Coolness and emotional self-discipline once shaped the world of sports, but recently something has shifted. Tennis legends cry. Soccer stars cry. Basketball MVPs cry. “Emotional moments” seem to be omnipresent. In close readings of tearful moments and gestures, this book explores scenes on the sidelines, at press conferences, and during acceptance speeches. It examines how contemporary media represent outbursts and breakdowns and the larger role crying athletes play in what scholars call the “Age of Emotions.” Case studies include Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, Serena Williams and Andrea Petković, American basketball megastars, and Roger Federer; the essay discusses celebrity athletes as representative figures whose vulnerability and sentimentality force us to reexamine our own tears. 

The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. The text has subsequently been revised by the author in collaboration with a professional copy editor in order to refine the work stylistically.

Christoph Ribbat is Professor of American Studies at University of Paderborn (Germany). He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Cooper Union, New York, and a Humboldt/Lynen Fellow at MIT and Boston University. He has published books on the history of restaurants, the history of breathing, and on waking up, as well as essays on photography, and a biography of Wilbert Olinde (UCLA), one of the first US basketball professionals in Germany.