Headline Roundup • July 7th, 2021
Perspectives: Sha'Carri Richardson Banned From Olympics After Marijuana Use
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Tuesday, U.S.A. Track & Field (USATF) released a statement confirming track and field sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension from the team after Richardson tested positive for THC, a chemical compound found in marijuana, last month; the failed drug test initially placed her on a month-long suspension as of June 28. Richardson's 10.86-second time in the women's 100-meter race last month at the Olympic trials in Oregon broke records. On the NBC Show Friday, Richardson said she used marijuana to cope after the news of her mother's death. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the rules "racist" and called for the Olympics to "reconsider"; White House spokesperson Jen Psaki also suggested the rules should be revisited, while President Joe Biden said he supported Richardson's suspension, saying, "the rules are the rules."
Those who opposed Richardson's suspension expressed sympathy for her and criticized the Olympic's rules. Some on the left said systemic racism was to blame, pointing to the fact that the rules are based on a study by the U.S. government; others on the left used the incident to push for widespread marijuana legalization. Some voices from the right criticized others for politicizing Richardson's suspension.
Featured Coverage of this Story
USA TODAY
The suspension of Olympic hopeful Sha'Carri Richardson over a positive marijuana test has sparked comparisons with other Olympic athletes who have also used the drug.
A Facebook post aims to compare Richardson and now-retired Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who won 28 medals.
"Michael Phelps smoked weed, kept all his medals and still participated in the Olympics. Don't y'all start this mess with Sha'Carri," the post reads.
Shared on July 2, the post has been shared over 7,000 times.
Phelps did use marijuana in 2008, months after that year's Olympics. But his situation and Richardson's can't be compared because the...
Vice
The saga of Sha’Carri Richardson—the fastest woman in the United States, banned from competing in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics after a drug test revealed she used cannabis last month—has united America in a way that COVID-19 could not.
The conventional wisdom from just about everyone—President Joe Biden, USA Track & Field (USATF), blabbermouths on Twitter, and Richardson herself—is that the 21-year-old athlete didn’t do anything terribly wrong when she smoked some weed to deal with emotional turmoil after learning from a reporter about her biological mother’s death, as she recounted Friday on...
New York Post (Opinion)
The Olympic Games in Tokyo are doomed. Before the opening ceremony, before even the torch is lit, it’s not going to be OK. The Games, I’m afraid, just aren’t woke enough. Apologies to Tokyo and Japan — and #StopAsianHate and so on. But for the international left, sport no longer matters unless it can be used to win on Twitter and advance the War for Progress.
Professional football can no longer be about the game. It must be a staging ground for raising awareness of racism and police brutality. Classrooms can no...
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