Last Thursday, with the start of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics a mere three weeks away, the news broke that American sprint sensation Sha’Carri Richardson had tested positive for a chemical found in marijuana at the USA Olympic Trials, where she had blown away the field on 19th June, in a time of 10.86 seconds. With her victory struck off from the record, Richardson received a three-month suspension (which was reduced to one month since she had participated in a counselling programme) and will not be representing the Stars and Stripes in the Women’s 100 metres event at the Games, where she had already been installed as the firm favourite.
The news rapidly spread across social media platforms and ignited a plethora of heated discussions and debates about the ‘system’, society’s evolving view of ‘weed’ and its side effects, and the lax approach towards marijuana usage as reflected in the minimum disciplinary standards employed by various sporting bodies. US President Joe Biden, when asked by a reporter about Richardson’s suspension, wryly observed, “The rules are the rules and everybody knows what the rules were going in. Whether they should remain the rules is a different issue, but the rules are the rules.”
Richardson, a diminutive fireball of 5’ 1”, who belies the traditional convention of sprinters requiring long legs, burst onto the scene two years ago as a 19-year-old freshman at Louisiana State University, streaking to the NCAA 100 metres crown in the astonishing time of 10.75 seconds. Richardson, who turned professional a year ago, stopped the clock at 10.72 seconds at a meet in April this year, the sixth fastest time in history, and was expected to tussle with Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for the top step on the podium. A poster girl for Nike, the sportswear conglomerate, Richardson’s positive test result is expected to cost her millions in lost earnings that the gold medal would have secured.
This latest positive test is a further source of embarrassment to the USA which has been at the forefront of calling for the banning of Soviet athletes in the wake of their doping scandal. It follows the suspension of the reigning 100 metres world champion Christian Coleman (SN Editorial, `No Olympics for Coleman’ 21st April, 2021) for missing appointments for drug tests and the positive test for a performance enhancer for Shelby Houlihan, the American record holder at 1,500 and 5,000 metres. As if America’s woes were not enough to bear already, on Friday, defending Olympic 100-metre hurdles champion, Brianna McNeal had a five-year ban for tampering or attempted tampering upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In keeping with the standard protocol of these revelations, the spin doctoring machinery kicked into high gear and Richardson was a guest on NBC’s Today show on Friday, appearing very apologetic and drawing on the sympathy card. Although accepting full responsibility for her actions, Richardson related that at the time of her marijuana usage, she was trying to cope with the recent passing of her mother. The well-executed appeal to universal sympathy might well have been the spark to the flame for the ensuing debates.
Among the focal points of the argument against the marijuana rule suspension has been the almost casual attitude adopted by professional sport leagues in the USA as laws prohibiting marijuana usage there and around the world have been relaxed and to the studies that link marijuana to medicinal and pain-relief benefits. It is worth noting that the National Basketball Association (NBA) stopped random tests for marijuana last year March and the National Football League (NFL) has raised the threshold for a positive test and eliminated suspensions.
Why then is marijuana still on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances? For something to be placed on WADA’s list it must meet two of the three following criteria: (a) It poses a health risk to athletes; (b) It has the potential to enhance performance; (c) It violates the spirit of sport. WADA asserts that marijuana still meets two of the criteria. It is important to take note of the fact that following the 2012 London Olympics, the threshold for a positive test was raised from 15 nanograms per millilitre to 150 ng/m. The international regulators explained the new threshold was an attempt to ensure that in-competition use is detected, but not usage during the days and weeks before competition.
The drug found in marijuana that Richardson, who vehemently denied any use of steroids on the Today show, tested positive for is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana and hashish. According to the USADA, the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code newly classifies THC as a “Substance of Abuse” because it is frequently used in society outside the context of sport. While some studies have shown that marijuana could be a potential performance enhancer, the million-dollar question is how? One educated guess suggests that the relaxing effect produced by marijuana in some instances, might provide an advantage for those involved in events such as sprinting, high jumping and pistol shooting.
So the Tokyo Olympics Women’s 100 metres event will be without Sha’Carri Richardson, who has been hailed as the most exciting sprinter since the arrival of Usain Bolt. USADA’s Chief Executive Travis Tygart observed, “The rules are clear, but this is heartbreaking on many levels; hopefully, her acceptance of responsibility and apology will be an important example to us all that we can successfully overcome our regrettable decisions, despite the costly consequences of this one to her.” Since Richardson’s suspension will be up before the relay events commence at the Summer Games, it will hardly come as a surprise to anyone, if the USA authorities select her to participate, since as far as they are concerned she would have paid the price for her mistake.
What’s really on trial here is not whether Richardson should be allowed to run at the Tokyo Olympics, or marijuana should be on WADA’s list of banned substances, but rather how far we, as a society, are willing to lower our standards over what is right or wrong. The more we stoop, bend, flex and compromise, the further we are lowering ourselves into an abyss from which we can never climb out. How far will we go before we realize it’s too late? The rules are the rules.
