Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Sports Policy

The stopwatch has no ideology: Why biology defines women’s sports
Uncategorized, American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

The stopwatch has no ideology: Why biology defines women’s sports

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker On July 16, 1988, Florence Griffith-Joyner sprinted 100 meters in 10.49 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Nearly four decades later, no woman has run faster. But ... On July 16, 1988, Florence Griffith-Joyner sprinted 100 meters in 10.49 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Nearly four decades later, no woman has run faster, and her world record still stands. Her 200-meter record, set at the Seoul Olympics later that year, has also stood for almost forty years. Flo-Jo remains the fastest woman who has ever lived. Yet her 100-meter record has repeatedly been surpassed by American high school boys. The current U.S. high school boys’ record is 9.92 secon...
When medals matter more than flags: Inside the rise of Olympic nationality swaps
American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

When medals matter more than flags: Inside the rise of Olympic nationality swaps

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker The Winter Olympics have wrapped up, reportedly drawing their highest ratings since Sochi in 2014. I didn't watch. Between niche “sports” invented to fill broadcast hours and athletes apologizing for the country they represent, the Games increasingly feel less like national competition and more like a global spectacle. But the larger issue isn’t ski mountaineering or media melodrama. It’s nationality itself. Twelve years ago, during the Sochi Olympics, I wrote about what I called “nationality fluidity” - athletes competing for countries far removed from where they were born or trained. American-born siblings skating for Japan. An Italian competing for Germany. A Vermont native skatin...