Games of the XXXII Olympiad - Tokyo Japan - What Was Your Favorite Olympics Moment?

[skinsmarydu]

[Chew]

Shacarri Richardson is going to destroy the 100M Olympic record.  Jeepers, she's fast.  

[Hersh]

4 hours ago, Chew said:

Shacarri Richardson is going to destroy the 100M Olympic record.  Jeepers, she's fast.  

 

She has to start faster. 

[China]

Tokyo Olympics To Be A Dry Event After Organizers Abruptly Reverse Course

 

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics abruptly reversed a decision, announced the previous day, to sell alcohol at Olympic venues, following criticism from medical experts and ordinary Japanese.

 

The games are due to start in one month's time, despite calls for them to be canceled, due to the pandemic.

 

Organizers portrayed the decision as an anti-virus measure. A weekend poll by the Kyodo News Agency found 86% of respondents believe that the games would spread the coronavirus. But organizers also appear to be responding to charges of showing Olympic athletes and sponsors preferential treatment.

 

"Are the Olympics an exception, after having placed a burden of anti-infection measures on restaurant operators for so long?" Haruo Ozaki, Chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, asked at a recent press conference.

 

Tokyo is currently under restrictions that limit alcohol consumption to groups of no more than two people, for up to 90 minutes between 11 AM and 7 PM, at bars and restaurants that are certified as taking proper anti-infection measures.

 

Organizing chief Seiko Hashimoto said Monday that alcohol sales were being considered, but only on the condition that drinkers refrain from congregating or shouting at the venues.

 

There was also criticism that the decision to sell alcohol was motivated by commercial interests, specifically those of Olympic sponsors, such as Asahi Group Holdings, which holds exclusive rights to sell beer at the games.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[PleaseBlitz]

Here Are the DC Area Athletes Who Are Heading to the Tokyo Olympics

 

https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/06/29/here-are-the-dc-area-athletes-who-are-heading-to-the-tokyo-olympics/

 

Quote

The summer Olympics are happening in Tokyo next month, and roughly 500 athletes will represent the United States. Here are the 17 who hail from DC, Maryland, and Virginia:

The Olympics begin Friday, July 23 and run through Sunday, August 8.

 

DC
Katharine Holmes
The National Cathedral School alum will compete in epee fencing in her second Olympics.

 

Taylor Knibb,
Knibb, a graduate of Sidwell Friends School, will compete in the triathlon.

 

Virginia
Claire Collins
Collins, a Princeton grad who is from McLean, will compete in rowing.

 

Grant Holloway
The Chesapeake, Virginia native is on the track and field team.

 

Torri Huske
The Yorktown High School graduate is part of the swimming team.

 

Troy Isley
The Alexandria Boxing Club member will bring his fight skills to the Olympics.

 

Noah Lyles
Lyles, a graduate of T.C. Williams (now Alexandria City High School), will compete in track and field.

 

Maryland
Phoebe Bacon
The Stone Ridge graduate will compete in swimming.

 

Abby Gustaitis
The University of Maryland graduate and Baltimore native is on the rugby team.

 

Chase Kalisz
Kalisz, who has two Olympic silver medals, will compete in swimming.

 

Katie Ledecky
The swimming star already has five Olympic gold medals, and is going for more.

 

Professional Team Sports
Ariel Atkins
The Washington Mystics guard will compete on the 12 person Olympics basketball team.

 

Bradley Beal
The Washington Wizards player is part of the basketball team.

 

Tina Charles
The Washington Mystics center was named to the basketball team.

 

[China]

 

 

 

[China]

 

[Chew]

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/02/swimming-caps-for-natural-black-hair-ruled-out-of-olympic-games-alice-dearing

[Spaceman Spiff]

On 6/20/2021 at 7:14 PM, Chew said:

Shacarri Richardson is going to destroy the 100M Olympic record.  Jeepers, she's fast.  

 

Unfortunately she couldn't lay off the weed.

 

https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/31749534/american-sprinter-shacarri-richardson-apologizes-positive-test

 

JFC, was she high during that interview?  That was painful to listen to.

 

 

 

 

[Ball Security]

Former Nat, Edwin Jackson will pitch for USA baseball.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

2 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

Unfortunately she couldn't lay off the weed.

 

https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/31749534/american-sprinter-shacarri-richardson-apologizes-positive-test

 

JFC, was she high during that interview?  That was painful to listen to.

 

 

 

 

I'm torn on this...

 

On one hand, it's such a stupid rule. On the other hand, athletes know the rules when they compete so it's her own fault. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

2 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

I'm torn on this...

 

On one hand, it's such a stupid rule. On the other hand, athletes know the rules when they compete so it's her own fault. 

 

I agree, it's a stupid rule.  I'll happily go race anyone who's smoked weed.  Maybe not @Chewcause it's probably like spinach for Popeye but yeah.

 

Ultimately I come down on...they knew the rules, even as stupid as the rules are.  

 

The hardest part of that interview where she got kind of indignant and was all like, "Who are you? Who am I to tell you how to cope when you're dealing with a pain or you're dealing with a struggle that you've never experienced before or that you never thought you'd have to deal with. Who am I to tell you how to cope? Who am I to tell you you're wrong for hurting?"

 

US Anti-Doping agency just told her who they were, in case she felt like she had to ask.  

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[mammajamma]

Can take opioids but weed is off the table. So dumb

[PokerPacker]

8 hours ago, mammajamma said:

Can take opioids but weed is off the table. So dumb

You see, Marijuana is a gateway to harder drugs.  She could move onto something harder like Morphine next.  Is that what you want?

[China]

1 hour ago, PokerPacker said:

You see, Marijuana is a gateway to harder drugs.  She could move onto something harder like Morphine next.  Is that what you want?

 

Clearly they're concerned that it's performance enhancing and she'll end up like Micheal Phelps and win 23 medals.  Although he never tested positive for the Olympics, but was suspended for 3 months.

[PleaseBlitz]

 

 

[Hersh]

11 hours ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

 

 

I like Rex and a lot of his takes, but this is a terrible one. USOC should work to reform the rules but you don't threaten something like that with all the other athletes when Richardson has owned her mistake. Nobody thinks it's a good rule but come on now. 

[PleaseBlitz]

10 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

I like Rex and a lot of his takes, but this is a terrible one. USOC should work to reform the rules but you don't threaten something like that with all the other athletes when Richardson has owned her mistake. Nobody thinks it's a good rule but come on now. 

It’s a joke. I’m pretty sure he’s not seriously suggesting a wholesale reworking of the post WWII order over this. 

[PleaseBlitz]

Not close. 
 

 

 

 

[Simmsy]

When I was a child, everything stopped for the Olympics. Hell, they even showed the events twice and the news would even tell you to leave the room so they wouldn't spoil who won before America could get home to watch at a normal time. Now, no one cares...even I don't care anymore. This whole thing with the weed, naturally high testosterone and bans has completely put me off the Olympics all together. I thought it would be a good buffer between now and when football starts, but I might skip the whole thing all together. 

 

I probably won't even watch water polo for the inevitable nip/dong slip that always makes it uncensored on tv.

[Long n Left]

13 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

thought it would be a good buffer between now and when football starts, but I might skip the whole thing all together. 

Euros, Copa America, Gold Cup, plenty of footy to get ya through! 😁

[FrFan]

Why Marijuana Can Disqualify a Runner From the Olympics

It is legal for medicinal use in many more. But it is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances. The drug is banned on race days, but not outside of competition.

Drugs are banned if they meet two of three criteria, WADA says: If they enhance performance, pose a health risk or violate “the spirit of sport.”

WADA reported in a 2011 paper that “based on current animal and human studies as well as on interviews with athletes and information from the field, cannabis can be performance enhancing for some athletes and sports disciplines.”

There are not a large number of rigorous studies of marijuana as a performance enhancer, but there is evidence that it can help some athletes relax and focus. On the other hand, it can negatively affect hand-eye coordination, concentration and endurance.

As to risk, WADA said that athletes who smoke cannabis “potentially endanger themselves and others because of increased risk taking, slower reaction times and poor executive function or decision making.”

In terms of the “spirit of the sport” rule, WADA said that the “use of illicit drugs that are harmful to health and that may have performance-enhancing properties is not consistent with the athlete as a role model for young people around the world.”

[bearrock]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/03/shacarri-richardson-marijuana-olympics-doping-ban/

 

Quote

“One of these days, we should probably either take it off the list entirely or say it’s there but the minimum sanction should be something like a warning, so you’re not losing any period of eligibility,” said International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound, one of the founders of WADA. “Frankly, I don’t think there’s evidence it’s performance-enhancing, and/or it’s a drug that masks the use of other drugs.”

 

Quote

Pound recalled marijuana’s inclusion on the original WADA list as driven by governmental views. He now says it never made sense for a governing body overseeing sports to prohibit it.

 

“We were a little diffident about saying, ‘Even though these things are prohibited by criminal law, we don’t care,’ ” Pound said. “That just looked bad. But I think as thought has been given to these things over the years, they’re really not performance-enhancing.”

 

Within the anti-doping movement, experts said, the question of whether marijuana could enhance performance or endanger an athlete in some sports is not settled. USADA and WADA have debated internally for years its effects on competition, even if the hypotheticals raised strike some as unrealistic. Would it allow a diver or a snowboarder to alleviate stress? Could it lead a lackadaisical boxer to suffer an injury? Or might it help an injured athlete manage his or her pain?

 

Quote

Since the 1980s, WADA has debated whether marijuana should be prohibited. The discussion become a political minefield, with more than 100 countries represented and nearly as many national outlooks toward marijuana. Even today, while roughly 40 countries have at least partially legalized marijuana, others punish marijuana use or possession with prison time. The rollback of penalties may provide a starting point to convince involved governments that WADA can remove marijuana from the list altogether.

 

“You have to deal with the art of the plausible here,” Pound said. “Fifty percent of the stakeholders in WADA are governments. Many of them would be reluctant to indicate any kind of complete non-responsibility. The next step is to say: ‘Look, we understand your concern, but the criminal use of this stuff, the criminal distribution of it, that’s not really a sport problem any more. That’s your problem as a government.’ ”

 

Quote

U.S. domestic politics played a role as well, stemming from an era when the war on drugs remained national policy. In 1998, the United States pledged $1 million to assist the IOC in cleansing drugs from sports. Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug czar under President Bill Clinton, made clear that the United States believed the IOC should fight both performance-enhancing drugs and recreational drugs such as marijuana. McCaffrey’s office lobbied U.S. anti-doping leaders to include marijuana on the banned list.

 

“We raise Olympic athletes up on international pedestals for all the world’s children to look up to as role models — it is vital that the message they send is drug-free,” McCaffrey said at the time. “The goal of this whole effort must be to prevent Olympic medals and the Olympic movement from being tarnished by drugs.”

 

I say this as someone who's never smoked or consumed marijuana products and don't really have an interest in the future.  I also think Richardson broke a rule that was pretty clear on the books and accepted the punishment as she should.  But the rule itself is bonkers and the notion that marijuana is a performance enhancer is ridiculous.  Might as well ban otc pain medications too.  

 

As for the notion of upholding some kind of spirit of the sports, that's a laugher coming from an industry that will whore themselves out to any Tom Dick and Harry government as they long as they pony up the money.  Give me a break.

[Cooked Crack]

 

This some BS.