Mia Osmonbekov is a third-year journalism student at Arizona State University pursuing an accelerated master’s in mass communication.
As a reporter, she’s covered higher education, politics and border policy for local, regional and national publications. Mia wrote about U.S. politics for La Voz del Interior, an award-winning daily newspaper based in Córdoba, Argentina, and covered immigration and abortion at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. She serves as the assignment editor at ASU’s independent student paper and speaks three languages.
Witnessing the emotional impact of Argentina winning the Copa America over the summer of 2024 confirmed her interest in sports as not only a community building mechanism, but a bridge across cultural differences.
Favorite sports memory?
Watching Lautaro Martínez score the winning goal for Argentina in the Copa America against Colombia. Crowded around the TV with my Cordobes host family and their children and grandchildren, it was just an emotional reminder of how much fútbol means to people and how it brings everyone together. For Argentina, it was also the first piece of good news in a long time.
Your global sports Mount Rushmore (or top 4 idols):
Leo Messi, Simone Biles, Serena Williams, Stephen Nedoroscik.
Which world leader would you put in goal?
Erdoğan. He almost played soccer professionally!
Which athlete would you want to be world leader?
Sunisa Lee! She’s got the resilience and team spirit that would make a great world leader.
Best rivalry:
Belgrano vs. Talleres (I’m biased after spending a few months in Córdoba).
A sign that the world of sport is shrinking:
How Patrick Mahomes co-owns the Kansas City Current and Lebron James owns a stake in Liverpool. All these financial crossovers seem to tie the distinct sports together.
Where would the Great Game Lab find the quintessence of global sport?
My Cordobes host dad – a man in his late seventies – recounting with almost boyish pleasure how Magic Johnson came to visit Argentina. Little kids in rural Kyrgyzstan playing soccer while proudly wearing Messi and Ronaldo shirts. A sport becoming global humanizes just as much as it inspires.
Question you'd most want to ask other fellows?
So much of sports is tied to politics, but we often hear politicians telling athletes to “stay in your lane” or punish them when they speak out about social justice issues. As neutrality is becoming less of an option for superstar athletes, how do you think their public role and burden of platform is evolving?