PhotoDude.com

Sun. Aug 29, 2004

Institutionalizing Olympic Shame

The Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” Latin for “Swifter, Higher, Stronger.” And of the 10,864 athletes from 202 nations who competed in 301 medal events from 28 different sports, 99.8% of them did their best to live up to that motto. But about 24 of them (at last count) had a different motto: “Decipio, Deludo, Circumvenio.”

Cheaters. These Olympics were sadly littered with egregious offenders. I think it’s time to get medieval on them, and restore another ancient Olympic tradition.

The cheating scandal had its most public moment on the night of the men’s 200 meter final. A loud and boisterous moment that delayed the race for over ten minutes.

This was supposed to be a night to remember. For Greeks all over, this was going to be the highlight of the Olympics in Athens. Because this would have been the night that belonged to Kostas Kenteris.

Nine days ago, Kenteris abruptly withdrew from the Olympics, enmeshed in a drug scandal, charged with evading a drug test, subject of an ongoing investigation by Greek police and prosecutors.

When the time to run the 200 arrived last night, Kenteris was not there. But his ghost was, and the 60,000 people in the stands at Olympic Stadium howled at the specter.

They booed the three Americans in the race – Shawn Crawford, Bernard Williams and Justin Gatlin – when they were introduced. They chanted Kenteris’ name. They made so much noise the race was delayed for 10 minutes because the runners could not hear the starter shout his instructions.

Not even a message on the scoreboard – “QUIET FOR THE START” – could calm the roiling Greeks.

“We’re back at the birthplace of the Olympics and the hometown guy who is the defending champion isn’t in the race. I think I’d be a little upset, too,” Crawford said.

Newsday.com: “Ooohs follow boos”

People are beginning to ask, are these “The dirtiest Olympics in history?” “A Hungarian discus-thrower was set to lose his gold medal on Tuesday for trying to cheat on a drugs test, setting a dismal record for Athens as the first Olympics to see two athletics champions disgraced and expelled. Robert Fazekas was caught trying to tamper with a urine sample and would be stripped of his discus gold then thrown out.”

It’s not just Fazekas’ blatant tampering that has been obvious. There was also Irina Korzhanenko of Russia, the first woman in history to win a gold media at the ancient arena in Olympia (women were not allowed to compete in, or even watch the ancient Games). That’s where they held the shot put, and she won the gold medal … by a meter and a half. When you throw a 16 pound chunk of metal five feet further than the “rest of the best,” people will wonder what’s in your Wheaties. In her case, it was an anabolic steroid, which, today, is about as subtle as showing up to take your SAT with a wheelbarrow of encyclopedias.

But wait, there’s more! Another shot-putter, Uzbekistan’s Olga Shchukina, and Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis, and Greek sprint stars Kostadinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou. And … “A further nine weightlifters, two Greek baseball players and a Kenyan boxer have failed drug tests since the IOC began its drugs sweep on July 30.” That’s not a complete list. The count is now somewhere around two dozen, with more sure to be revealed as recent medalists are tested.

It’s perceived as so prevalent in these Games that it’s the first suspicion after an outstanding performance, like that of Fani Halkia in winning the gold in the 400 meter hurdles.

An hour after her victory, Halkia walked into a news conference room, and dozens of volunteers broke into raucous applause. Then she was flogged with doping questions for nearly half an hour.

Before this season, Halkia’s best time in the 400-meter hurdles had been 56.40 seconds. In the Olympic semifinals, she ran an Olympic-record 52.77 seconds, a staggering improvement of 3.63 seconds.

And she explained her success poetically. “You can’t give a Greek heart to someone,” she said. “I’m made of the stuff that our ancestors were made of.”

For track fans and Greeks alike, Fani Halkia’s victory Wednesday night was reminiscent of Cathy Freeman’s epic gold in the Sydney 400 meters. It was a chilling, memorable moment. In a vacuum, it was a thing of beauty.

But this is not a vacuum. It is the Olympic Games of 2004. There have been four drug positives in track and field in Athens, more than at any previous Olympics (not including the Kenteris/Thanou scandal). Two gold medalists have been stripped of their medals. Only one other track gold medalist had been previously stripped for drugs: Ben Johnson in 1988.

Sports Illustrated: “Cloud of doubt over feel-good win”

And when Halkia claims she is “made of the stuff that our ancestors were made of,” well, that’s not really a vindication:

The ancient Greeks may not have had pharmaceuticals like steroids or the blood-boaster EPO at their disposal, but many were still determined to win at all costs.

There are several references in the history books to competitors consuming sheep’s testicles, whose performance-enhancing qualities were thought to include boosting testosterone and providing a competitor with more strength.

Mixing the posion-cum-stimulant strychnine with wine was another favourite potion, although getting the proportions wrong could be fatal.

Times of India: “Greek steriod: Sheep testicles”

And what did they do to these ancient cheaters when they were caught? Simply strip them of their title and send them home (the equivalent of what we do today)? No, that was not enough shame. And I think that’s true today as well.

At the entrance to the ancient stadium were “the Zanes.” These were bronze statues of Zeus, that were financed by fines levied on the cheaters. Further, they had a plaque stating the athlete’s name, his parents’ name, his home town, and his offense.

After the first six Zanes were erected in “honor” of some boxers who bribed their opponents to throw the match (bribery was the most common form of cheating in those days), there was some serious blowback because those families caught so much grief in their home towns, for the shame they had brought down on them.

In other words, it worked splendidly.

For a while the practice was stopped, but when a later round of blatant cheating was uncovered, the construction of the Zanes resumed. Archaeologists have found the bases of 16 of these statues, lined up at the entrance of the stadium, where they would be the last thing an athlete would see as they headed into the arena.

I think this is an ancient tradition that needs reviving, with a modern twist. Back then, the Games were stationary, so a fixed statue that would stand the test of time was a fitting memorial to their villainy. Today, putting up such a “memorial” in Athens will have no impact in Beijing, or beyond. In addition, even within the cities awarded the Games, today there are many more sports in many more venues.

So I propose an “IOC Standard” for all future venues, in which a “memorial” would line both sides of the entrance to the venue. One side would celebrate the medal winners from the previous Games in the sport played at that particular venue. And the other side would note all those in the history of that sport who had been caught cheating in the Olympics. Each Games, some new names would be added to the “bad” side. And wonderful new stories would be told on the “good” side.

But unlike the static statues of Zeus in the past, this should be an audio/visual memorial. That kind of display could properly showcase the medal winning performances of the previous Games, as well as give a rightful presentation of the ugly side. Imagine Tonya Harding shown pitifully holding her skate up to the judge with the pouty face of a two year old, with the voice-over explaining how she conspired to have one of her competitor’s knees whacked with a tire iron. It could even be updated over time: “Harding later went on to ram a photographer’s car in 1996 over wedding pictures (there was also a leaked XXX video of her wedding night), and was arrested for domestic assault for bloodying her boyfriend’s nose with a heaved hubcap in 2000. Most recently, she beat up alleged ex-Presidential flame Paula Jones in a ‘celebrity boxing’ match.”

A rather visceral presentation that would say “kids, only dopes get doped.”

Each athlete should be made to publicly pledge an oath that, by their parent’s name, they swear to compete honestly, and obey the rules. That they will bring only honor to their family’s name, their country, and the Olympic name by doing their very best … naturally.

And if their oath proves to be a lie, the consequences should be a black mark on their name. One that is kept alive, to warn future athletes that the potential gain is not nearly worth this certain shame.

It may sound harsh, but I would bet the 10,840 athletes who were not accused of cheating would welcome it. And the 24 who were guilty would deserve every bit of it.