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The Olympics want to vary

July 2, 2021

The Summer time Olympics have not even began and so they’re already a multitude.

First, star sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, 21, was suspended by U.S. Anti-Doping Company. Which means she will not have the ability to run the 100 meters on the Tokyo Olympics later this month.

Her crime: testing constructive for marijuana use. This was through the U.S. Olympic Observe and Discipline Trials final month in Eugene, Oregon — a state the place leisure marijuana use is authorized.

On Friday, she advised TODAY that she smoked to deal with studying from a reporter that her organic mom had died, and to take care of the stress of making an attempt to qualify for her first Olympics.

In case you will have by no means smoked marijuana, it doesn’t enable you to run quicker. For athletes, it is a a lot safer various for treating intense bodily ache than, say, opioids. Main sports activities leagues in america — together with the NBA, NFL, Main League Baseball, and the NHL — have stopped banning gamers for utilizing it.

One other enjoyable reality: Olympic athletes are allowed to drink alcohol, as evidenced by the truth that the Olympic Village practically at all times turns into a bacchanal.

It is smart to ban smoking weed throughout competitors, similar to it is smart to ban ingesting alcohol. No person needs to see a sloshed athlete throw a javelin. However Richardson was punished for smoking out of competitors.

Why would an athlete be punished for doing that? The U.S. Anti-Doping Company solutions that query in a FAQ, which cites a research from the World Anti-Doping Company, the physique that regulates drug use on the Olympic Video games.

The paper says that “hashish may be efficiency enhancing for some athletes and sports activities disciplines,” partly as a result of it permits some athletes to “higher carry out below stress and to alleviate stress skilled earlier than and through competitors.” In case you are questioning, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicines are allowed — though athletes have run into issues utilizing these, too.

The paper additionally says “use of illicit medicine” is not “per the athlete as a task mannequin for younger individuals around the globe.” That Richardson is Black and paying the associated fee for the stigma round marijuana is, sadly, not surprising. As my colleague Morgan Sung famous, a 2020 report from the ACLU discovered that “though white individuals and Black individuals devour hashish at ‘roughly equal’ charges, Black persons are 3.64 occasions as prone to be arrested for marijuana possession.”

Individuals have been, justifiably, incredulous and outraged over the ban on Twitter.

The Onion, as at all times, summed up the state of affairs completely.

However wait… there’s extra. The Worldwide Swimming Federation not too long ago introduced that swimming caps designed for pure Black hair will not be allowed on the Tokyo Olympics.

Per the Guardian, the group mentioned the caps did not match the “pure type of the pinnacle” and that athletes at worldwide swimming occasions had by no means wanted them earlier than — which, actually, appears extra like a range downside than justification for the ban.

The choice means swimming caps from Soul Cap, which had partnered with Alice Dearing, the primary Black swimmer to signify Crew GB on the Olympics, will not be allowed.

The Black Swimming Affiliation tweeted that the choice would “discourage many youthful athletes from ethnic minority communities from pursuing aggressive swimming.” Others agreed.

And eventually, it was introduced Friday that two feminine athletes from Namibia, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, will not have the ability to run the 400 meters on the Olympics due to naturally excessive testosterone ranges. Oddly sufficient, that does not cease them from working the 200 meters.

Earlier than this week, the Tokyo Olympics have been already marred by accusations of misogyny, racism, and corruption. None of those are new issues. Perhaps it is time to rethink who runs and regulates the Olympic Video games.