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Sports|John Brenkus, Who Merged Sports and Science on TV, Dies at 53
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/sports/john-brenkus-dies.html
His “Sport Science” program was whimsical and fun, showing how golfers can drive balls so far and how snowboarders’ quad flips generated G-forces.
June 2, 2025Updated 10:04 a.m. ET
John Brenkus, the creator and host of the show “Sport Science,” which explored the physics and mechanics of sports and athletes, died on Saturday. He was 53.
His death was announced in a statement by Brinx TV, the media production company he founded. Mr. Brenkus “had been battling depression,” the statement said. “John lost his fight with this terrible illness.”
Brinx and ESPN did not immediately respond to requests for further details or comment.
“Sport Science” appeared on Fox Sports Network starting in 2007, and then on ESPN into the 2010s, winning six Emmys. Mr. Brenkus gained a following with his energetic personality as the show demonstrated sports through scientific principles and concepts, and science through sports, with engaging segments.
Mr. Brenkus’s program was also whimsical and fun. He showed how golfers were able to drive balls such great distances, how snowboarders’ quad flips generated a force of four Gs and the physics of Wiffle balls.
He subjected the N.F.L. running back Saquon Barkley to various weather conditions in a laboratory, drenching him with water and setting the temperature from 20 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. (Mr. Barkley barely slowed down.)
Asked on a Reddit forum eight years ago about his favorite segment, he cited a piece on the contact between ball and bat in Major League Baseball. “You could, theoretically, let go of the bat .001 seconds before contact and the ball will travel just as far,” he said.
Mr. Brenkus was born and raised in Washington, D.C.
In 2008 he was the executive producer of “Crime 360,” a show that followed real criminal investigations as they progressed. In 2010, his book “The Perfection Point” made the New York Times best-seller list. It calculated the limits of athletic performance, concluding that theoretically humans could run the 100-meter dash in 8.99 seconds, complete a marathon in 1:57:58 and dunk a basketball in a hoop 14 feet 5 inches off the ground.
A complete obituary will follow.
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
