Controversies Surrounding the Olympic Games

Image courtesy of The Nation

By Noelia Veras

As conditions in Japan worsen, spectators are wondering whether the Olympic Games – which were already postponed a year – will be canceled due to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic. Host City Tokyo entered a state of emergency because of the virus on Monday, July 12, just less than two weeks before the Games begin.

Citizens of Tokyo are actively protesting the Games, claiming they pose an enormous threat to their population. With less than 5% of Japanese citizens vaccinated and 70,000 active cases, people fear that the Games will make situations worse, considering that there are 11,091 athletes expected to compete from 205 countries.

The Olympics, however, have cancelled all in-person spectatorship to mitigate the threat of the virus, and Pfizer and BioNTech have claimed that they are willing to donate vaccines for athletes.

Further backlash has come after Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from running at the Games due to smoking marijuana while training for the Tokyo Games. Spectators believe that while it was fair for Richardson to receive punishment, it was not fair to completely ban her from running since marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug. 

“No one is saying her actions, which proved to be her downfall as she was ultimately banned from the Olympics due to a failed drug test, were right,” ShaCamree Gowdy wrote in an opinion piece for Chron. “I’m also not saying she shouldn’t have faced some sort of discipline, but I think we can all agree that she did (and still does) deserve to run in a race she trained so hard for.”

People have voiced their dismay at the Olympic Games for this decision and many have linked it back to discrimination in sports. 

“When it comes to being Black, and a woman in particular, you have to be twice as good to receive half the recognition — good recognition that is,” Gowdy said.

Richardson instantly received negative feedback. She tweeted out “I am human” when the news broke and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even tweeted in support of Richardson running at the Tokyo Olympics.

“The criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “The IOC should reconsider its suspension of Ms. Richardson and any athletes penalized for cannabis use.”

Although the Games stand firm in their decision, Richardson promises she will return to running in an international capacity.

“I’m sorry, I can’t be y’all Olympic Champ this year but I promise I’ll be your World Champ next year,“ Richardson tweeted. 

The Tokyo Olympics are also receiving backlash for banning the swim caps preferred by Black athletes with natural hair.

Soul Cap, a company that makes swimming caps for minority swimmers, was denied official recognition by FINA. FINA is the international governing body for administering international water sport competitions, and it banned this type of swim cap on the basis of it not “following the natural form of the head.” FINA also stated that to their “best knowledge, the athletes competing at the international events never used, neither require to use, caps of such size and configuration.”

“We believe this statement made by FINA confirms what we already know: The lack of diversity in elite swimming and in the higher positions in global aquatics, and the lack of urgency for change,’  the Black Swimming Association wrote in response to FINA’s original statement.

However, FINA is reviewing and possibly reconsidering the ban.

“FINA is committed to ensuring that all aquatics athletes have access to appropriate swimwear for competition where this swimwear does not confer a competitive advantage”the group said in a statement. “FINA is currently reviewing the situation with regards to ‘Soul Cap’ and similar products, understanding the importance of inclusivity and representation.”

Overall, the Tokyo Games have received a lot of backlash for different reasons, many of which have caused people to question whether the games should go on at all. Some are claiming that the Games have nothing to do with athletes and everything to do with corporate revenue, while others are just calling for the Games to be abolished altogether. For now, however, the Games are set to go on in just over a week on Friday, July 23.