Abstimmungen » Kershaw wanted to go back out on the mound despite h

RIO DE JANEIRO -- It was a postrace news conference more strained and theatrical than any ready room at the Olympic swimming competition. The gold and silver medalists sat at either end of the table: a defiant American teenager suddenly thrust into the role of anti-doping crusader, and a shaken Russian swimmer trying to defend her presence.Neither has been served well by the powers behind the rings. Lilly King should have been able to enjoy her evening without shouldering that responsibility. Yulia Efimova shouldnt have been in Rio at all, left to dangle as the symbol of a failed system.Too late now. King, a brassy 19-year-old champion from Evansville, Indiana, who isnt technically old enough to celebrate with champagne, spoke her mind and tore the foil off the bottle. The sound you hear from Rio is a giant cork popping and frustration foaming out.The fa?ade of harmonized anti-doping rules has crumbled. Athletes are tired of dropping their drawers on command for a broken system, tired of being cautious and diplomatic.Its incredible, winning the gold medal and knowing I did it clean, King said after winning the 100-meter breaststroke in Olympic-record time (1:04.93, 0.57 ahead of Efimova). The performance came 24 hours after King and Efimova engaged in a public finger-wagging war and King labeled Efimova a drug cheat. Im not a fan, King told NBC after the semifinals.Kings statements followed similar ones by Australias Mack Horton, who won the 400 freestyle the day before. Other swimmers chimed in with support. The question is stubbornly afloat on the surface now, unlikely to be submerged again.Total props to him for speaking out first, King said of Horton. I admire that. He said what everyone was thinking and I also said what everyone was thinking. I think its a victory for clean sport just to show you can do it while competing clean your whole life.King was a toddler when Marion Jones and Lance Armstrong were in their prime, but she seems fully aware that doping knows no borders. She was specifically asked about 2016 U.S. track team member Justin Gatlin, a sprinter who has served two previous doping suspensions. She didnt blink.Do I think people who have been caught for doping offenses should be on the team? No, they shouldnt, she said.If it appears unseemly for athletes to become verbal vigilantes in this gathering ostensibly held to promote peace, love and understanding, assign the blame where it belongs. Blame the sporting politicians who ignored whistleblowers in Russia, stalled on investigating, then invented eligibility rules on the fly when evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia forced their hands.Legal challenges spilled over into the opening weekend of the Games. Efimova, 24, was one of a group of Russian athletes the International Olympic Committee tried to prevent from competing because of a previous doping suspension -- a 16-month ban ending in 2015 that was imposed after she tested positive for a steroid contained in a supplement.The maneuver was doomed because of a previous arbitration ruling, and widely interpreted as an empty gesture following the IOCs controversial compromise to clear the way for most of the Russian delegation.Earlier this year, Efimova became one of hundreds of athletes -- the majority from Russia -- who tested positive for the newly banned substance meldonium. The World Anti-Doping Agency later had to peel back many of the positives after belated research showed the drug could linger in the system for months, giving athletes plausible deniability to say they had stopped taking it before Jan. 1 of this year.But the meldonium flap left Efimova tagged as a two-time doper and made her a lightning rod for the increasingly high-voltage argument about how to reform the anti-doping system. That debate did not come in time to save the credibility of these Games.Efimova got the green light to race the day before preliminary heats, and was loudly booed by the crowd at the Olympic Aquatic Stadium all three times she walked out to the blocks. She sobbed as she stopped briefly for Russian reporters after the race, but had regained her composure by the time the podium ceremony was held. All three medalists did their duty in posing for pictures and walking the pool deck without betraying any hostility.King and Efimova did not shake hands.If I had been in Yulias shoes, I would not want to be congratulated by someone who did not speak highly of me, King said. If she was wishing to be congratulated, I apologize.King put intense pressure on herself by calling out Efimova. Her coach at Indiana University, Ray Looze, urged King to take the high road, but admitted he didnt throw a sawhorse in the way once she started talking.The athletes have to start speaking up, and they have, Looze said.The IOC and FINA [the sports international governing body] respond to money, he added, biting off the last word like so much beef jerky. If the money dries up, then theyll clean it up. Lilly kind of cracked it open, but we all believe the same way. Nobody likes this. 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"Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. MIAMI -- The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back their ace with open arms as Clayton Kershaw took the mound Friday for the first time in 75 days.Out since late June with a lower-back injury, the three-time Cy Young Award winner gave up two runs on five hits over three innings in the Dodgers 4-1 loss to the?Miami Marlins, throwing 66 pitches in the process.It was not vintage Kershaw by any means, but the left-hander still recorded five strikeouts, striking out the side in the second inning.He rated his outing as not great.I threw a lot of pitches. I was averaging 20-plus pitches an inning, so regardless if the pitch count was in effect or not, it probably would have been a short night, Kershaw said after the game. You try to look at the positives, and I got to pitch again, so thats good. But you dont want to be a detriment to the team, either. Ill definitely try and pitch a little deeper next time.Despite the short outing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was happy to see his ace back on the mound.?There wasnt the sharpness we expected, the slider wasnt there, but just to see him on the mound was great, Roberts said. And in talking to him after the start, he came back into the dugout and said he felt good.Obviously every game is important, but for Clayton to be back on the mound, I think thats a win for us.Kershaw needed 14 pitches in the first inning, 29 in the second and 23 more in the third. He gave up a solo home run to J.T. Realmuto in the opening inning and an RBI single to Chris Johnson in the second. Kershaw gave up three hits in the second inning, including a comebacker up the middle from opposing pitcher Jose Fernandez that knocked him to the ground.Five of the last six outs Kershaw recorded were via strikeout. He exited trailiing the Marlins 2-0.ddddddddddddAsked whether it was realistic for him to regain his old form after a 75-day lull, Kershaw said, I dont get that luxury.Its not a perfect world, obviously. But at the same time, its September whatever-it-is and weve got a division to win, he said. While there might be some rough spots for me at times, there really cant be.Roberts said Kershaw wanted to go back out on the mound despite his struggles.He wants to finish every game he starts. So thats what makes him great. There was a little discussion, but he understood this was in his and our best interest, Roberts said.The short outing was not a complete surprise,considering the Dodgers are slowly building up his pitch count. In his only minor league rehab start earlier this week, Kershaw threw 34 pitches and then 15 more in the bullpen after his outing.Before he went to the disabled list with a mild disk herniation, Kershaw was 11-2 in 16 starts with a 1.79 ERA and had 145 strikeouts to just nine walks.It was the second time Kershaw has been on the disabled list in his career -- he also sat out more than a month at the outset of the 2014 season when he won both the National League Cy Young and MVP awards.Kershaw admitted he briefly thought about whether he would ever come back.?It definitely started creeping in my mind, Kershaw said. But you cant really think like that. I probably pouted for a day and got over it.It was a little unfortunate that I couldnt get out there for a couple more innings. But the arm feels good. The pitches werent great. But I dont think it was because I was tired or anything. It just wasnt a great night. ' ' '