Page No: 25 Christmas Issue 2015
Current Affairs
Russian Doping: Was London 2012 really “Sabotaged”?
The first athlete found to have taken drugs was Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall from Sweden who caused his whole team to be banned from the 1968 Mexico Olympics. American track and field athlete
Marion Jones was also disqualified from Sydney 2000 for the same reasons and eventually had to hand back five Olympic medals. Lance Armstrong, known for winning the Tour De France from 1999-2005, had his victories stripped from him after a doping scandal in 2012. A German TV channel says that 99% of
the Russian athletes are guilty and two medals could be stripped from six of them. The two medals come from Sergei Kirdyapkin’s gold in the men’s 50 kilometre walk (Australia’s Jared Tallent would then be upgraded to first place), and Olga Kaniskina’s silver in the women’s 20 kilometre walk. Former ‘Anti-doping Agency Montreal’ President said that ‘We will never end doping, despite our small victories’. This means that it is almost impossible to stop doping even if they disqualify people one by one. As this is a very serious situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a doping investigation. Many fear that this might dent Putin’s popularity as President. Many think that these athletes will be suspended, but now, it is all up to the IAAF. Garrett Tan 7W Cheats and corruption ‘sabotaged’ London 2012 (10/11/2015) The Day http://theday.co.uk/sport/cheats-and-corruption-sabotaged-london-2012 US Muslim Teenager Arrested for Making a Clock In the middle of an English lesson Ahmed’s clock went off and his teacher asked whose clock it was. Ahmed said it was his, and went to his bag and turned it off. His teacher demanded to see it and thought that the home made clock Ahmed had invented was a bomb, so took him to the school’s security department to get him hand cuffed. Later that day the police showed up and asked Ahmed to explain his clock. After that the police officers summoned him to a room with four other police officers and then one of the officers he had seen sat back in his chair and said: “Yup. That’s who I thought it was.” Ahmed felt suddenly very conscious of his brown skin and his name – one of the most common Muslim names. In just 24 hours Ahmed’s story went viral and attracted some very high profile followers such as Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook. He said, “Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause not arrest.” Ahmed has been invited to the White House to show off his inventions. Hilary Clinton tweeted, “Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe – they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building.”
Things to Think About 1.
Is it fear that makes us overreact?
2. Using a sledge hammer to crack a nut. Does this phrase apply to the school intervention? 3. Should a person’s race and name be what we judge them by?
Sam Twite 7L
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