OlymPicks: Despite Ongoing Doping Scandals, Beijing 2022 Planners Turn to Positive International Coordination
The slow but steady total of 2008 Beijing Olympians being stripped of their medals continues to rise. The latest athlete to be mired in that controversy is Victoria Tereshchuk of the Ukraine (pictured at the top), a pentathlete whose bronze has been rescinded after retesting found her to be guilty of doping.
News of her disgrace (via MSNBC) brings Beijing's total to 80 competitors disqualified due to use of performance enhancing drugs. The article says, "The list of stripped 2008 Olympic medals is wide-ranging, in sports including cycling, track and field, weightlifting, and wrestling. The athletes have primarily come from Russia and Eastern Europe."
Such controversy hasn't seemed to deter organizers of the Beijing 2022 Games though. State media reported earlier in the week that coordinators are seeking out 11 international recruits for "positions in planning and construction, venue management, marketing, media, finance, law, and foreign languages." This will double the current roster of local staff already working in such positions.
An even bigger international effort is being undertaken by the organizing committees of the PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2022, and Beijing 2022 games. Sports Features recently reported that, "The three organizing committees have defined various objectives in these meetings such as working together for successful stage all three editions of the Games, along with focusing on promoting the values of Olympism and the Olympic Movement. They also want to enhance the sustainability and flexibility of the Games, while creating lasting legacies."
READ: Beijing '08 Drug Cheats Still Being Busted Even As 2022 Olympic Construction Ramps Up
One can only hope that the trio of organizing committees can stick to such optimistic bulletins, rather than having to meet to contend with further doping scandals in the future. The IOC and America's anti-doping and Olympics bodies are currently in a row on how to handle the matter. Star Olympian Michael Phelps has even been compelled to speak out on the sad state of affairs. One silver lining from that: he at least gave an inspiring quote that will hopefully prompt all of those involved to meet a higher threshold, saying: “If we allow our confidence in fair play to erode, we will undermine the power of sport.”
Speaking of heated international back-and-forth, the World Women’s Curling Championship is currently underway in Beijing, with team Canada all but melting the ice with a scorching 8-6 victory over the Swiss, a 7-5 win over the US, a suspenseful 9-8 defeat of South Korea, a 6-4 win over Sweden, and a 9-3 win over the Czech Republic, making the Canucks 9-0 overall. Canada complete against Italy and Denmark today before their playoff match on Friday; a win then will secure them a place in the final.
The sticks-and-stones competition is being held at Beijing's Capital Gymnasium and you can read more about the previous face-offs here, here, and here, and catch fresh coverage here. The tournament is good precursor for the forthcoming Beijing winter Olympics, giving winter sports diehards a glimpse of likely future competitors and also allowing Beijing to test out the mettle of one of its winter sport venues. We're not sure if these curling stars are prone to the same sort of doping scandals as other Olympians, though we'll follow the action closely as long as we can stay awake (no offense, curling fans).
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Email: kylemullin@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
Photo: Telegraf
