US skeleton sliders want uniform drug testing
There was an offseason when US skeleton athlete Katie Uhlaender got a knock on her door from drug testers 19 times in the span of a few weeks. Sometimes they wanted blood. Sometimes they wanted urine. Often, they wanted both.
The process is annoying. It’s also effective, so Uhlaender and her teammates wonder why it’s not the global standard.
Uhlaender and other members of the US skeleton team suggested Thursday that the rest of the world should follow the testing model employed by the US Anti-Doping Agency, especially with the ongoing fallout from the Russian doping scandal that saw widespread accusations of cheating and now a belief that many flat-out beat a broken system.
It’s not the first time American athletes have offered this opinion. Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps took his pleas for change to Congress last year, saying that he does not believe “that I’ve stood up at international competitions and the rest of the field has been clean.”
Same goes these days for sliders, who saw many Russians sanctioned and banned by the International Olympic Committee — and many of those reinstated after appeals went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Uhlaender finished fourth at the Sochi Olympics four years ago. When Russia’s Elena Nikitina was found by the IOC to have been part of the doping program at those Olympics, Uhlaender was expected to move up to Nikitina’s bronze-medal spot. But the CAS ruling essentially restored Nikitina’s medal, Uhlaender still doesn’t have one and now Nikitina is among those in Pyeongchang fighting for a chance to compete.
There are still 45 Russian athletes who are trying last-minute appeals with hopes of getting into the Olympics. Some coaches and support staff who were banned also are trying to win appeals before CAS, which is planning to issue decisions Friday — just hours before the opening ceremony.
Nikitina believes she will win, and said the Russians will fight for as long as they can. If they are successful, the IOC may have no choice but to accept athletes who they say are dopers.
US skater Rippon wants Pence spat to take backseat to games
Adam Rippon doesn’t want his monthlong dispute with Mike Pence over the vice president’s record on gay rights to overshadow his long-awaited Olympic performance.
Or those of the rest of the American team.
One of two openly gay US athletes at the Pyeongchang Games, Rippon criticized the White House last month for choosing Pence to lead its official delegation for Friday’s opening ceremony.
Pence has been considered an opponent of the LGBT community after the conservative vice president signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act while serving as governor of Indiana.
Critics say the legislation encourages discrimination against gay people.
Pence, who arrived in Seoul on Thursday, also tried to bury the story. He tweeted to Rippon: “I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don’t let fake news distract you. I am proud of you and ALL OF OUR GREAT athletes and my only hope for you and all of #TeamUSA is to bring home the gold. Go get ‘em!”
Rippon’s practice session ended before Pence’s tweet, but his mother, Kelly Rippon, told CNN she objected to the vice president calling the story “fake news.”
What Rippon jokingly referred to as “brouhaha” began with an interview with USA Today last month in which he called Pence, among other things, a hypocrite for espousing Christian virtues while standing by some of the divisive and inflammatory statements made by President Donald Trump.
Pence’s press secretary, Alyssa Farah, was quick to respond with a sharp rebuke. Farah said in a statement that some of Rippon’s statements were “totally false” and had “no basis in fact,” including an assertion he made that Pence once championed gay conversion therapy.
Their spat took another twist this week when USA Today, citing unnamed sources, said Pence had requested to speak with Rippon in mid-January but the skater turned down his overtures. A White House official told reporters traveling with Pence to South Korea that his office did reach out to the US Olympic Committee but was offering to meet with Rippon but also wanted to give him space.
The vice president’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, also reached out to USOC executive Scott Blackmun after Rippon’s initial criticism last month, a White House official said.
Rippon did not address any of the olive branches yesterday, but he again said he has no interest in meeting with Pence until after the Olympics.
The 28-year-old American will debut Monday in the free skate portion of the team event for the medal-contending US squad, then he’ll compete later this month with teammates Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou in the individual competition.
US skier Gus Kenworthy, who also is gay, has been similarly critical of Pence’s role in leading the US delegation, calling him a “strange choice” in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres this week.
Rippon and Kenworthy both say they would skip a White House visit if Team USA is invited.
“I think at the very core I’ve always spoken my mind, spoken from the heart,” Rippon said. “I think as an athlete that’s important. And I know not everyone will agree with me, but I think that is what is special about the Olympics. It’s a time to come together as athletes and unite.”
Yesterday’s Winter Olympic results