The games were intended to display athletic talent in an amateur setting as a way of promoting worldwide unity. Does that sound like what’s been happening in Beijing the last few weeks? True, COVID has made a huge dent in the proceedings but the International Olympic Committee hasn’t helped itself. A Russian figure skater has been the focal point of a bizarre doping scandal. It is impossible to understand how a drug supposedly taken by mistake 6 weeks before the games and only tested after the competition began can destroy so many hopes. But to compound the error, the IOC has delayed its decision letting the young lady (age 15) try to continue to compete at the highest level in her sport. And the decision on medal ceremonies only exacerbates the situation. It all points out the incredible mismanagement of the IOC and the inability of its members to understand the athlete’s perspective. The allusion to prior Russian doping scandals only makes things worse. This young poster child for the 2022 games had nothing to do with that occurrence and should not in any way be linked to it. We’re disappointed that American athletes joined in the debacle. And when the press adds in the human rights violations in China the whole event should have been cancelled. This is the ultimate slap in the face to all the athletes but sometimes the negative results outweigh any possible gains. Maybe the mistake was awarding China the site for the games in the first place…after all they have been guilty of human rights abuses for many years. How can you hope to promote world unity in such a setting?
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