The Canadian lawyer whose investigation into Russia’s state-sponsored doping program resulted in over 100 Russian athletes being barred from the 2016 Rio Olympics struck again on Friday. Richard McLaren released a 151-page report, published by the World Anti-Doping Agency, implicating 1,000 Russian athletes, participating in 30 different sports, in the Kremlin’s doping schemes.

McLaren spent months combing through emails, documents, scientific, and forensic evidence from Russian officials and athletes, and published his findings in a tirelessly thorough account. He found guilty athletes who participated in Olympic Games and world championships. In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London alone, McLaren found, 15 medalists violated doping rules; ten have since been stripped of their medals.

“It is impossible to know just how deep and how far back this conspiracy goes,” McLaren said on Friday. “For years, international sports competitions have unknowingly been hijacked by the Russians.” In one of the most recent examples, McLaren documented the case of two female hockey players who participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Their urine samples contained male DNA.

Another technique the Russians employed in their urine tampering practices was mixing salt and coffee grains to dilute tainted samples. McLaren’s report examined 100 urine samples belonging to Russian athletes from the Sochi games. All had been tampered with, including four from gold medalists.

I want to compete in a World Champs that’s drug free and safe. Sochi,Russia is not an option. Move it @IBSFsliding
https://t.co/xIq69Lkfff

— Lolo Jones (@lolojones) December 9, 2016

In response to McLaren’s report, Russia said it is “denying the existence of any state-sponsored doping programs in sports and will continue the fight against doping from the positions of ‘zero tolerance,'” according to a statement from its sports ministry. However, the statement continued, Russia “is ready to cooperate with international organizations in improving the Russian and world antidoping program.”

Many athletes are upset about the overwhelming evidence concerning Russia’s doping program. In two months, Sochi is set to host the bobsledding and skeleton championships. American athletes have discussed boycotting the event. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said the report’s contents detailed a “fundamental attack on the integrity of sport,” in a statement.

Participating athletes “should be excluded for life from any participation from the Olympic Games in whatever capacity,” Bach continued. He said the IOC will inspect 150 urine samples from the Sochi Olympic Games that have yet to be examined.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post New Report: 1,000 Russian Athletes from 30 Sports Guilty of Doping appeared first on Law Street.

At this point your guess is probably better than mine when it comes to answering the question “was Ryan Lochte lying about being robbed in Rio?” Not only has the silver-haired swimmer changed his story several times, but contradictory video footage from a security checkpoint and gas station seem to back up Brazilian authorities’ theory that the whole thing was an elaborate drunken coverup. In other words, things aren’t looking too good for the 12-time Olympic medalist.

While it might be a while before we finally learn the truth, Lochte is lucky he gets to safely sit this one out back in the U.S. The internet, however, wasted no time dubbing the swimmer guilty before ferociously mocking the scandal online. Since we can’t help but laugh (even though we kinda feel bad) at some of the memes, here are some of the funniest Twitter responses to #LochteGate and #LochMess:

Ryan Lochte lied about a night on the town to his mom and started an international incident. I’m dead.

— Ashley Weatherford (@sincerelyash) August 18, 2016

Confession: I robbed Ryan Lochte. I used my Lackawanna County Sheriff’s badge a squirt gun & a bad Brazilian accent. Sorry.

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) August 18, 2016

Exclusive footage of the U.S. swim team’s gas station fight https://t.co/ImltY6Ikzo

— MTV News (@MTVNews) August 18, 2016

Lochte’s fastest time was getting out of Brazil

— Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) August 18, 2016

Synchronized swimmers would keep their story straight.

— Steve Rushin (@SteveRushin) August 18, 2016

Sketch of the guy who held up Lochte pic.twitter.com/sPLUvWz5dC

— Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) August 18, 2016

There is no justice where there is Comic Sans: this is the Brazilian judge’s order in the Ryan Lotche controversy. pic.twitter.com/ZqWblg7YLS

— Dr. Anthony M. Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) August 18, 2016

If it includes the letters “LOCH” then chances are it’s a hoax. #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/3gzHltXkER

— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) August 18, 2016

#LochteGate pic.twitter.com/ADDAEiqCfS

— Brendan Mackey (@Bmackey34) August 18, 2016

#LochteGate pic.twitter.com/v4jMReZ2ws

— Dominique Ringle (@dringle427) August 18, 2016

Brazilian Authorities: Mr. Lochte, you story doesn’t add up.

Ryan Lochte:

#LochteGate pic.twitter.com/W1ol0S9zcR

— KristinDeLuciaMorgan (@kmorgan76) August 18, 2016

Brazilian Police: “And you made the whole story up, didn’t you?”

Lochte: pic.twitter.com/O2YKasN62s

— Chief (@BarstoolChief) August 18, 2016

Honestly, now would be the perfect time to actually rob Lochte

— Myles Brown (@mdotbrown) August 18, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hilarious Online Responses to Ryan Lochte’s #LochteGate and #LochMess appeared first on Law Street.

In the wake of doping scandals rocking the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Team in the lead-up to the Rio Games, Russian athletes have been painted as the villains of the summer for breaking basic tenets of sportsmanship. However, there has been virtually no outcry over another common violation in Olympic competitions this year: lying about athlete’s ages.

At the Beijing Games in 2008, the Chinese women’s gymnastics teams made waves after accusations that they were younger than 16 years old, the threshold for competing in gymnastics events. Online records revealed that He Kexin was too young to compete but Chinese officials stood by the birthdate on her passport, which made her eligible (although it is relatively easy to obtain a doctored passport). There was “strong circumstantial evidence” that members of the Chinese team were underage but the International Gymnastics Federation cleared the team of any wrongdoing. In 2010, bronze medalist Dong Fangxiao lost her medal from the 2000 Sydney Games after it was revealed that she had been only 14 at the time.  Yang Yun, who competed with Dong Fangxiao, admitted in a television interview that they were only 14 during the Games. Beyond the Chinese team, North Korean gymnasts allegedly have misrepresented their ages in the past. This year’s Chinese gymnastics squad has stayed away from age related scandals as team manager Ye Zhennan reported all of his athletes are of age. However, with their track record of fabricating documents and misrepresenting ages, some observers in the gymnastics world still have their doubts.

It is difficult to gauge an athlete’s age just by looking at them, and we should by all means give the Chinese gymnastics team the benefit of the doubt, but it is fascinating to see how quick the public is to crucify Russian athletes for violating Olympic rules in 2016 whereas the Chinese athletes accused of being underage in the past received relatively little attention this year.

Letting younger athletes compete is not always a guaranteed positive–athletes with more physical training and experience on the Olympic stage can perform better under the immense pressure placed on them during the Games. However, in certain sports, it is the youngest competitors who are in the best shape–consider the number of teenagers from multiple countries who have medaled in swimming in Rio and, of course, the Final Five in gymnastics, who are all incredibly young (at least compared to Olympians in other sports). Younger athletes usually have fewer injuries and have greater stamina. What if Nastia Liukin had been able to compete in Athens? Age restrictions kept her out of those Games, even though she was already becoming dominant in the gymnastics world.

Athletes lying about their ages is not limited to the Chinese national team nor to the sport of gymnastics, but in a sport that rewards youth and, in terms of aerodynamics, small bodies, younger athletes have a clear advantage. Famous gymnastics coach Belya Karoli has argued that the age limit should be done away with, as it robs athletes in peak shape of their chance to compete and encourages cheating. Before the age limit was enacted in 1997, multiple American gymnasts set impressive records while only 14 years of age, which is often considered the height of a gymnastic career. While there are gymnasts who compete into their twenties and beyond, most will retire after competing at only one or two Olympic Games. Athletes who lie about their age can get to three or even four Olympics before they lose sight of making the podium.

The age limit exists to protect young athletes from abuse and the physical and mental pressures of competing with the world’s eyes upon them at such a young age. However, if these athletes are forced to fabricate documents and lie for months or years on end to coaches, officials and their peers, the stress of competition can only be compounded. Is it better to miss an Olympics and have the moral high ground or to compete and win, knowing that you will live in constant fear of being stripped of your medal? At the moment, the age limit is not protecting young athletes, it is merely setting them up for an entirely different rash of problems.

Jillian Sequeira

Jillian Sequeira was a member of the College of William and Mary Class of 2016, with a double major in Government and Italian. When she’s not blogging, she’s photographing graffiti around the world and worshiping at the altar of Elon Musk and all things Tesla. Contact Jillian at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com

The post The Forgotten Controversy? Age and the Olympics appeared first on Law Street.

For the Daily Beast, the past week has been a news outlet’s worst nightmare: earlier this week, a Daily Beast writer decided to do an investigative dive into the gay dating scene at the Rio Olympic village by using the gay dating app, Grindr. Nico Hines’ article, published Wednesday, included details of several different athletes he matched with–height, weight, age, etc. After the article went live seemingly every other web-based outlet on the planet wrote their own pieces about the “sleazy,” and “wildly unethical” story. And on Thursday evening, after heavily revising the article while keeping it up on its site, the Daily Beast removed it entirely.

After removing the article, “The Other Olympic Sport In Rio: Swiping,” editors at the Daily Beast wrote a note condemning their judgement on allowing the article to be written and then revising it while not removing it.

Today we did not uphold a deep set of The Daily Beast’s values. These values—which include standing up to bullies and bigots, and specifically being a proudly, steadfastly supportive voice for LGBT people all over the world—are core to our commitment to journalism and to our commitment to serving our readers.

The Daily Beast was founded in 2010 to “seek out scoops, scandals and stories about secret worlds; we love confronting bullies, bigots and hypocrites,” according to its editor-in-chief John Avalon. But with Hines’ article, some instead saw the outlet as being similar to the people it claimed to be confronting:

shame on @NicoHines/@thedailybeast. LGBTQ+ people deserve respect. we are not your zoo animals. so infuriating. https://t.co/wgCXgTtFyU

— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) August 11, 2016

Amini Fonua, a gay swimmer from Tonga, posted a series of tweets in response to Hines’ article, expressing his concern that in some countries–such as Tonga–being gay is illegal. 

It is still illegal to be gay in Tonga, and while I’m strong enough to be me in front of the world, not everybody else is. Respect that.

— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016

Imagine the one space you can feel safe, the one space you’re able to be yourself, ruined by a straight person who thinks it’s all a joke?

— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016

Hines has yet to respond to his critics, but the Daily Beast owned up to its mistake, and vowed to never act against its ethics again. “We were wrong. We will do better,” the editors wrote.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Daily Beast Revises Then Removes Damaging ‘Grindr’ Article appeared first on Law Street.

A second Olympic boxer has been arrested in Rio on allegations of sexually assaulting a housekeeper. Jonas Junius, a 22-year-old Namibian boxer who was scheduled to compete in the welter weight division Thursday, is said to have allegedly grabbed and kissed a maid before offering her money to have sex with him.

BREAKING: Boxer Jonas Junius has been arrested for an attempted sexual assault of an Olympic Village housekeeper. pic.twitter.com/aj4XEDw8WZ

— Namibian Sun (@namibiansun) August 8, 2016

Junius’ case was preceded last week by the Friday arrest of Moroccan boxer Hassan Saada, 22, who is being detained in a Rio jail for 15 days for allegedly sexually assaulting two Brazilian maids in the Olympic Village.

Chief investigator Carolina Salomao told CBS New, “They were cleaning the room right across his, and he assaulted them. He groped the breast of one of them and touched the other woman’s thigh. They were able to get out.”

Under Brazilian law suspects can be held for long periods of time while police gather evidence. He was scheduled to fight Saturday against Turkish boxer Nadir Mehmet Unal in the light heavyweight division. Saada’s lawyers attempted to obtain a special release to allow him to compete, but it was denied.

Moroccan boxer Hassan Saada has been arrested for sexually assaulting two female cleaners in Rio. #Starrfmsports pic.twitter.com/4VdePeekLt

— Starr 103.5FM Sports (@Starrfmsports) August 5, 2016

Junius, who was the honored flag bearer for Namibia during the Olympic Opening Ceremony, will also be held for 15 days while Rio police investigate the assault claim.

There’s something eerie about the similarities of the two cases–both suspects are 22-year-old boxers accused by housekeepers. Still, with details at a minimum and investigations underway, it’s impossible to speculate if the cases have a connection, or are unfortunate coincidence..

Click Here to Read About the Sexual Abuse Coverup Claims Rocking the Gymnastics World Before Rio

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Second Olympic Boxer Accused of Sexual Assault in Rio appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Wikileaks Strikes Again With New DNC Leak

Here we go again! Wikileaks, the ever controversial leaking organization, released a series of voicemails from the recent Democratic National Committee hack showing some donors asking party officials for favors. One of the voicemails, highlighted by CNN, has a woman addressing the DNC’s financial director:

I’m furious about what you are doing for Bernie Sanders, he’s getting way too much influence. I’m on a fixed income, I spent over $300, donated to Hillary, what I see is the DNC bending over backwards for Bernie and Bernie is the worst person in the world to even be running in the Democratic Party, because he’s not a Democrat.

Other voicemails have callers, some of them ambassadors and big time donors trying to get perks or special treatment out of the DNC. Of course, these voicemails are seemingly harmless. No one can really grasp any under-the-table wrongdoing from this aspect of the leak. It’s just one piece to a very large puzzle.

Now investigators are asking whether Wikileaks has a hand in strategically leaking this information to try and manipulate the elections.

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: July 28, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Sarah Silverman Goes Off Script at DNC

Despite having declared how much she loved Bernie Sanders, Sarah Silverman is definitely “With Her.” Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Silverman and Al Franken took to the stage for convention comedy where Silverman vowed to vote for Hillary Clinton. She was loudly booed and on Twitter, she was called a traitor by some of the most ferocious Sanders supporters. However, in a completely off-script moment, the comedienne had some choice words for those #BernieOrBust people:

Watch comedian Sarah Silverman call “Bernie or bust” people “ridiculous” at the #DemConvention.https://t.co/brCGhiUyj8— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 26, 2016

DNC watchers from home were like:

via GIPHY

OH MAN SARAH SILVERMAN JUST HIT THE PARKING BRAKE AND POWER SLID THIS CONVENTION

— TALK ABOUT YR GLUTES (@edsbs) July 26, 2016

For more DNC coverage, follow us on Twitter and check out the site for our continuing coverage. Here’s our roundup from Day 1.

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: July 26, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and never has that seemed truer than in Rio as the Brazilian government struggles to keep the 2016 Olympics afloat.

The Rio Olympics took another hit last week, after scientists found dangerous strains of drug-resistant bacteria along the beaches that will host swimming, rowing, and canoeing events during this summer’s Games. Two as-yet-unpublished studies found microbes of “super bacteria” along beaches in San Diego, Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo and Flamengo. The bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), can lie dormant in the human body for months, only emerging when the body is attacked by an illness. Not only is KPC is antibiotic resistant, but it also has the ability to infect other bacteria and make it resistant as well, making it even more frightening. KPC entered the water system from hospitals, households, and businesses that release waste largely without regulation, bringing bacteria that never should have made it to open water into lagoons and the ocean itself.

Water has already been a concern for the Games, as large bodies of standing water are breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread the Zika virus. But the idea that the ocean itself could be contaminated along the shoreline is more than a threat to Brazil–the bacteria could spread to the beaches of other nations and begin to infect other strains of bacteria across Latin America’s Eastern coast.

In 2014, journalists documented ridiculous conditions in Sochi, Russia during the Winter Olympics. Lack of potable and running water, half-built hotel rooms and manholes without covers were all staples of the Sochi experience. While Sochi was far from ideal, journalists and athletes were not at risk of serious health impairments due to their accommodations. In Rio, athletes, trainers, journalists, and visitors to the Games could be exposing themselves to dangerous illnesses if they attend.

For athletes who have worked all their lives to qualify for the Olympic Games, it doesn’t make sense to back out–they may not qualify again, they may never reach this level of physical prowess again, they may need an Olympic win to gain or keep a sponsor. Media outlets will still report on the Games and broadcast events from Rio because they are massive moneymakers, no matter how dangerous they are. The International Olympic Committee will not cancel the games because it would consider that to be an overreaction. The World Health Organization has given the Games the green light, stating that Zika virus is still an emergency in Brazil but holding the games will not drastically increase the risk of the virus spreading.

Despite all the evidence that the Rio Games are dangerous, they are still moving forward, setting a dangerous precedent for events such as the Qatar World Cup, which was allegedly secured through bribes and has been allegedly built on slave labor and violent human rights abuses. Athletes and media outlets have the option of abstaining from these events, and international sports organizations have the power to revoke a nation’s bid or cancel an event, but none of them do. The media and organizers fear losing their profits, while the athletes fear losing their one shot at success. However, if taking that shot comes at the expense of public health and safety, is it really worth it?

Jillian Sequeira

Jillian Sequeira was a member of the College of William and Mary Class of 2016, with a double major in Government and Italian. When she’s not blogging, she’s photographing graffiti around the world and worshiping at the altar of Elon Musk and all things Tesla. Contact Jillian at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com

The post Bacteria on the Beaches: No One Wins at Rio 2016 appeared first on Law Street.