the U.S. at the International Olympic Academy Educators Session in Olympia, Greece.

鈥淚 took a sabbatical and moved for six months to Greece, which was where I was able to work on both the Olympic and Paralympic side,鈥� she said.听

There as a researcher and educator, Hums was active in event operations for softball as well.

鈥淚 did a lot of work in the office with organizing and daily scheduling activities,鈥� she said. 鈥淒uring the games, my job was as a groundskeeper. For every single softball game of the 2004 Summer Olympics, I made the batter鈥檚 boxes. This was in addition to my daily responsibilities of maintaining the training facilities and competition field, but my primary responsibility was making the batter鈥檚 boxes for each game.鈥�

Hums stayed on following the conclusion of the Olympic Games as the sports information director for the Paralympic sport of Goalball, a team competition designed for the visually impaired. After the Paralympic Games ended, Hums returned to the States.听

Hums, whose research centers on sport and human rights as well as the inclusion of people with disabilities, women and racial/ethnic minorities in the management of sport, believes this year鈥檚 games will be set apart from years past for a number of reasons. Delayed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, competitors have also become more vocal about social issues and change.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a pretty hot button topic right now 鈥� how much of a voice athletes are going to be able to have in terms of making personal statements about social issues鈥� Hums said.

As a co-coordinator of the in conjunction with the Muhammad Ali Center, Hums works to amplify the voices of athletes in social change. Through Rule 50, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) prohibits demonstrations, along with political or religious propaganda at Olympic sites and venues.听

鈥淭he whole premise of these rules is that the Games are not to be politicized. And yet sport is and has always been political,” she said. “People say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want my sports to be political,鈥� or 鈥榓thletes should shut up and dribble.鈥� But, even from the ancient Olympic Games when people came in from the warring city-states and competed with one another, it has been political.鈥�

The rule has come under increasing scrutiny in the months leading up to the Olympic Games, and it is one Hums believes will be in popular conversation as athletes increasingly make political statements.

鈥淣ational and international sport governing bodies are grappling with how to respond in a way they feel is appropriate. It鈥檚 very interesting,鈥� Hums said. 鈥淎thletes certainly do not leave their rights at the starting line.鈥�

鈥淚 think sport has the power to do three things: to inform, to empower, and to transform. And it goes in that order. So that’s why it’s taking front and center right now with the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. I think that [social statements] are here to stay as long as it takes for social change to happen,鈥� she said.

As for sports and athletes to watch over the course of the 2020 Tokyo Games, Hums has a rather nontraditional recommendation.

鈥淲omen鈥檚 field hockey,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ot only is one of the elite goalkeepers in women鈥檚 field hockey an alumni of UofL ( but it鈥檚 also a sport I played as goalie for four years as an undergraduate at Notre Dame.鈥�

For the Paralympic Games, Hums recommends tuning into the cycling events, in which Louisville native and ESPY Award finalist Oksana Masters will compete.

You can learn more about Mary Hums and her work .听

Winners of the annual ESPY Awards are selected through online fan balloting conducted from among candidates selected by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee. The public can vote online now until 5 p.m. EDT, July 13, on

鈥淚’m thrilled to see Oksana recognized for her talent and incredible hard work as an athlete.听The ESPY nomination itself聽is already a win,鈥� Gay Masters said.听鈥淲e both appreciate your votes and support.鈥�

Born in the Ukraine in 1989, Oksana Masters was brought to the United States by her adoptive mother when she was 7. She was born with several radiation-induced birth defects, including tibial hemimelia (resulting in different leg lengths), missing weight-bearing shinbones in her calves, webbed fingers with no thumbs, and six toes on each foot.

After moving to the United States in 1997, both of Oksana’s legs were eventually amputated above the knee 鈥攈er left leg at age eight and her right leg at age 13 鈥� as they became increasingly painful and unable to support her weight. Oksana also had surgery to modify her innermost fingers on each hand so they could function as thumbs.

Oksana first made a name for herself as she won a bronze medal in rowing with partner Rob Jones at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the first-ever United States medal in trunk and arms mixed double sculls with a final time of 4:05.56. She then transitioned her talents to the snow and won silver and bronze at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games in cross-country skiing.

When issues with her back prevented her return to the water for the 2016 Summer Games, Masters decided to give the sport of cycling a try. She has qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Sept. 7-18, in paracycling, her fourth competitive sport.

ESPY winners will be announced in a telecast at 8 p.m. EDT, July 13, on ABC-TV hosted by WWE wrestler John Cena. For more information, go to the