IOC spokesman refers to 32 yr old Lochte as a kid, Really?
Over the years I found myself preferring women basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and tennis, and track over men. Of course, Usain Bolt is my exception. In my humble opinion, they play a more technical and finesse game. To be blunt, they play a much more intelligent and strategic game instead of simply power. Yet it seems the male commentators are unable to respect the female athlete for what they bring to sports without qualifying as a subject to males.
It was sad to see the blatant disrespect and sexism directed at women, many who won. I won’t repeat what has already been written. Suffice it to say Huffington Post enumerated ten in the article “Top 10 Most Sexist Things To Occur At The 2016 Rio Olympics So Far.”
But the Lochte story a is the perfect illustration of a problem America needs to address once and for all. Lochte and his cohort vandalized a bathroom in Rio de Janeiro. They then fabricated a story about being held up by criminals. It turned out they were indeed the criminals.
What I found depressing is the response from Rio Olympics spokesman Mario Andrada.
But on Thursday, asked if he might deserve an apology from Ryan Lochteand U.S. swimmers victimized in an alleged armed robbery Sunday morning now that police are focusing their investigation on the Americans, Andrada rejected the suggestion – this despite his apology to the athletes earlier this week for what they went through.
“I do not regret having apologized,” Andrada said with a smile and casual wave of his hand. “I do not expect any apologies from him or other athletes are needed. They were trying to have fun, they came here and represented their country, trained for years, competed under gigantic pressure.
“I understand this issue is under investigation. Let’s give these kids a break. They made a mistake. It’s part of life. Life goes on.”
Lochte is 32 years old. Yet he is a kid having fun. I bet Tamir Rice wish he was treated like the kid that he was. Or that Michael Brown’s vandalism was attributed to him being a kid.
I was all geared up to write a story about privilege. I realized the story I was about to write was already written much better than I intended to write it. Check out Lorraine Berry’s piece titled “The way Americans treat Lochte compared to how they treat Gabby Douglas is why Trump is still at 40%.” It is worth the read.
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