The Daily Populous Wednesday July 7th, 2021 day edition
Authored by wsj.com and submitted by Justrocketeer

Team USA’s roster of track and field athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will be missing its biggest newsmaker ahead of the Games: sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson.

The 21-year-old winner of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials’ women’s 100 meters last month was left off the team named Tuesday by USA Track & Field, after an anti-doping test detected a chemical found in marijuana. Richardson was disqualified from the 100 meters, but USATF, the sport’s national governing body, had the option to select her to run in a relay in Tokyo. It declined.

“While USATF fully agrees that the merit of the World Anti-Doping Agency rules related to THC should be reevaluated, it would be detrimental to the integrity of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track & Field if USATF amended its policies following competition, only weeks before the Olympic Games,” USATF said in a statement Tuesday.

“All USATF athletes are equally aware of and must adhere to the current anti-doping code, and our credibility as the National Governing Body would be lost if rules were only enforced under certain circumstances.”

The statement praised Richardson’s accountability and said that USATF will offer her “our continued support both on and off the track.”

MarcoEll on July 7th, 2021 at 06:27 UTC »

As Bill Murray once said “the most dangerous thing about weed is getting caught with it”

fr0ntsight on July 7th, 2021 at 02:21 UTC »

That's too bad. Maybe some day they will change the rules. I remember when Phelps got a 3 month suspension for just a picture!

tyw112 on July 6th, 2021 at 22:21 UTC »

Stuck somewhere between "she knew the rule; what a bad decision for her to make" and "what a stupid rule; why should someone be punished for that"