So American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson has been suspended for a month and may miss the Olympics because she tested postive for . . . marijuana. She apparently ingested a legal edible after learning that her biological mother had died.
Yeah, I know, those are the rules and she knew the rules and blah, blah, blah. But this rule is incredibly stupid, does nothing to preserve fair competition, and is at odds with where society is heading on cannibis use. If there’s any justice the US Anti-Doping Agency will find a way to allow her to compete and strip this stupid rule from the rulebook.
When it comes to the Olympics, I actively root AGAINST basically every American competitor. America is, for me, the New York Yankees or the New England Patriots of the Olympics - the big, popular, successful team that I love to see fail.
But that’s at a team level, and I have no bone to pick with any of the American athletes individually. Sha’Carri Richardson is fucking awesome, and all the Anti-Doping people have done here is deprive the TV audiences of the world a chance to see a superstar in action on the world’s biggest stage.
I’m not an expert on athletics and doping rules, and I initially suspected that the ban on weed might be specific to the US. But according to the New York Times, it’s on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances, and the US Olympic Committee is required to follow those rules.
Since it’s still illegal in many countries, that’s one reason. Another reason is that some sports (archery, shooting) benefit from being calm, that would be performance enhancing ( I have no idea if pot works that way).
Why should athletes be tested for a substance just because it’s illegal in some countries? Should they be suspended for unpaid parking tickets? Homosexuality is illegal in some countries, should there be a test for that?
The only legitimate role of USADA and WADA is to test for substances that provide an athlete with an unfair advantage in competition. Maaaaybe marijuana use could be performance enhancing in some very specific circumbstances, but that’s not the justification in WADA’s rule book. Marijuana along with cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, etc. are banned because they “are frequently abused in society outside of the context of sport,” according to the WADA rule book.
I call bullshit. It’s not anti-doping agencies’ job to police recreational drug use. They shouldn’t be testing for these substances at all.
As I understand it, that’s the reason alcohol was banned as a performance-enhancing substance. I heard it was used by athletes in the biathlon, but archery makes sense too.
It’s still stupid of her and she deserves the ban. I wish she’d just fess up and say she likes to get high rather than hide behind the coping mechanism nonsense.
Yes, it’s a dumb rule but it applies equally to divas with gold medal ambitions and those who are just happy to be in the Olympics
Stress relieve can provide a competitive advantage. If an athlete is sad, anxious, flustered, etc., then THC may allow them to calm their emotions so they can focus on their performance. Even if it’s not used on the day of the event, it may allow them to practice, train, and recover more efficiently from its calming effect.
Richardson, 21, emerged this year as a threat to win the 100 meters gold medal, running a season-low time of 10.72 seconds and winning the Olympic trials in 10.86 seconds.
Detailed Washington Post article on her, might be paywalled
I don’t know of any studies on this with regards to athletes, but THC is often used to reduce anxiety, help with sleep, reduce stress, etc. Those are all things that an athlete typically needs. An athlete needs to be mentally relaxed to focus on the task at hand. An athlete needs good sleep to be refreshed for training. If an athlete is freaking out because they’re doubting themselves, reducing that anxiety can give them self confidence. If an athlete comes into a training session exhausted and their mind swirling with life’s problems, they probably aren’t going to get as productive of a session compared to someone who is refreshed and relaxed. It certainly could be that the THC itself is a performance degrader in terms of muscle capability, but the other benefits of THC could make up for that in other ways.
If we’re going to prohibit athletes from taking marijuana because it can reduce stress and help with sleep, I hope they’re also going to also ban chamomile tea and blowjobs.
Let’s run with the assumption that weed use offers relief from stress, anxiety and/or pain. Does the use of it comprise an unfair competitive advantage?
I think he was raising an eyebrow at you referring to her as a diva, not at your argument that she was hoping to win gold. As an aside, I’d be willing to be that basically every athlete that makes it to the Olympics–and certainly every American athlete–could be reasonably described as having “gold medal ambitions.”
What is it about Richardson that, in your view, makes her a “diva”?
I just did a quick search on your history, and you have used “diva” a number of times over the years to refer to athletes. There are the athletes and sports figures you have connected with the term “diva”:
Robert Griffin III
Randy Moss
Terrell Owens
Anquan Boldin
Cam Newton
Chad Ochocinco
