Racism in the Olympics

By Julianne Giordano

Published 3/15/22

After Russian figure skating star Kamila Valieva was permitted to continue to compete in the Olympics after failing her drug test, people started to call out the hypocrisy in the Olympics. In July 2021, American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from competing in the Summer Olympics after she failed her drug test. Not only is it unfair that Richardson was banned from competing while Valieva was not, but it is also the difference between the drugs that each of them tested positive for.

Sha’Carri Richardson tested positive for marijuana, a non-performance enhancing drug, during the Summer Olympic trials. She had recently lost her mother and was using marijuana to cope with her grief.

Kamila Valieva tested positive for the drug trimetazidine, which is a heart medication to promote blood flow and stop blockages from reaching the heart (it is usually prescribed to help with angina). This is a performance-enhancing drug, and there is no logical reason why Valieva would be taking this for her health. As a 15-year-old, she should not be struggling with this heart disease, and even if she was, her coaches should know to put her on a different drug that is not on the banned list.

Shortly after it was announced that Valieva was going to be permitted to compete, Richardson, among many others in the country, started to say that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had “double standards”. Many people even started to call the situation racist, as Richardson is black while Valieva is white.

The IOC has claimed that the two cases are not the same, as Richardson tested positive prior to the games while Valieva tested positive after she had already competed. The big question that everyone is trying to answer is if this decision was racially motivated or not.