Swimming
The entire aquatics venue greeted the Russian Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team with resounding boos last night. International media have been saturated with reports about doping among Russian athletes in recent months. Therefore, the boos were hardly surprising, and Russian athletes must expect no less at this point.
What was surprising, however, was watching Lilly King of the USA air her suspicions during a live, poolside interview. Specifically, she vented disgust that her chief rival in tonight’s Women’s 100m Breaststroke, Yulia Efimova, has been allowed to compete.
Efimova was one of seven swimmers initially banned from the Olympics after the IOC ruled that no Russian athletes who had received past doping bans would be allowed to compete.
The 24-year-old has previously received a 16-month suspension after testing positive for anabolic steroids and was this year cleared by FINA, swimming’s world governing body, after testing positive for meldonium.
Yet somewhat astonishingly, Efimova was still cleared to compete by FINA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
(London Telegraph, August 8, 2016)
Interestingly enough, nothing indicates how unwelcome Team Russia is at these Games quite like Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IOC), upstaging and shaming the IOC by announcing a complete ban on all Russian athletes from the Paralympic Games in Rio next month:
The Russian government has catastrophically failed its para-athletes. Their ‘medals over morals’ mentality disgusts me. The complete corruption of the anti-doping system is contrary to the rules and strikes at the very heart of the spirit of Paralympic sport.
(BBC, August 8, 2016)
No words could be more damning, no sanction more severe.
But I’ve written all I care to on the scourge of doping in sports. I refer you to such commentaries as “IOC failure to Ban Russia Proves It’s in Putin’s Pocket,” July 25, 2016, “In Putin’s Russia Even Athletics Is a Criminal (Doping) Enterprise,” November 9, 2015, “Now Tyson Gay et al: Drugs as Rampant in Track as in Cycling,” July 16, 2013, and “A Plea for Landis, Gatlin, et al: Legalize Drugs…Especially in Sports,” August 3, 2006.
Except that I feel constrained to reiterate that the Russian government only did for its athletes what far too many coaches around the world do for theirs. And I hope the sporting irony, if not moral injustice, is not lost on anyone that, if this paralympic ban stands, Russia’s physically disabled athletes will be paying for the sins of its abled athletes, as well as those of its corrupt government.
The hypocrisy and cravenness would be laughable if doping in sports were not so contemptible … in so many respects.
That said, Lilly King seemed to relish the chance to rise above her disgust and vindicate clean athletes in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke. She had to have been inspired by Mack Horton of Australia – who denounced Sun Yang of China last night as a “drug cheat” and then proceeded to kick his ass to win gold in the Men’s 400m Freestyle. Well, hail to the “King”:
- Lilly King of the USA won gold in 1:04.93; Yulia Efimova of Russia, silver; and Catherine Miele of the USA, bronze.
As it happens, the only other final of note, the Men’s 200m Freestyle, featured Yang swimming to avenge that loss and show that cheaters often prosper. He did.
- Sun Yang of China won gold in 1:44.65 ; Chad Le Clos of South Africa, silver; and Conor Dwyer of the USA, bronze.
Fencing
Not since The Princess Bride has fencing been so popular in the United States. And it has everything to do with Ibtihaj Muhammad.
Would that her popularity had everything to do with her athletic parrying. Unfortunately, it has almost as much to do with her religious garb. She is the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
No doubt you’ve seen her in one of those terrific athlete profiles NBC features. In her case, it was interesting to see the New Jersey-born Muhammad explain that she chose Fencing because all athletes compete covered in armor from head to toe.
Never mind the statement Egyptian Beach Volleyball players are making in Rio by competing fully covered, complete with hijab, against players who would be completely naked if they were any more scantily clad. I recall Saudi Track and Field athletes making a similar statement when they competed in similar fashion at London 2012.
Alas, a French competitor jabbed Muhammad out of medal contention today, denying her the first opportunity to honor President Obama’s challenge for her to bring home the gold. She will have a second and final opportunity when she competes in the Team event later this week.
Judo
I see no reason for including Boxing in the Olympics but excluding more pugilistic martial arts like Karate, Muy Thai, or even MMA. Instead, we have Judo and Taekwondo, which look like variant strains of Greco-Roman wrestling.
That aside, I have two compelling reasons for commenting:
The first is to hail Rafaela Silva for winning the first gold medal of these Games for host nation Brazil. The symbolism of this favela-dwelling, black athlete making this nation proud cannot be overstated. Especially given Silva’s documented complaints about the systemic racism and chronic hardship she’s had to overcome throughout her career.
In any event, she defeated Sumiya Dorjsuren of Mongolia in the 57kg final. Never mind that their match looked more like mud wrestling … without the frolicking mud and titillating garb.
The second is to damn Saudi Arabia for this:
A Saudi judo competitor forfeited her first round match at the Olympic Games to avoid going up against a rival from Israel, it has been claimed.
Joud Fahmy was supposed to have taken on Christianne Legentil from Mauritius for the right to take on Israel’s Gili Cohen in the next round.
But before the clash, Saudi officials tweeted that she had injured her arm and leg during training and that medics had told her to pull out.
(London Daily Mail, August 8, 2016)
This clearly makes a mockery of the Olympic spirit. It also defies the motto that sports transcend politics.
Worse still, though, this self-defeating Saudi was only acting in accordance with a shameful legacy of religious bigotry against Jews, which too often constrains athletes from Muslim countries to forfeit their Olympic dreams.
As the opening of the London Olympics approaches, and Israel is concerned that its athletes might be the target of a terror attack, some Arab states are more worried not only that the lottery will pit their athletes against Israeli competitors, but also that their representatives will have to stand next to Israelis on the podium if they win a medal.
(YNet News, July 12, 2012)
How stupid! How sad….
For a little perspective, it might help you to know that I’d be utterly shocked if any Muslim athlete from the United States, like featured Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, ever refused to compete against a Jewish one from Israel.
Related commentaries:
Clarion call to ban Russians…
Putin’s Russia…
Now Tyson et al…
MEDAL COUNT: USA – 19; China – 13; Japan – 10