Olympians Face Gender Hurdles
Coauthored by Sophie Wang and Benjamin Leung
In Rio de Janeiro’s Summer 2016 Olympic Games, the United States team won the most medals. Despite the United States’ dominating performance, the issue of gender inequality reared its ugly head as seen through the unequal punishments of male US swimmer Ryan Lochte and female US soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo.
Midway through the Olympic Games on the morning of August 14th, reports came in claiming that Ryan Lochte and three of his US teammates were held at gunpoint after their taxi was stopped. Lochte insisted that he was robbed by individuals posing as armed police officers. However, his narrative was inconsistent and small details changed over time. After investigators failed to gather sufficient evidence for his story and a surveillance video was released, Lochte bore the brunt of the blame for fabricating his entire statement and received a 10-month suspension from the US swim team. Nevertheless, he was allowed to participate in “Dancing with the Stars” and even received a new reality TV show deal. But was this punishment fitting enough for Lochte’s actions? If a woman were to commit the same crime as he did, would she have been treated the same way?
During the Olympic quarterfinals of the women’s national soccer match, the US team experienced a tragic loss against Sweden. Sweden secured their place in the finals after breaking a 1-1 tie with the US during penalty kicks. In response, the US team’s goalkeeper, Hope Amelia Solo, commented on the Swedes, asserting that, “We played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I strongly, firmly believe that.” Soon after, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) announced that Solo was to be suspended for 6 months, and would eventually have her contract terminated. The USSF reasoned that Solo engaged in “conduct that is counter to the organization’s principal.” Despite being a three-time Olympic medalist, a winner of the 2011 and 2015 FIFA World Cup Golden Glove award, and being recognized as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, all of Solo’s titles were soon forgotten due to one case of bad sportsmanship.
Upon examining these two cases, it is clear how each punishment did not fit the crime. Lochte had committed a felony by filing a false robbery report, yet only suffered a 10-month suspension. In addition, he was able to participate on “Dancing with the Stars,” and received a new reality TV show despite his transgressions. On the other end of the spectrum, Solo only made a comment showing bad sportsmanship, and received a 6-month suspension with the possibility of her contract being terminated. Her punishments could potentially ruin her career as a goalkeeper for the US national team. Noting the difference between these two punishments, we are able to see how lenient the International Olympics Committee was with Lochte’s punishment compared with Solo’s. We argue that had man made a similar comment to that of Solo, the consequences would not have had as large of an impact on his career.