Search Weight Loss Topics:




Aug 17

Community Voices: Once again, the Olympics are filled with glory and controversy – SW News Media

Testosterone Comments Off on Community Voices: Once again, the Olympics are filled with glory and controversy – SW News Media

Ah, the Olympics. Normally, I am not a sports fan, but there is something about the Olympics that seems to appeal to everyone.

Besides the pure competition, there is the pride in our hometown heroes like Suni Lee, Grace McCallum, Regan Smith and Gable Stevenson; the joyous faces of their parents; the stories of sacrifice and success; the sportsmanship of the two men who helped each other finish after falling in the 800-meter race; the high jumpers who were willing to share a gold medal; the tiny underdog countries winning their first medals ever.

Sure, the spectacle is produced to tug at your heart strings. The nationalistic medal counts fly in the face of the purported Olympic goals of peace and goodwill. But, overall, it is wonderful.

Each Olympics gives us an exposure to sports few of us follow like individual epee (fencing), the 10-meter air rifle mixed team (shooting) or team dressage (equestrian). In addition, there are new events like BMX freestyle and canoe sprinting. Im just pleased they dropped live pigeon shooting after only one year.

Everything has rules. There are issues arising about uniforms being too revealing, or not revealing enough. The high-tech fabric used in swimwear in the 2008 games has now been banned after too many records were broken. BMX jerseys cant be made from Lycra, they cant have back pockets, and they must be tucked in. Even swim caps caused controversy when the Soul Cap, designed for voluminous hair and braids, was banned even though no competitors were wearing them. Earrings and nail colors are restricted in some sports, although this years fads of multi-colored hair and extreme eyelash extensions were allowed.

Drug testing has caused athletes to be prohibited from competition and lose medals. Russia, as a country, is banned from competition due to its history of doping, yet the Russian Olympic Committee sent 330 athletes to Tokyo. Go figure.

The 2020 games had been postponed for a year due to COVID. There were special protocols in place and no spectators allowed. A number of athletes had their Olympic dreams shattered when a positive COVID test forced them to withdraw from competition. Sadly, this sometimes affected entire groups of athletes who had been in contact with those who tested positive.

But the strangest story I heard was about Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi of Namibia who were prohibited from running a 400-meter race because their natural testosterone levels were too high. However, they were allowed to compete in shorter races and Christine Mboma won the silver medal for the 200 meter race.

These women have some natural condition that gives them high testosterone levels. No one is alleging that they are men, nor that they have taken testosterone supplements or any other performance enhancing drugs. Their bodies just make extra testosterone. So, is that unfair? How are they considered women for short races, but not for longer ones?

What about the 7-foot-tall basketball players? They may have a natural condition that provided more human growth hormone? Dont they have an unfair advantage?

Or how about the tall, long-armed swimmers? The kids raised at high altitude whose lungs are better developed? The short female gymnasts who can easily clear the uneven bars? The athletes who have had elite coaches their entire lives? The baseball players who, as a group, have superb vision. Arent those unfair advantages?

Lets face it, most of us mere mortals could train for years and we might get pretty good at a sport, but few people have the physical capabilities that allow them to become world class athletes. So how do you determine which advantages are normal and which are unfair?

Sure, we ban drugs and equipment which enhance performance, but the variety of individual physical differences has been accepted and celebrated as part of sports.

The issue here relates to the real, and perceived, differences between men and women. It wasnt until 1972 that women were allowed to run the Boston Marathon. It was assumed that women couldnt run that far.

When I was in high school, women couldnt play full court basketball. The guards were on one side, the forwards on the other, and no one could cross the center line. Women were considered too delicate to run the full court. Tell that to the Lynx!

Women now compete in every sport imaginable. In many recreational contests there are some women who outperform the men, yet there remain differences in strength and endurance between men and women. Any woman who has performed too well athletically has probably been called too masculine. But does it really come down to measuring testosterone in a blood test? What else is considered?

There are now only three years before the Paris Olympics. Breaking (competitive breakdancing) will be added as an Olympic sport while baseball, softball and karate will be left out. There will be continuing disputes over uniforms, drug tests and womens testosterone levels. Well have more hometown heroes, proud parents, and sportsmanship stories with the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe in the background. I cant wait!

Rochelle Eastman is a Savage resident who writes for Community Voices every month.

More:
Community Voices: Once again, the Olympics are filled with glory and controversy - SW News Media

Related Posts

    Your Full Name

    Your Email

    Your Phone Number

    Select your age (30+ only)

    Select Your US State

    Program Choice

    Confirm over 30 years old

    Yes

    Confirm that you resident in USA

    Yes

    This is a Serious Inquiry

    Yes

    Message:



    matomo tracker