Sports enthusiasts have raised alarms about possible cheating at this year’s Olympics.
This year’s events are in full swing and are scheduled to wrap up on Sunday, August 11. As with most Olympic Games, some controversies have already surfaced.
One recent talking point is today’s boxing match (August 1) between Italy’s Angela Carini and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.
Khelif was disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships due to high testosterone levels, yet she was still allowed to participate in the Games.
However, her bout with Carini was cut short when the Italian boxer withdrew just 46 seconds in.
It is believed that Carini suffered a broken nose during this brief time in the ring.
Moving away from boxing, some Olympics viewers have accused participants in the men’s 20km walk race of cheating.
There are stringent rules that athletes must adhere to in such events. World Athletics specifies: “During the 20km race walk, athletes must have one foot in contact with the floor at all times. Failure to do this is known as ‘lifting’.
“Additionally, the athlete’s advancing leg must straighten from the point it touches the ground until it passes under the body – this differentiates the discipline from running.”
However, in slow-motion footage from today’s race, it seems that there are instances where some athletes had both feet off the ground simultaneously.
Sharing a clip of the race on Reddit, one user commented: “While watching the men’s 20km walk, I noticed that every single walker is ‘cheating’. Is there a large amount of leeway in the sport?”
One person responded in the thread: “I’m watching this sh*t right now as well and it makes NO SENSE. They’re all literally jogging/running.”
“Olympic walking should be renamed odd jogging,” another remarked.
Another individual wrote: “It took me half an hour of watching to realise this was a competitive WALKING event and not running. Oh well, can’t get caught cheating if everyone’s cheating I guess.”
However, some argued that the rules are meant to be interpreted through the naked eye, not slow-motion videos.
“It has to be discernable to the naked eye, not in a slowed down video,” someone claimed. “It is legal to have both feet off the ground within that very narrow margin.”