Media personalities Joy Taylor and M.J. Acosta-Ruiz watched the Olympics like millions of fans did at home, enamored by the phenomenal women making their mark on the Paris Games.
It was hard for Taylor not to be captivated by how Simone Biles made light work of her competition. The GOAT of women’s gymnastics would not be denied. Taylor’s best friend, Acosta-Ruiz, couldn’t get over how dominant Sha’Carri Richardson was for Team USA track and field.
Both Taylor and Acosta Ruiz admit that athlete stories like these deserve more coverage. As they host season 2 of Fuse TV’s Like A Girl, they’ve made it their mission to highlight how incredible women genuinely are and how many women across the sports spectrum, like LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson and tennis star Taylor Townsend, deserve more recognition.
“The goal of the show for us was to really celebrate these athletes and tell their stories from their perspective, but also in a very positive way…” Taylor told For The Win. “The real energy of the show to me is obviously very educational and informative and what these athletes are — who they are, what they’re passionate about — but also why they’re successful and how successful they are.”
Ahead of the Like A Girl Season 2 premiere, For The Win sat down with Taylor and Acosta Ruiz to talk about why more people are leaning into women’s stories now, what the WNBA’s new media deal says about investing in women, and the viral moments led by women at the Olympics they can’t stop talking about.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What do you hope people learn when they watch Like A Girl?
M.J.: One of the things that we continue to carry throughout our conversation is how much overlap there is among these women. There’s the achievement part of it. There’s the athleticism, the training. But also, there’s also these really beautiful layered stories, and I think it really highlights how alike we can be even in our differences.
Not just for these women as athletes in their particular sports but just in their lived experiences. So, it’s been really beautiful to have these conversations and to be unapolgetic about it and to be super transparent with them.
Could this show have come out five or even 10 years ago?
M.J.: I think the timing of this particular season in the story — it sort of has reached this apex where the culture of sports is — where the eyes of the sports world are on women’s sports in particular, and it’s all about timing with everything in life.
I’m really happy that it’s happening now, and the women that we were able to talk to are sort of in the middle of this beautiful, perfect storm that’s happening in women’s sports.
What do you believe the WNBA’s new $2.2.B media deal says about the league’s future and to investors who may be looking to branch into women’s sports?
Joy: I think it’s important to recognize the growth that so many women did for so many years to build the league up to a place where it can now launch into this space and provide this platform for incredible athletes to go and compete and make a living doing not just what they love but what they’re great at, and I think that that needs to be acknowledged. Just like anything, things gotta come together.
The sports world is exploding. Sports and news are the last things that we, as consumers, watch live. So, sports rights are an absolute premium…because of that, women’s sports also are rising.
We’ve had that paired with the work the WNBA has done — and those athletes and advocates have done for so many years paired with an incredible rookie class of women who have done an amazing job to make themselves into loveable brands, controversial brands and interesting brands and “excellent at playing basketball” brands. All of those things have been put into this pot, and it is this moment that we have been able to witness and that the league is capitalizing on.
M.J.: When you ask what it means, you know it’s a good sign with the brass cuts the check…. follow the money. And we love to see it. It’s about time.
Women continue to defy expectations, especially on the Olympic stage. What moment from the 2024 Paris Games completely blew you away?
M.J.: For me, I think it was the all-Black podium with Jordan Chiles and Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade. That was such a beautiful moment, and seeing Simone and Jordan give her her flowers and her first Olympic gold. That, to me, is something that will live on in my brain forever.
It was such a beautiful moment and to see the camaraderie amongst these women — by the way, we saw it all throughout the Games. They’ve been there for one another despite what flag they represented the entire time…
Editor’s note: Romania and USA Gymnastics have differing viewpoints on Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal. For more on this story, here’s Jordan Chiles’ Olympic bronze medal appeal controversy, explained.
Joy: Obviously, Simone has been dominating the news cycle and dominating the coverage with her excellence. It feels really special to be able to watch a true great do what they do… There are these moments in your sports fan journey where you’re like, “Wow! I’m really watching something that is historic…”.
Just the attention that she’s getting, the coverage that she’s getting, the praise she’s getting — even just the acknowledgment of how difficult it is what she’s doing. And what I love most about what’s happening with Simone is there were so many people — and we don’t forget — that were extremely critical of her the last Olympics and her prioritizing herself and her mental health.
Now, for her to compete back and be competing at this level… these professional athletes are all doing one percent of one percent of things…. they are literally not like us.
We always ask a fun question. What would you choose if you could be elite at any summer Olympic sport?
M.J.: I would have to say swimming because I’m a terrible swimmer. I can splash around in the pool and be fine. But, if there’s an emergency, leave me me behind. It’s fine. Don’t throw a buoy. I’m not going.
But I was also watching Katie Ledecky rack up all of these records, and our girl is at the end catching her breath. Nobody’s even in camera view. I’m like that is so [expletive]. That’s a superpower.
Joy: Mine would be track… FloJo was like my hero growing up. She is an icon… most of my personality can be tracked back to FloJo. Being the fastest woman in the world and just the gravitas of standing at the 100-meter line like that and crossing the line, 100 percent track.
Track, gymnastics and swimming are my favorite events in the Olympics, and then, obviously, discovering some new sport that I hadn’t heard of or didn’t know was a thing. I will say, though, the [Olympic] shooter…
M.J.: Yo! That’s a vibe. That’s a whole vibe.
Joy: The shooter got me. I was like, hold on, though. I might have to tap into that… I need that shot of me. I need that pic of me. I need that pic for the — IG will go crazy.
M.J.: The only headshot we will be using going forward…
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