Gabby Douglas, Bob Costas, and Imaginary Barriers

Gabby Douglas talking about her early experiences in gymnastics:

“One of my teammates was like, ‘Can you scrape the bar?’ And they were like, ‘Why doesn’t Gabby do it, she’s our slave?’” (from an interview on Sunday’s Oprah’s Next Chapter quoted in by Us Weekly).

Bob Costas during an NBC Olympic broadcast on Gabby Douglas’s historic achievement:

“You know, it’s a happy measure of how far we’ve come that it doesn’t seem all that remarkable, but still it’s noteworthy, Gabby Douglas is, as it happens, the first African-American to win the women’s all-around in gymnastics. The barriers have long since been down, but sometimes there can be an imaginary barrier, based on how one might see oneself.”

Imaginary barrier?  Sounds rather real to me.

Gabby Douglas: Pointing out Race

A short piece on NewsOne by Kirstin West Savali decries those who might minimize the significance of Gabby Douglas’s blackness saying:

“Well, according to the word on Assimilation Street, [black former gymnast Dominique] Dawes shouldn’t be excited at all. The people that live there argue that what Gabby has accomplished transcends her Blackness to the point of making it a mere footnote, and to place special emphasis on her race is to diminish her global achievement.”

The mocking tone puts off the reader, but the post does raise an interesting question.  To what extent is it good to emphasize that person is the first black to do something and to what extent does that emphasis promote a sense of difference and otherness?

I would tend to say that pointing out the first is a great thing.  It is worthwhile, given the history of race and racism in American society, to make note of those who overcome that history or generally those who break new ground in historically white fields.

Insisting on some kind of colorblind celebration where all winners are equal and background does not play a role denies reality.  All kinds of factors are included in the storytelling surrounding athletic triumph, factors that differentiate and elevate those who have won.  If we are not to celebrate Gabby Douglas’s blackness; should we also ignore the age of athletes who are the youngest or the oldest to do something; should we ignore back story altogether?  What would NBC do?
Besides, I like the way my daughter cuts out pictures of Gabby and puts them up on the wall next to her pictures of the Obama family, right next to the Fresh Beat Band.

 

Sometimes the Stereotypes Hold True: Belarusian Shot Put Champion

I was filled with righteous indignation when after  Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus won the women’s Olympic shot put many bloggers and commentators cast aspersions on her appearance saying she looks like a man, and she must be on steroids.  I thought to myself how unfair that was that a top athlete was being derided just because she did not meet accepted gender norms.  I wondered why people would make superficial assumptions based on appearance.

Today Nadzeya Ostapchuk was stripped of her gold medal after testing positive for steroids.  It seems that those who had a negative initial reaction to the photos were at least partially correct and my righteous indignation was misguided.   I still stand by the idea that women should not be gratuitously criticized for meeting certain standards of beauty, but in this case the criticism proves not to have been gratuitous.  Sometimes the stereotypes prove accurate.

Nadzeya Ostapchuk on the medal stand

London Games as “The Women’s Olympics”

USA Women’s Soccer Team

A lot has been said about this iteration of the Olympics being one in which women triumphed.  The CNN piece, “The Woman’s Olympics?”  summarizes the various triumphs of female athletes.  For a single revealing statistic I like the ESPN W fact that women accounted for a record 63% of America’s gold medals. However, the question that now comes to mind is so what?  What deeper conclusions should one draw?  Certainly the success of American women can be tied to Title IX, but that is looking to the past for causation.  What about the future?  How many of the athletes who are part of that 63% are going to be able to make a financially remunerative career from their sport?  Will there be a difference based on gender?

The ESPN W piece focuses in particular on the limited professional women’s sports leagues.  While the US men’s soccer players have the MLS in which to play, the US women’s soccer team which has been much more successful internationally does not have such an opportunity.  While the triumphant men’s basketball team can go back to the NBA and million dollar contracts, the triumphant women’s basketball team can go back to the WNBA, which while a stable league does not pay nearly as well leading players to play overseas for income.

From another angle, while much attention has been given to women for their athletic triumphs, a lot more attention seems to be payed to appearance related issues in women’s sports than is played to similar issues in men’s sports.  Consider the hubbub surrounding Lolo Jones, Gabby Douglas’s hair, the beach volleyball bikinis.

I wonder what it would take for that kind of discussion to die away and for the opportunities to equal out?  Until then, I like the argument made by Christine Brennan from USA Today that we should at least be happy with all the wonderful female role models this Olympics produced.

 

Women’s Olympic Boxing: Why so Few Weight Classes?

Claressa Shields after winning Olympic gold

In the Olympics there are only 3 weight classes for women while there are 10 for men.  Many female boxers who were not in those 3 weight classes could not compete.  I finally found an explanation on Slate’s “Five Ring Circus” blog and it seems that there is a limit on the total number of boxers in the Olympics regardless of gender.  If more women were added, there would have to be fewer men competing.  Hypothetically, that would me 6-7 weight classes for each gender if there were an equal distribution. There is also the question of how many athletes a country can enter in each weight class.

I would hope that for Rio things are equaled out.  Given the hype around the success of women in these games and the efforts to address sexism (all countries now sending women to the games), balance here would make sense.  Equality in wrestling would also be an improvement in that there are more weight classes for men in that sport too.

The clear trading of male opportunities for female opportunities might not go over well (consider the perception of Title IX in America).  Perhaps some slots can be borrowed from another sport so or the International Olympic Committee can budge on its overall 10,000 athlete limit.

Yes, I know the argument might be that there are more male boxers in the world than women, but with more opportunities the number of athletes will increase.  Just look at the development of women’s pole vault and women’s steeplechase in track for example.

Leo Manzano and the Mexican Flag

Leo Manzano celebrated winning a silver medal in the Olympics 1500 meter run by carrying two flags, a Mexican flag and an American flag around the track.  Manzano was born in Mexico and came to America later becoming an American citizen.  His carrying two flags has lead to various comments.  For example, Ruben Navarrette, Jr. writing for CNN expressed his disapproval of Manzano carrying the Mexican flag.  He pointed out that since Manzano was wearing a USA uniform his undivided loyalty should be to America.  I see his point, but I am ambivalent in that I can also see Manzano’s pride in his heritage.   In order to figure out what sort of dual flag waving is correct, I have listed possible scenarios under the photo.

 

Would it be acceptable for the following to happen:

1. A Jewish athlete who is an American citizen celebrating with American and Israeli flags

2. An American athlete from Texas celebrating with an American and a Texan flag

3. A Native-American athlete celebrating with an American flag and a tribal flag

4. An Irish-American athlete celebrating with an Irish and an American flag

5. An African-American athlete celebrating with an American flag and the flag of the African nation from which his ancestors were taken as slaves

The one real historical parallel I can see is to Cathy Freeman an Australian of aboriginal decent who ran celebratory laps carrying both an Australian and an aboriginal flag after winning the 400 in Sydney.

 

 

 

Lolo Jones: Why the backlash?

I read with amazement the New York Times piece by Jere Longman ripping apart Lolo Jones.  The article, “For Lolo Jones, Everything is Image,” attacks Jones for supposedly marketing every aspect of her life: physical appearance, virginity, and challenging childhood.  Longman then casts Jones as an opportunistic athlete whose hype overwhelms her actual athletic achievement.

I found the piece disturbing on two ways.  First, as a track fan, I know Jones was one stumble away from a gold in a prior Olympics, and she did qualify for the London games meaning she is one of the top three hurdles in America–not an easy task.  So the assertion, “If there is a box to check off, Jones has checked it. Except for the small part about actually achieving Olympic success as a hurdler” is an unfortunate reduction of her successful career.

Lolo Jones after finishing 4th in the Olympic 100 meter hurdles (Getty images)

Secondly, the comment, “So she has played into the persistent, demeaning notion that women are worthy as athletes only if they have sex appeal. And, too often, the news media have played right along with her.” One cannot really blame Jones for the sexist nature of American culture and media.  As a track athlete she has a small window every four years to promote herself and gain income. The idea here seems to be that female athletes should make an effort to reduce their sex appeal in order to maximize the focus on their athletic accomplishments.  I see this as a false dichotomy.  If male athletes can do both, being athletes and physical specimens (see the male swimmers) without undercutting their serious sporting credentials, why can’t Jones and others (Hope Solo comes to mind)  do the same?

Longman seems to be calling for the pure female athlete, concerned only with athletic accomplishments and nothing more.  If someone wants to pursue that model, more power to them, but if Lolo Jones does not, she should be free to present herself without the backlash.

Greek Athlete Banned for Racist Tweet: Would this Happen with an American Athlete?

Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou was kicked off the Greek Olympic team for a racist tweet.  The tweet, according to a translation on Gawker, joked, “”With so many Africans in Greece .. At least the West Nile mosquitos .. will eat homemade food!!!”  The athlete in question had also re-tweeted a message from a far right politician.

I wonder whether such a ban could happen to an athlete on the US Olympic team?  What would it take for a US athlete to be removed if in fact one could be removed for a tweet?

On an international level there is the International Olympic Committee social medial policy statement.  That statement in part says,

“postings, blogs and tweets should at all times conform to the Olympic spirit and fundamental principles of Olympism as contained in the Olympic Charter, be dignified and in good taste, and not contain vulgar or obscene words or images.”

In turn, according to the Olympic charter, one of the fundamental principles of Olympism is:

“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

Given that wording the International Olympic Committee, based in Switzerland, would have the power to remove an athlete for an inappropriate, racist or otherwise offensive tweet.

However, I would think that the US Olympic Committee or any related committee would run into First Amendment issues no matter how egregious the comment.  I hope that no US Olympic athlete tries to test out the limits.

 

Olympic History: First Asian-American Medalist, Sammy Lee

Amidst all the London Olympic hype and reports on various photogenic athletes, I found these photos and captions on the Time LightBox site. I had not heard of Sammy Lee before and was very impressed by his story.

Check out this link for more details, particularly the way Lee and a friend dug a pit to use for diving practice and his reflections on being Korean-American.

The way he overcome racism is particularly noteworthy.  Below is his comment about having access to a pool growing up.  This site  also includes a video with Lee speaking about his family, background, and the discrimination he faced.

“I would practice at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium and Brookside pool,” Sammy said “but non-Whites could use the pool only at Brookside one day a week, on Wednesday. And then the pool was emptied after we used it, and fresh water was brought in the next day”  (Link).

 

Michael Johnson: Survival of the Fastest–Slavery and Sprinting

Michael Johnson: Survival of the Fittest is a British documentary in which the Olympic gold medalist looks at the fact the 100 meter men’s sprint has been dominated by the decendants of slaves. See this preview.

The documentary and articles on it then go on to investigate whether in some way the rigors of slavery meant that only the strongest and fastest survived with this selection leading to the current domination of international sprinting.

Johnson come to the following conclusion:

“All my life  I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations.

Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me – I believe there is a superior  athletic gene in us” (Daily Mail).

Michael Johnson setting 200 meter world record

While I have observed the same phenomenon in terms of the racial identity of sprinters in 100 meter finals, I really find it hard to believe that natural selection works this way.   Among other things,  I cannot believe that skill at such a narrow, specific activity developed as a result of historical factors.  Any people with a background in genetics reading this, please weigh in.

Also, the whole idea of any group of people being genetically good at something opens a whole can of worms that is quite problematic, not to mention the whole idea that there is a way something, anything, positive came from slavery.