Free Republic

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...

American swimmer Lilly King had some choice words, as well as a finger wag, Sunday night for Russian counterpart Yulia Efimova, who was twice banned for doping but was surprisingly reinstated for the Rio Olympics Saturday. Efimova, the reigning world champion in the 100 meter breaststroke, has a long history with using substances to get a leg-up on her competition. She was suspended for 16 months in 2013 when anabolic substances were found in her system, and received a provisional ban (which was later lifted) earlier this year for using meldonium. in their rulings on Russia's state-sponsored doping scandal, The...