Losing My Perspicacity August 9, 2024

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We’re just days away from all of us who have lived and died with the Olympic Games, lo these last two weeks, having to find something else to make our personalities all about. What a terrifying concept. The Paris Games, completely unexpectedly, have become a tonic for everything going wrong with the world. What a beautiful oasis of hope and joy these games have been.

Today: The USADA probably shouldn’t have picked a fight with WADA; Noah Lyles races and collapses from COVID; A huge honor for Allyson Felix; a US diver hits the board and — ouch; and what’s on tap for Friday and the weekend before we say “adieu” to Paris.

Here we go:

Maybe the USADA shouldn’t have picked a fight with WADA

Back when I first wrote about the dispute between the US Anti-Doping Agency, charged with policing performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in US athletes, and the World Anti-Doping Agency, which determines what drugs are and are not permissible and metes out punishment to offenders, I said that the US had better be damn sure our athletes are squeaky clean. Uh… yeah — an update on that.

First, a bit of background. The USADA and WADA have been beefing for some time, most recently over revelations that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in 2021 but were never sanctioned by China’s Anti-Doping Agency or WADA. CHINADA claimed the samples had been contaminated by burgers served to the team at a Chinese hotel. CHINADA never publicly disclosed those results. WADA accepted CHINADA’s explanation of meat/hotel contamination without further inquiry, and some of those swimmers went on to medal in Tokyo, and some even medaled in Paris. This made US swimmers like Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, along with USADA President Travis Tygart, incandescent with rage, and it’s hard to blame them.

Word came down just days before the Paris Games began that two more swimmers had tested positive for the same drug in late 2022, but CHINADA stuck to their contaminated meat/hotel kitchen story. Also playing a part here is a new US law that gives US prosecutors the right to charge anyone providing performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to athletes at any event involving Americans around the globe (it’s slightly more complex than that, but you get the gist). That law has upset WADA greatly, who no doubt feel their power is being usurped by the USADA. Meanwhile, USADA’s position has been, “If you don’t like it, do your fucking job.”

That brings us to Wednesday, when WADA claimed that the US allowed dirty athletes to keep competing in an attempt to catch the ringleaders of PED operations.

Yeeeesh. That does not look great for us. It’s worth noting that the list of Chinese swimmers who tested positive back in 2021 has been posted online on sites like SwimSwam, and fans have been doggedly checking results against the athletes on that list. Additionally, the Chinese swim team has been whining left and right that other swimmers “look down on them” and have even reported being snubbed by their competitors.

Normally, I would say, “Hey, too bad. If you can’t take the damage to your reputation, don’t take the drugs.” That, of course, assumes that China’s swimmers a) knew they were taking a banned drug and b) did so voluntarily. Even if that’s the case, it’s awfully hard for USADA to do their whole white-hatted-cowboy-here-to-save-international-sports when it turns out we’ve also failed to report dirty athletes who were allowed to keep competing.

“We allowed our swimmers to keep competing because we want to win medals” vs. “We allowed our athletes to keep competing in order to bust international drug and human trafficking rings.” Those things are cleary not the same, but I’m not sure either of them has a place in international competitions. Both agencies are guilty of allowing athletes to compete for reasons other than seeing the best performance win. People make competing in the Olympics the sole work of their young lives, and it’s unfair for them to compete against dirty athletes for China’s national ego, nor is it fair for them to compete against dirty athletes in order for the US to try to show up WADA with their “last honest country” routine.

It’s all so tiresome. Then there’s the question of who, exactly, the dirty US athletes were and if they are household names. The 2012 Summer Olympics fell right in that 2011-2014 window and featured an awful lot of really famous names, which you can see here. Do we now have to wonder if the three athletes WADA accuses were among the 2012 gold medalists? Sooner or later do those names come out?

The whole thing is such a mess, and it’s led WADA to threaten taking the 2028 and 2034 Games away from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, respectively, as any city that hosts the games has to be in compliance with WADA’s code, which WADA does not believe USADA is, thanks in part to the aforementioned Rodchenkov Act (I am once again begging you to watch Icarus on Netflix if you haven’t yet).

Stay tuned, I guess, to see what happens next, but I would wait a bit before planning a trip to LA to see the next Summer Games.

Noah Lyles has COVID

What an absolute bummer. Lyles won bronze in the men’s 200M yesterday and fell to the track upon crossing the finish line. Lyles has been fairly outspoken about his battle with allergies and asthma during his career, and my first thought was that one of those two conditions was “acting up.” Lyles was taken off the track in a wheelchair.

It subsequently came out that Lyles tested positive for COVID two days prior. Obviously, someone with allergies and asthma, even as physically fit as Lyles is, is at risk for complications of COVID, and you really have to wonder what the hell US Track & Field was doing in letting him compete. I imagine some of Lyles competitors are going to have questions of their own.

Plenty of people called COVID “an excuse” — specifically the NBA crowd, who were all somehow personally insulted when Lyles pointed out that the NBA Championship isn’t truly an international competition — because Lyles was dancing around the track before the event. If only something happened between the time Lyles lined up in the blocks and the time he collapsed that could have explained it. What a mystery.

Lyles said on Instagram that he believes his Olympics are over.

I personally like Noah Lyles. Sure, he’s brash and loud, but I’ve never heard about him committing sexual assault or domestic abuse or any of the things NBA fans routinely forgive players for. I’ll miss watching him run.

As for the race itself, congrats to Botswana’s Letsile Tebog, who claimed his country’s first Olympic gold medal, and to American Kenny Bednarek, who won silver. I’m not trying to say I called it, but…

That was from Wednesday night. 😀 

Finally, some good news

Allyson Felix has been elected to the IOC!

First, this is great news for Felix because the IOC members are basically kings for two weeks every two years, so good for her. Second, it’s good for everyone else because Felix is a person of integrity who cares about things like equity and inclusion and taking care of the athletes.

My dad once had this French colleague who would come over to our house for dinner when I was a kid. He used to make me sit on his lap and kiss his cheek, and I hated him. He was loud and bombastic and totally full of himself and always smelled like booze and cigarettes. He was obsessed with becoming an IOC member. He had enough connections to that crowd that it was an actual possibility. I thought of him today when Allyson Felix made the IOC, knowing he never did. Heh.

In Paris, Felix launched the first-ever Olympic Village nursery for athlete moms, completely stocked with Pampers brand wipes and diapers.

Congrats to Allyson Felix!

Ouch

Like all gymnasts, I dabbled in diving after I left the balance beam and bars behind, and I have also hit the board on an inward dive. It does not feel good. I saw a teammate whack the board with her hands and come up with a blood blister on each of her 10 knuckles, which all burst as soon as she flexed her hands. I still shudder remembering it. I guess the good news here is that she hit a springboard and not a platform. For her efforts, Gibson was awarded a score of 0.0, which probably hurt even more. Hope she’s okay.

On tap for Friday and the weekend

Alas, the Olympics are winding down. Only a few days remain before the Paris Games officially close on Sunday, August 11. Maybe it’s the state of the world right now and the desire to watch literally anything but the news, but these games have been among the most entertaining I can remember. I’ll be sorry to see them go (the groove I’ve worn into my couch cushion will likely not).

Here’s what’s still coming up:

• Women’s golf kicks off at 3 am ET on Friday, and American Nelly Korda seeks to defend her gold medal. She’s currently 6 shots back of the leader, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux

• A ton of finals coming up in Track & Field, including many of the relays. Coverage starts at 5:05 am ET

• US Men’s Water Polo semis vs. Serbia at 8:35 am ET

• US Men’s Volleyball bronze medal match vs. Italy 10:00 am ET

• US Women’s Basketball semi vs. Australia at 11:30 am ET

• Women’s Track 4 × 100M final at 1:30 pm ET

• Women’s Field Shot Put final at 1:37 pm ET

• Men’s Track 4 × 100M relay at 1:47 pm ET

• Women’s Track 400M final at 2:00 pm ET

• Women’s boxing: Imane Khelif vs. Chang Liu at 4:51 pm ET

On Saturday:

• US Women’s Water Polo bronze medal match: 4:35 am ET

• USWNT gold medal match vs. Brazil (and Marta) at 11:00 am ET

• Men’s Field high jump final at 1:00 pm ET

• Men’s Track 800M final at 1:05 pm ET

• Women’s Track 100M hurdles final at 1:35 pm ET

• Women’s Track 4 × 400M relay final at 3:14 pm ET

• US Men’s basketball gold medal match vs. Frace at 3:30 pm ET

On Sunday:

• US Women’s Volleyball gold medal match vs. Italy at 7:00 am ET

• Women’s basketball gold medal match at 9:30 am ET

• Closing ceremonies at 3:00 pm ET

Between now and Sunday, there will also be tons of cycling, breaking(!), weightlifting, diving, and wrestling. If any of those are your jam, the full schedule is here.

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday.