Inconsistent Olympic Rules

Ava Steiner '22 ~ February 2022

From uniform regulations, anti-doping policies, and even judging, the Olympics has never had consistent rules. Here are just a few examples from the most recent Olympic cycle:

While US snowboarder Julia Marino was practicing before the 2022 women’s slopestyle event, an IOC (International Olympic Committee) official asked her to tape over her helmet’s Prada logo, because the Prada Linea Rossa brand is not a legitimate sports brand. (Prada Linea Rossa describes its brand as “blending influences drawn from the world of technical sportswear with streamlined silhouettes.”) Marino complied, but was confronted about her Prada snowboard after the event. The IOC notified Team USA that Marino’s board was out of compliance with Olympic rules, and told her to either cover the logo or use a new board. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee wrote a letter to the IOC about the logo rules, claiming Marino “had the same right to compete with a Prada board as any other rider with a Burton or Roxy board.” The IOC did not change their stance. Marino covered the board’s logo in Sharpie marker which she explained in an Instagram story “basically defeats the purpose” of a smooth base. Marino also posted on Instagram that the IOC approved her board for the women’s slopestyle event, but alerted her the night before the big air qualifier that she needed to cover the logo. Due to the logo dispute and a tailbone injury, Marino withdrew from future events.

That was not the only time the IOC alerted Olympians of non-compliance late in the game.

Before the 2022 mixed team ski-jumping final, five ski-jumpers were disqualified because their jumpsuits were reportedly too large. The women (Sara Takanashi of Japan, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz of Austria, Katharina Althaus of Germany, and Anna Odine Stroem and Silje Opseth of Norway) were shocked and confused. Takanashi's coach said “her suit was supposedly too big around the thighs, even though she wore it in the women's normal hill event on Saturday," Japan's NHK reported. Other athletes said they wore the suits in earlier events, and Opseth said officials measured her suit differently for the mixed-team ski jumping. The athletes and coaches reminded everyone that women’s ski uniforms have been controversial in the past as well. Until 2020, female ski-jumpers were required to have extra panels sewn around their hips, which some athletes say was mainly to emphasize the curves of women’s bodies, and not “to fit a woman's body better," as the International Ski Federation claimed.

Last summer, the Olympics once again placed women’s bodies under scrutiny. During the European Beach Handball Championships on July 18, 2021, the Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined by the European Handball Federation for wearing a bikini top and shorts instead of the usual bikini bottoms. The Norwegian men’s handball team typically sports tank tops and athletic shorts. That same day at the England Senior and Disability Track & Field Championships, two-time Paralympic world champion Olivia Breen was told by an official that her outfit was “too short and inappropriate.” Breen said on Twitter that she has “been wearing the same style sprint briefs for many years and they are specifically designed for competing in.” The reason for officials’ focus on female athletes’ bodies could be summarized by the Badminton World Federation which, in 2011 when criticized for requiring female players to compete in dresses or skirts, explained: “TV ratings are down … We want [the women athletes] to look nicer on the court and have more marketing value for themselves. I'm surprised we got a lot of criticism.”

These uniform and equipment inconsistencies predominantly target female athletes. However, some unclear rules and judging of snowboarding affect all athletes.

At the slopestyle event, Canadian gold medalist Max Parrot was credited by judges with grabbing his board on the first jump, but replays show he only grabbed his knee. Even so, he walked away with a gold medal and said “everyone that snowboards knows I missed that grab.” The lead official, Iztok Sumatic, said judges weren’t provided with replays or shots of different angles. “It would be different scores, yes,” Sumatic told snowboarding website Whitelines when asked what would have happened if judges noticed Parrot’s missed grab. In the halfpipe event, Japan’s Ayumu Hirano became the first rider to perform a triple cork in a complete run, yet was placed in second. He ended up winning his final run with another triple cork. America’s Red Gerard claimed he scored drastically lower than Canada’s Mark McMorris for the same trick. Gerard scored a 75.5 for a switch backside 1620, while McMorris scored an 81.5 for the same trick.

The International Ski Federation also appears inconsistent with event rules, allowing women’s slopestyle to proceed in Pyeongchang four years ago despite especially dangerous conditions, while on the same day postponing alpine skiing scheduled on the same mountain.

Perhaps the most infamous and recent example of Olympic inconsistency is Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s doping scandal. After the 15-year-old tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, she was briefly suspended before being cleared to continue by the The Court of Arbitration for Sport. Many compare this situation to the disqualification of US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson before the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Richardson was disqualified in early July because she tested positive for cannabis use during the qualifying race. In 2011, the World Anti-Doping Agency found cannabis could help athletes "better perform under pressure and to alleviate stress experienced before and during competition." Alain Steve Comtois, director of the department of sports science at the University of Quebec at Montreal, authored a 2021 Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness review of research on marijuana use before exercise and found that “performance is reduced." Richardson tested positive in the state of Oregon, where cannabis is legal. So why was Valieva allowed to continue while she was using a drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, but Richardson was not? Valieva is 15. A new loophole in WADA’s policy deems any athlete under 16 a “protected person.” The CAS panel considered the “irreparable harm” Valieva would face if she could not compete, and the arrival of her test result 45 days after she took it.

While many social inequities are reflected in the inconsistencies of the Olympics, these unclear rules have always been a part of the games. In 1984, the IOC outlawed any hockey player that had signed a contract with the NHL from playing in the Olympics. This forced five players to withdraw. However, two other Canadian players had signed contracts with the NHL, but because they never appeared in a NHL game, they still competed in the Olympics.

Title Photo: “Olivia Breen at the Paragames.jpg” by steve_w, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.o