Every mention of Davey Hearns must include his status as former Olympian. Is it still an interesting addition to the story? Does it gain him credibility somehow?
I initially just assumed that it was constantly being mentioned because Trump had made it clear to Blanche that Trump was going to let Hearn buy his way out of jeopardy by turning over all of his medals to Trump.
Semi-seriously, though: I think we like to believe that Olympians, astronauts, and a few other rarified professions imbue a certain presumption of integrity, among other possible qualities.
I guess they have to identify him somehow. “Falsely accused vandal David Hearn” doesn’t have the same ring to it. I wonder if he’d be identified as “retired doctor” or “Georgetown professor” if those were accurate.
If nothing else, it has informed me that there is a canoe event at the Olympics. I was unaware.
I don’t think so. There were three other arrests, and I had to do a bit of digging to find out the professions of those unfortunate people. Sophie Dennison-Gibby is a veterinarian, Justin Carreno is a federal contractor (who has lost two jobs due to his arrest), and I couldn’t find the profession of Cameron Thiers.
I agree with this statement.
I’m not sure, but I suspect it gets mentioned every time because it’s something unusual about him, and makes him more notable than being just another guy. It draws eyeballs.
Similarly, a guy from Kenya got deported by ICE in June, after overstaying his visa by ten years, and having had various run-ins with the law. But, the real reason why the story was picked up by nearly every news service was “Former NFL linebacker deported.” While true, he was a marginal player, who barely got onto the field over the course of his three year career, but people will want to read the story, because the headline makes them wonder if it’s someone they have heard of.
Ditto for Canadian drug trafficker (and marginal Olympic snowboarder) Ryan Wedding.