In vilifying Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, Americans are splashing murky waters

Washington Post ^ | 10 August 2016 | Sally Jenkins

[Drew68]

RIO DE JANEIRO — Feels good, doesn’t it, to slap water in the face of the rest of the world and go all jingoist? Lilly King kept America strong and pure when she sent a blast of chlorine into the eyes of that Russian criminal mastermind Yulia Efimova and prevented her from melting the earth’s core. Or something like that, right? But there is a disquieting aspect to the narrative going here at the Olympics. It’s not a moment of perfect American moral clarity.

King, 19, is a swaggeringly great swimmer, but the rivalry between her and 24-year-old Efimova in the breaststroke is hardly a simple matter of a clean swimmer prevailing over “drug cheating,” as King put it. The facts of Efimova’s case aren’t nearly so clear cut despite the self-righteous Cold War shunning of her. It’s worth looking a little more closely at the human face of Efimova and maybe even standing in her place for a minute. As she suggested tearfully the other night, “You can just try and understand me, like if you switch you and I.”

For starters...

[Drew68]

I don't really care one way or the other. I just wanted an excuse to post pics from Efimova's Instagram account

She's really, really hot.

[DesertRhino]

Not guilty. And I hope she doesn’t feel sad about all this.

[montag813]

As if she is always on steroids or our swimmers are always clean.

[dfwgator]

At least she’s really a female. And doesn’t wear a Hijab.

[kiryandil]

Sally Jenkins, you ignorant Washington Post Hillary SuperPAC slut.

[montag813]

For starters, Efimova doesn’t live in Russia; she lives in Los Angeles, where she has trained with Southern Cal Coach Dave Salo since she was 19. He says via email, “She is a sweet kid and not the monster she is being branded.”

Efimova has two offenses for performance-enhancing on her record, and let’s take a closer look at them. One day in 2013 she went to a local GNC in L.A. and bought a nutritional supplement. Her English was poor, and she didn’t check the contents, which included the banned hormone DHEA. Efimova’s offense was deemed unintentional, and the normal two-year suspension was reduced to 16 months.

OMG....all this over f**king DHEA!!! Seriously?

[A_Former_Democrat]

Yeah God forbid, Sally . . An American put a Commie in her place

And of course you have to bitch about it

[kiryandil]

Not guilty. And I hope she doesn’t feel sad about all this.

Geez, she's so Not Guilty that if she was with four or five Guilty friends, they'd become Not Guilty, too.

So, she's got THAT going for her. :)

[dfwgator]

Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out.

[kiryandil]

Her English was poor, and she didn’t check the contents, which included the banned hormone DHEA.

If she needs a translator, I'll do my best. My Russian is a little rusty, but I could get it up to speed in no time. :)

[Drew68]

OMG....all this over f**king DHEA!!! Seriously?

Yep. Apparently she asked the clerk in her broken English if it was OK to use and was told it was fine.

Oh yeah, another Instagram pic.

[Tijeras_Slim]

You wouldn’t need performance enhancing drugs to hit that.

[Doogle]

....she’s had more Russian ships in her dock than Novorossiysk

[dfwgator]

If she needs a translator, I'll do my best. My Russian is a little rusty, but I could get it up to speed in no time. :)

Yes, I need to brush up on the Umlaut....Oh wait, that's German.

[ilgipper]

Considering the entire Russian team was almost banned from the games and many wee, I don’t buy it. It’s a systematic effort to dope and cheat.

[kiryandil]

Sie ist eine Schöne Mädchen!

I got yer umlauts right here, dfw! :)

[Alas Babylon!]

Um, at my age, I’d want Bob Dole’s entire bottle of pills!

[dfwgator]

"Now you do not work me overtime anymore. You do not take advantage of me on weekends. You have lost all interest in the umlaut... so, obviously, my services are no longer needed."

[goodnesswins]

You’re probably right...but I look at the American women and think...where’s the estrogen...no boobs, monster legs and shoulders...just an observation. Even the gymnasts have some estrogen showing.

[dfwgator]

DHEA - It Does a Body Good.