Category: ethics

Russians can return to FIG Jan 1, 2024

As expected, FIG will allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and their support personnel into FIG sanctioned events listed on FIG Calendar starting January 1, 2024.

I hope it works.

Sadly, I anticipate FIG regretting this decision as it will generate public protests against Putin everywhere Russians compete. I expect negative headlines every day during the Paris Olympics.

Of course there are athlete safety issues, as well. IOC already has to protect Palestinian and Israeli athletes going forward.

It would have been better to continue the ban through the Paris Olympics.

Next best would have been to allow Russian and Belarus to compete without the complications stipulated.

  • No link with the Russian or Belarusian military or with any other national security agency
  • No communication associated with Russia or Belarus
  • No support for the war in Ukraine

All gymnasts/athletes of Russian or Belarusian sporting nationality must comply with all anti-doping requirements applicable to them, in particular those set out in the FIG Anti-Doping Rules.

Russia has already been found guilty of systematic doping. How is it fair that their athletes have not been subject to testing over the ban so far?

Read the FIG decision for yourself:

ad-hoc_rules-for-russia-2024Download

Note:

Nikita Nagornyy is Chief of the Main Staff of the All-Russia “Young Army” National Military Patriotic Social Movement Association. He’s instantly banned.

quarterback Caleb Williams on mental health

A powerful moment.

The Heisman Trophy winner 2022 was devastated after a 52–42 loss.

He went directly to the stands to sob in his mother’s arms.

Asked about his reaction after the Washington loss, Williams said it’s important to be himself. 

“I’ve been an advocate for mental health, trying to show your emotions and express yourself, things like that,” Williams said to the Orange County Register’s Luca Evans.

“It’s something I’ve been doing since I was young and now, being on the national level, being able to try and share that awareness with the public.” …

Sports Illustrated

Concussion Ball is rife with toxic masculinity.

Caleb Williams is the opposite. Confident enough not to hide his emotions.

He was criticized by some dinosaurs. But I call Caleb a winner. Like Simone in Tokyo.

should Palestine or Israel be banned by IOC?

A good question.

The International Olympic Committee should be specific on what causes a nation to lose membership.

In the case of Israel, there is the additional issue of safety of their team at the Paris Olympics.

NCAA NIL is a MESS

The 3rd year of NCAA NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS (NIL) is underway.

Unsurprisingly, the rollout has been inconsistent and unfair.

According to a study by Opendorse, the leading athlete marketplace and NIL technology company, the NIL market should grow by 11.2% to a whopping $1.17 billion. And while that’s great for all student-athletes, the lion’s share of that money is flowing into the 65 Power 5 football programs. …

More than half of $1.17 billion spent on NIL will go to 65 teams in one sport, report shows

Some additional facts from NIL year 2 via The Upside:

  • Deep-pocketed alumni superfans, also known as boosters, have created complex organizations and nonprofits to effectively use as slush funds to attract the top athletes to play for their alma maters
  • A group of University of Iowa superfans, pays recent transfer quarterback Cade McNamara $600 an hour for various community-oriented tasks, like delivering meals to seniors and making visits to children’s hospitals
  • Michigan State football players, are simply tasked with promoting their collective’s charity via social media, … some athletes to make as much as $25,000 per post.
  • University of Utah’s Crimson Collective is granting every scholarship football player a new $61,000 Dodge truck — leased to each player
  • average starter at a major football program now makes about $103,000 a year, according to Opendorse, while the average men’s basketball player with a collective deal earns $37,000
  •  “[The collective system is] a pay-for-play scheme disguised as NIL,” Big Ten Conference commissioner Tony Petitti said at a Senate hearing in October

HOPEFULLY, the beginning of the NIL era may be remembered as a short-lived period of unregulated mayhem. The IRS is increasingly cracking down on booster organizing.

More regulation is needed. And it must be enforced.

All that said, I support College athletes getting MORE of the billion$ made by the NCAA.

But it should be done more fairly.

Livvy Dunne was the highest-valued women’s college athlete as of 2022.

One downside of fame and money is the need for security.

Ukraine’s case against Russia at the Olympics

IF Russian athletes are allowed to compete Paris, I predict almost 100% of the headlines will be negative.

How does BAD PRESS further the Olympic cause?

The ethical decision, too, is to keep the pressure on dictator Putin. If he is successful in a war against Ukraine, it will embolden China and others to invade neighbours. Putin is a danger to the entire world.

The best decision is to continue the ban — at least until after Olympics 2024.

Sportswashing – Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is an oil rich semi-dictatorship under ‘President‘ Ilham Aliyev.

Capital Baku — which hosts many FIG competitions — can be accused of sportswashing, trying to improve their international reputations tarnished by wrongdoing.

In fact, the first usage of the term “sportswashing” may have been applied to Azerbaijan hosting the 2015 European Games in Baku.

September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against Armenians in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh — internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but populated by Armenians.

Human rights organizations and experts in genocide prevention issued multiple alerts, stating that the region’s Armenian population was at risk or actively being subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide.

I post this information here because the world seems to have mostly ignored the most recent attacks on Armenians. We should be aware of the situation every time we talk about the World Cup in Baku.

And every time we talk about Artur Davtyan, 2022 World Champion on vault.  From Armenia.

Lukas Dauser on the Russia ban

The world P Bar champion is dubious about reasons to reintegrate Russians — especially those who represent police or military.

mental health for COACHES

One legacy of the greatest of all time, is Simone normalizing gymnasts talking about their mental health.

Still little discussed is the importance of mental health for coaches.

It can be a very stressful job. But in 2023, most coaches want to hide any anxiety.

That should change.

TrueSport is offering an online event on the topic Nov. 6th.

Why Russia should be banned by IOC

While I am disappointed for Russian gymnasts not allowed to compete internationally, I fully support the BAN on Russian athletes as long as Putin insists on expansion into Ukraine.

Why Russia and not every other nation that is at war with neighbours?

Good question.

Russia is different, I argue. That nation was already banned by the IOC for systematic doping. sReason enough.

Totalitarian states like Russia, China, Turkmenistan, North Korea, etc. should be held to a different standard by IOC because one human being can make decisions personally. For decades. IF Putin is allowed to get away with invading Ukraine, why should he stop there?

Putin has virtually had 100% control since 1999 and seemingly plans to rule for life. He pretends to have elections — but there is no chance citizens can decide on an alternative.

Nikita Nagornyy is Chief of the Main Staff of the All-Russia “Young Army” National Military Patriotic Social Movement Association. He should never again be allowed to compete in FIG sanctioned competition.

Critics have described the organization as the Russian equivalent of the Hitler Youth and a modern, republican form of the Soviet Komsomol and Young Pioneers.

Here’s the kind of things children are trained to do in Putin’s Russia.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

USA all-female PanAms delegation

Chellsie Memmel:

… Obviously, there’s a lot of great male coaches, but it feels really special to have a whole delegation of women.”

In addition to Landi, who coaches Jordan Chiles, Tiana Sumanasekera and Zoe Miller, and Memmel, who helps oversee the U.S. program, personal coaches Kelli Hill (coach of Kayla DiCello), Haiou Sun (Kaliya Lincoln) and Marnie Futch (Katelyn Jong) round out the delegation. …

Olympics.com