by Larry Eder
I recorded this podcast in April, two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There is no excuse for it and I am proud of World Athletics for banning athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in our sport. We live in a global village, and there are repercussions for your actions. Seb Coe should be commended for this action.
We live in peculiar times. The amount of pretend news sources, and fabricated news makes it a wonder we can appreciate the world at all. In Eugene, Oregon, 1,900 athletes from 192 countries are going to run, jump and throw for ten days and nights. I think that is pretty amazing after what our country has delt with for the past five years.
In terms of Putin in Russia, no one in their right mind thinks this is an ethical move. Even Cardinal Richelieu, the secretary of state for Louis XIII, would have been aghast.
The World Athletics boycott is the right thing to do. Putin does not care about the boycotts, but 90 million Russians upset that their teams can not compete globally, now that will be a problem for him that he will have to five.
As the Grand Inquisitor said in Dostoyevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov, ” Don’t you understand. We give them bread, and they give us their souls.”
Let me know what you think!
Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/oZEV5QV2FGU
