Keith Strudler: The Olympic Silver Lining

Some people believe there’s a silver lining to everything. If you’re one of those people, which for the record I’m not, you might think this about the Russian Olympic Track and Field Team. At least they won’t get mugged at gun point in Rio, the site of the upcoming Summer Olympics. The same can’t be said for members of the Australian Paralympic Squad, two of whom did endure just that welcome from local residents that held the Aussie sailors up with a pistol. All in broad daylight, at 7:30 a.m., as onlookers passed by, like it was a common occurrence. Which right now in Rio, I’m led to believe it is.

Russian track and field athletes won’t endure that trauma this summer in Rio. That’s because they won’t be a the Olympic Games in Rio this summer, as the IAAF, the world federation for track and field, last week banned the Russian team from Olympic participation for systematic and systemic performance enhancing drugs issues up and down the aisle, a ruling that was upheld this week by the International Olympic Committee. So if you run, jump, or throw for Russia, you will experience the Olympics just like the rest of us – from the couch on TV.

According the IAAF and its president Sebastian Coe, who won four Olympic track medals back in his day, the Russian machine not only privileged rampant PED use by its athletes, but also created sophisticated methods for not getting caught. And by sophisticated, I mean shoving containers of clean urine in body cavities before heading to a test. Give the Russians this – it’s never a good idea to overthink things. The IAAF, and the IOC in conjunction, hopes that this unprecedented ban will help maintain the integrity of the Games and serve in the best interest of the sport. For the Russians, it’s guilty until proven innocent, which might as well be the new Olympic creed.

Russian athletes and officials have responded as one might expect – with relative indignation. Despite being caught red handed, or at least with a bag full of urine, everyone up to and including Vladimir Putin has called the ruling unfair and heavy handed. In fact, Putin’s influence likely opened the door for a limited number of Russian tracksters to still compete in the Games if they trained outside of the Russian motherland. And it’s no surprise they take such offense. While many parts of Russian life have suffered since the fall of the Soviet Union, their Olympic athletics program hasn’t been one of them. Despite economic turmoil, civil unrest, and a shrinking land and population mass, the Russians still pull in serious Olympic coin, usually right behind the Americans and now the Chinese in the Summer Games. And they won the medal count in the 2014 Winter Games held in their home land. Perhaps now we know why.

But let’s make a couple of things clear about this bold move by the IAAF and the IOC. First, if you think keeping Russians out of Rio will make these Games clean, or even just track and field clean, then you watched too many episodes of Blossom growing up. The Russians may win the gold medal in sports and drugs, but there’s plenty of silvers and bronzes to go around. Even – and shame on me for even thinking it, much less saying it – right here in the righteous US of A. Remember, it wasn’t long ago that our best sprinter Tyson Gay was suspended for chemically enhanced speed. Banning the Russians may send a message that the Olympics cares about drugs, and I’m sure they do, but it’s a bit like saying we care about global warming or fatty foods. We’re not really going to do what it takes to change things, even if we could.

Second, and this is probably more important, don’t think Russia and its allies – and they do exist – won’t take this personally. So personally that they might not be so attached to the Olympic movement from now on. Just like the dozens of athletes from other countries who’ve voluntarily pulled themselves from these Games, either because of Zika, or swimming water that’s basically sewage, or perhaps for some Australians, because they don’t want to be threatened with a gun. These are dark days indeed for the Olympic movement, and it’s not inconceivable that four years from now, even more athletes – especially Russians – might consider the wealth of other sporting opportunities outside of these particular contests. In other words, there are a lot of places now to run, jump, throw, swim, row, and so on. And most of those don’t come with the risk of mosquito borne diseases.

Just something to consider, in case you think the Olympics has finally gotten itself straight with its hard line on Russian track and field. Because contrary to popular conception, not everything has a silver lining.

 
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