The Tokyo 2021 Olympics are in full swing a year off schedule, and still marred by the covid menace. The stands are mostly empty as Japan is experiencing a surge in new infections due to the delta variant. Now there is warning that vaccine immunity is short-term and will require periodic booster shots.
Olympic
organizers, presumably desperate for cash, have developed an
anything-for-a-buck mentality. The line between attractiveness and
revulsion, tastelessness and vulgarity, followed
subconsciously by dress designers
is unfamiliar to these officials as evidenced by their mandated dress
codes. The German women's beach handball team refused to wear the ultra-skimpy bikini bottoms and appeared in shorts. Celebrities then offered
to pay the fines imposed on them.
An
American silver medalist in a swimming event ranted and raved about how
the race was not clean. The Russian winner displayed grace and the
American insisted he had not directed his remarks at the Russian. Then
who did he mean? Too bad they no longer have pistols at dawn to
encourage restraint in language.
In
this surreal Olympics, Russia is supposedly absent. The Russian flag
is not displayed and the Russian anthem is not played. It is because
the country was accused of a state-wide doping scheme. Yet all the
Russian athletes are present competing under the ROC acronym -- standing
for the Russian Olympic Committee. According to this logic, the
athletes were force-fed the doping pills. Perhaps they were...
Nigerian
sprinter Blessing Okagbare, a silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics, was suspended after winning a 100-meter heat in Tokyo when she
tested positive for human-growth hormone. The hormone builds muscle
mass and reduces body fat. After ten other Nigerians were also
suspended, the Nigerian Athletic Federation accepted responsibility.
Scandals
involving performance-enhancing substances are not new. The notorious
case of Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson comes to mind. The latter won the
100-meter race at the Seoul Olympics but failed a drug test and the gold
medal was awarded to Carl Lewis in second place. It later emerged he
had tested positive for banned substances two months earlier at the US
Olympic trials -- a result the US committee chose to ignore. Thus the
medal belonged to Britain's Linford Christie... except he, too, had a
colorful doping history. Dennis Mitchell, the next man in line, was
later banned for testosterone.
Another
notorious case is that of cyclist Lance Armstrong. He garnered seven
Tour de France titles and one Olympic medal. Persistent allegations of
doping led eventually to an investigation by the US Anti-doping Agency, which Armstrong unsuccessfully tried to block through the courts. He
was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and the Olympic gold
medal when he decided not to contest the charges. It is possible the numerous
eye-witnesses and other cyclists who had admitted doping brought him to reality.
The fact remains that as long as there is the glitter of fame and a good chance
they will beat the scheduled tests, athletes are going to be tempted.