One of the Olympic athletes was from my neighborhood in Denver.
I remember snowboarding with the girl when we were kids.
She had a lot of talent even back then. I was really excited when I found out that she qualified for the Olympics. Someone from our small neighborhood in Denver was going to be representing our country in one of the biggest winter sports. A few weeks before the event, there was a news story in the local Denver paper. The news story accused the Olympic athlete of testing positive for cannabis. I hoped the information wasn’t true, but the news covered the story later that day. Even though recreational Cannabis is legal in Colorado, it is not something that is considered a legal substance for athletes. When cannabis showed up on the test, the athlete had to be disqualified and booted from the race. A lot of people were upset about the results and the ruling, but the athlete had a news conference a few days later. She apologized for knowingly breaking the rules and promised she would do better in the future. It seemed to be a humbling experience for the world-class athlete. Recreational marijuana is something that I absolutely enjoy. It would be difficult for me to give that up, especially if I found it to be relaxing at the end of a tough workout. This athlete spends 12 or 14 hours every day pushing her body to the maximum limit. A little bit of marijuana doesn’t seem like a big deal, especially when it is legal in many places around the globe.