Since the news broke of Sha’Carri Richardson’s disqualification from the 100m race in the Olympics, support has poured in from all over. At least two petitions were launched, with more than 200,000 people signing on to a MoveOn petition in a day.

Sha’Carri Richardson should be allowed to compete in the Summer Olympics!

Show solidarity with Sha’Carri by RT-ing & signing the petition to #LetShaCarriRun: https://t.co/EGtPSIU6w7

— MoveOn (@MoveOn) July 2, 2021

Known for its progressive advocacy and work electing progressive candidates, the MoveOn team jumped into action around Richardson’s case. The petition calls the rule banning marijuana “outdated and arbitrarily enforced.” 

It continued to read:

The imposition of a penalty against a world-class Black, queer, woman athlete is powerfully and infuriatingly reminiscent of the way drug laws are regularly applied in the United States. Recreational marijuana use has been de facto legal for upper-middle-class white people for years—something more states are recognizing as they legalize marijuana for all people and consider how to repair the damage done to Black and brown communities by decades of the war on drugs.

Richardson also received an outpouring of support from professional athletes. But one noticeably silent person was Michael Phelps.

Professor Greg Carr tweeted that Phelps’ silence was telling. Phelps was suspended for three months in 2009, after a picture of him hitting a bong surfaced. 

. @MichaelPhelps been silent about #ShacarriRichardson . A reminder that there is no “we” in the US settler state. Whiteness sits, silent and decisive, at the center of that myth.

The day “we” stop running by it’s rules, it’ll stop.

Put that in your #Olympics and cheer it.

— Greg Carr (@AfricanaCarr) July 2, 2021

Columnist Dan Savage compared Richardson’s case to Ross Rebagaliti, who won the gold in snowboarding in 1998. A Canadian snowboarder, Rebagaliti, was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for marijuana. He was subsequently reinstated as a gold medalist because marijuana was not on the banned substance list. 

In 1998 a white guy competed, won the snowboarding gold, then tested positive for pot and had his medal taken from him. Then the IOC reversed course and gave him his medal back. Surely they can let Sha’Carri compete in 2021.https://t.co/4Qkp4oTdBt https://t.co/h9UPZMQ0A3

— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) July 2, 2021

Rebagliati told The Province the news of Richardson’s suspension made him sad. Marijuana was added to the list of banned substances a year after Rebagliati’s case.

“The scientific evidence is there; that’s what should count,” Rebagliati said in an interview with The Province. “The IOC should be a leader for humanity.”

Organizations like the Drug Policy Alliance also weighed in on Richardson’s suspension.

People smoke weed and do drugs for many reason. Get over it. Stop ruining people’s lives with harmful policies rooted in racism and false hysteria.

— Drug Policy Alliance (@DrugPolicyOrg) July 3, 2021

While the rule for marijuana use by Olympic athletes changed since Phelps and Rebagliati’s cases, there is still little reason why marijuana is listed as a banned substance. But the current rule does distinguish between use during competition and outside of a competition period. 

Ordinarily, there is little grace in the world for Black women, and elite athletes are no exception. Hurdler Brianna McNeal lost an appeal of a five-year ban. McNeal shared her story publicly, explaining she had an abortion days before her scheduled testing. She told the New York Times that she didn’t hear an antidoping official knocking at her door. 

 

Compounding the Olympics’ anti-blackness, it was announced this week that the Soul Cap designed for natural hair was denied approval. Soul Cap told the BBC that the cap was denied because it doesn’t conform to the swimmer’s head.

Such a determination ignores the challenges facing Black swimmers. Several Black swimmers told the BBC that the smaller caps are insufficient for keeping their hair dry.

“There’s so many barriers for black swimmers, and [Fina have] kind of put another barrier up – defeating the whole purpose of the work that I’m doing,” said swim coach Tony Cronin.

SEE ALSO:

‘Don’t Judge Me Because I Am Human’: Sha’Carri Richardson Speaks Out After Failing Olympic Drug Test

‘Oppressive Policy’: Racial Justice Organizations Condemn Black Lives Matter Ban At Olympics

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