On Friday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) (D-NY) called the International Olympic Committee’s anti-doping policy “racist and colonial” after the suspension of US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson because of testing positive during last month’s US Olympic trials for a chemical that is found in marijuana and suggested the committee “reconsider” the policy.
Richardson, who won the 100-meter dash at 10.86 seconds at trials in Eugene, Oregon on June 19, was given a one-month ban following the test result.
This means that Richardson is out of the race because the suspension goes through July 27. She blew it to be crowned the fastest woman in the world. Even so, she can still run in the 4X100 meter relay at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 21-year-old sprinter has received widespread support from fellow athletes, politicians, and everyday Americans after she acknowledged her suspension on NBC’s “Today” show and explained that she smoked marijuana as a way of coping with her mother’s recent death. Not to sound harsh, but there is no clause I know of that allows an Olympic athlete to smoke marijuana after the death of a loved one.
The criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy. The IOC should reconsider its suspension of Ms. Richardson and any athletes penalized for cannabis use. This ruling along w/ IOC denial of swim caps for natural hair is deeply troubling.”
The criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy.
The IOC should reconsider its suspension of Ms. Richardson and any athletes penalized for cannabis use. This ruling along w/ IOC denial of swim caps for natural hair is deeply troubling. https://t.co/Ao1Yu8Ax9G
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 2, 2021
A member of Congress should not be weighing in on something like this, but worse yet, AOC is telling people of color that it’s okay for them to break the rules because they’re people of color. That’s what she is doing when she claims the rules that apply to everyone are “racist and colonial.”
After the London Summer Olympics in 2012, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reduced the threshold for what the organization deems a positive marijuana testing from15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 nanograms per milliliter. They did this to detect use of marijuana during competition and to alleviate results from usage days and/or weeks prior.
Yet marijuana is still on the WADA list of banned substances, and THC, the chemical Richardson’s test came back positive for, which is classified as a “Substance of Abuse” with stronger drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, and heroin because of use outside of a competitive context in normal society.
The sanction was actually three months, but Richardson got it reduced to one month when she agreed to participate in a drug counseling program.
Travis T. Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said that while anti-doping rules are clear, Richardson’s suspension was “heartbreaking on many levels.”
Here’s the deal. Everyone, including Richardson, knew the rules going in. The rules were not changed any time recently to trick anyone or as any other type of “gotcha” action. It’s an easy if/then situation. If you do these drugs, then you get suspended.
Try to tell that to the naturally dopey Ocasio-Cortez who also blasted the IOC over the International Swimming Federation’s (FINA) rule to not allow swimming caps specifically designed to protect black competitors’ hair during the Games. AOC said that rule was “deeply troubling.”
The British product Soul Cap filed an application for their products to be recognized by FINA, but the application was rejected after it was determined that the caps do not follow “the natural form of the head,” and according to the governing body, the caps are supposed to cover thick, curly and voluminous hair and Soul Cap doesn’t fit the requirements.
I’m surprised AOC isn’t trying to shut the Olympics down the way she turned Amazon away from providing tens of thousands of jobs to New Yorkers when the Dunning Kruger woman from the Bronx badgered the company into pulling out of the deal to build another headquarters in the Big Apple. Way to go, dumb dumb.
On Friday, the federation, which is based in Switzerland, said it is reviewing the Soul Cap situation and other similar products saying that they have an “understanding of the importance of inclusivity and representation.” In other words, they don’t want to upset the Woke Supremacy so they are looking for ways to appease loudmouthed members of Congress who have knee-jerk reactions minus the knee part.
