Over the past two weeks, audiences around the world have caught Olympic fever. It’s an incredible event to witness on television, made up of earth-shattering feats of athleticism and well-crafted narratives.
It’s these narratives I find myself coming back to again and again. Of course, I’m interested in the races, but what I really want to see is a young refugee achieve her goals, or an American runner cheering on his Canadian wife in the heptathlon from the stands, or a fellow student from IU break a record on a world stage.
No Olympic narrative has been stronger this summer than that of IU’s own Lilly King and Russia’s Yulia Efimova good-versus-evil, athlete-versus-cheater.
Efimova was found guilty of drug cheating in 2013 when she tested positive for steroid use.
She served a 16-month ban from competitive swimming and was in danger of yet another ban when, earlier this year, Efimova tested positive for meldonium.
At first, I lived for the witch hunt. I wanted to see IU’s beautiful mermaid vanquish the evil cheating Russian. It wouldn’t just be a swim for the gold, it would be a swim for righteousness, for morality, for America.
But as the athletes exited the pool from the 100-meter breaststroke final, Efimova broke down in tears and my image of her shattered. Evil, heartless, cheating villains don’t cry — people do.
Those tears got me thinking about what it must feel like to have been officially cleared by the Olympic Committee to compete, only to be demonized as a cheater at every turn, not only by the media, but also by her fellow swimmers.
With a little research, I discovered meldonium is a drug that increases the size of blood vessels and therefore improves blood flow—it’s classified in the same category as insulin, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency, and has been used by hundreds of athletes around the world.
Most notably among them is Russian tennis sweetheart Maria Sharapova, who has used meldonium consistently for the past ten years.
As to the specifics of Efimova’s case: meldonium was banned by the Olympic Committee in January, and despite the World Anti-Doping Agency reporting that the substance could take months to completely leave the body, most drug tests of Olympic athletes (including Efimova) were conducted in March.
Ultimately, her case was reviewed by the committee and she was fully approved to swim. But when it came to the world demonizing her, she was not fully in the clear.
Usually, the Olympics are rife with stories of the world coming together to celebrate amazing achievements. But when it comes to Yulia Efimova, there has been a disturbing amount of jeering and finger pointing.
Despite what the media’s narrative surrounding Efimova may lead individuals to believe, the world is not black and white, nor is the Olympic swimming pool full of heroes and villains. These are athletes, all of whom have been cleared to compete.
As far as I’m concerned, the moral absolutism that’s run rampant throughout the swimming pools in Rio has no place in any Olympics.
rjdague@indiana.edu
