From January to February, the Winter 2009 Unlympic Games were a series of competitive events that engaged Chicago residents in active dialogue about the 2016 Olympic bid. The Unlympics looked at highly organized, internationally recognized, massively marketed, thoroughly branded, and extremely expensive sporting events not from a pro or con standpoint, but from a questioning standpoint. The Unlympics included real sports, fake sports, and things that should be sports but aren’t yet, including Class-Conscious Kickball, Fashion, Karaoke, Live Action Role Play Family Dinner, The Solitary Isolation Game, and Spelling. Indoor and outdoor games were held throughout the city and open to the public. These events were sponsored by organizations with a stake in the 2016 Olympic bid.

Chi-Town Daily News: “‘Unlympics’ participants poke fun at Chicago’s Olympic bid”
Chicago Weekly: “Olympian Activism: The Unlympic Games compete with the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid”
Chicagoist: “Let’s Talk About The Olympics”
Community Media Workshop: “Nolympics and Unlympics”
LARP Source: “Chicago ‘Unlympic Games’ Hosts a LARP Dinner For the Family”
New York Times: “Whiffle Hurling? Bag Tag? Hey, It’s Art”
Outside the Loop Radio: “Anne Elizabeth Moore and the Unlympic Movement”
Vocalo dot Org: “Unlympics Chicago 2009”
WBEZ’s 848: “The 2016 Unlympics”
WGN’s Nick Digilio: “The Unlympics”