Olympic Notes: Saluting Two GOATS; ACC Grandstanding; Trans Phobia

For me the 2024 Paris Olympics will always be remembered as a showcase for the two greatest female athletes of all time in their respective sports, swimmer Katie Ledecky and gymnast Simone Biles (backed up by the brilliance of swimmer Torri Huske and sprinter Noah Lyles).

Ledecky won four Olympic medals in Paris to pass another former Stanford swimmer, Jenny Thompson, and become the most decorated American woman in Olympic history with 14. Her nine golds is the most for any American woman in any sport and tied for the most all-time with Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina. 

She owns the top 20 times in the 1500 free and virtually all the best times in the 800, which she has won in four consecutive Olympics.

Watching Ledecky's victory in the 1500 meter race was simply astonishing, as she was so far ahead of the rest of the field that no other competitor even appeared in the overhead television camera shots.

Biles' athleticism is other-wordly. She became the first woman in modern Olympic history to win two all-around golds, exhibiting spellbinding routines on the vault and floor exercise that left members of the U.S. men's basketball team in awe.

The Paris Games have been one of redemption for Biles, who had to pull out of the Tokyo Games because of a mental block that gymnasts refer to as "the twisties," which left her feeling disoriented and lost in the air. Her comeback has been one of the most inspirational and impressive in sports history.

Biles earned another unofficial gold medal the day after her all-around victory by tweeting "I love my black job."

Most Ludicrous Grandstanding: The ACC has taken claim of Stanford and Cal Olympians, publishing lists of "ACC Olympians" and "Medalists" that include the Cardinal and Golden Bear Olympic athletes.

On Thursday, after Ledecky's runaway gold medal in the 1500 free, the ACC twitter feed posted a photo of her with the hashtag: "Accomplish Greatness. Olympians Made Here."

How absurd. Ledecky wasn't "made" in the ACC. She never competed in the ACC. Never got in the water in an ACC meet.

Ledecky swam for Stanford for two years, leading the Cardinal to a pair of NCAA titles, before retiring from collegiate competition. She has been training the past several years at the University of Florida.

Ironically, Stanford didn't even become a member of the ACC until Aug. 2, three days after Ledecky's race.

Nope, sorry ACC. Katie Ledecky is an alum of the Pac-12. The ACC can stake no claim to her accomplishments. To do so, frankly, is embarrassing.

At this rate, they'll be claiming Christian McCaffrey's touchdowns this fall.

Trans Phobia: No Olympic Games would be complete without some controversy. 

Last week, the folks who obsess over transgender women beating other female competitors went nuts when Italian boxer Angela Carini quit 46 seconds into her match with Algerian Imane Khelif, because Khelif, who conservatives accuse of being a trans "man," punched her too hard.

Turns out Khelif isn't trans. She was born a female, as her passport from repressive Algeria and many photos of her as a young girl--including some in the boxing ring-- attest. She was disqualified from an event last year by the always-suspect International Boxing Association (IBA) for having high testosterone. 

Like many female athletes, Khelif has some xy (male) chromosomes. That doesn't make her a man. That doesn't make her trans.

In the ring, Khelif is far from invincible. She has lost at least nine fights to other females in recent years.

Which didn't stop former US president Donald Trump, his cringeworthy running mate J.D. Vance, and another notorious bigot, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, from demanding that Khelif be banned from competing.

Of course, it's not the first time these folks have spread disinformation, anger, and hate.

I've always believed transgender men and women need our support, not laws banning them from restrooms and sports competition. I helped the late, great Dr. Don Laub write a book about transgender patients back in the 1970s when I worked at Stanford Medical Center, so I know a little bit about this subject.

To folks and conservative politicians who have nothing better to do than obsess over whether a trans athlete should be allowed to compete, I'd suggest there are far more important things to worry about.

Things like child hunger, bigotry, gun violence and climate change, to name a few.