A HISTORY OF BAD BEHAVIOUR
Moroccan boxer first Olympian in hot water
The Olympics are only just getting underway and already bad behaviour by an athlete is in the headlines.
What else is new? A Moroccan boxer will miss his bout Saturday after he was arrested and held on suspicion of attempted sexual assault Friday in the athletes village.
Hassan Saada, 22, was supposed to compete in the light-heavyweight class, but instead he has been stripped of his competitor status and will be held in a Rio de Janeiro jail for at least 15 days while police investigate allegations against him. Reports say he was accused of attempted sexual assault by two chambermaids.
It’s the first incident of bad behaviour by an athlete reported at the 2016 Olympics. At the 2012 London Games, three athletes and a coach were kicked out for running afoul of the code of conduct.
Perhaps the highest-profile incident involved Australian rower Josh Booth, who took out his frustrations after his team finished last in the men’s eights event. The 21-year-old allegedly got drunk and destroyed the display windows of some shops before being detained by police.
He was taken to a police station, where he lost consciousness and hit his head in a fall. He later apologized and was not charged, but the Australian Olympic Committee booted him from the Games.
It was that kind of behaviour that prompted the AOC to give its athletes a stern warning before these Olympics: no shenanigans will be tolerated. Australian chef de mission Kitty Chiller’s warning particularly targeted bad-boy tennis players Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic.
“When push comes to shove, I won’t be afraid to discipline someone if they are not adhering to the standard we expect,” she told Australian media. “I will be sending people home if they don’t respect what they are part of.”
As it turns out, Kyrgios and Tomic, who are known for their explosive behaviour on and off the tennis court, withdrew from the Olympics, citing “unfair and unjust treatment” by the AOC.
While the Aussies clearly want to keep their athletes in line, they are certainly not the only country to encounter problems.
In 2012, Greek women’s triplejumper Paraskevi Papachristou and Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella were booted for sending racist Twitter messages, while a South Korean sailing coach was expelled for drinking and driving.
The history of bad behaviour at the Olympics goes back a long way with one of the better-known incidents involving Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser. She won four Olympic gold medals, including in the 100-metre freestyle at three consecutive Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964), and eight medals in total, but continually clashed with Australian swimming authorities.
She managed to keep swimming despite minor offences, such as refusing to wear the team tracksuit to accept her medals, wearing an unofficial swimsuit and defying other team orders.
But in Tokyo in 1964, she was caught stealing souvenir flags near the Imperial Palace and was not only sent home, but given a 10-year ban. She retired from the sport at that point, but went on to become a politician.
I will be sending people home if they don’t respect what they are part of. KITTY CHILL ER, chef de mission, Australia