Hope Solo unlikely to face IOC discipline for ‘coward’ comments

RIO DE JANEIRO – The Summer Games in Rio have been a lot of things, but lately they’ve been the Poor Sportsmanship Olympics.

You have athletes openly accusing others of doping, or shaming the ones that have been caught. You have open acts of hostility between athletes whose nations are at odds, like when Egyptian Judoka Islam el-Shehaby failed to shake the hand of Israeli opponent Or Sasson following a loss.

The IOC said that it was “reviewing” that case, and that “in general the idea of the Olympics is to build bridges between countries and nations, not destroy them.”

Now, there’s a world of difference between that and what U.S. women’s national soccer team goalie Hope Solo said after their upset loss to Sweden on Friday:

But the IOC was asked on Saturday whether her rant – in which she referred to the Swedes as “cowards” for playing a conservative style against the Americans – and rises to the level of disciplinary committee investigation.

It doesn’t expect there to be any repercussions.

“I can’t speak for ethics or disciplinary commissions, but I think it’s unlikely. It falls into the category of sportsmanship,” said spokesman Mark Adams. “Obviously things are said in the heat of the moment. It was a penalty shootout. Passions run high. People say things they regret.”

Adams said the IOC was “disappointed” in Solo’s comments.

As for the daily references from athletes about each others’ alleged doping – the latest being Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana being accused by Swedish runner Sarah Lahti of not being “100 percent” clean because “it is too easy for her” – Adams said it’s nothing new for the Olympics. What’s new is we’re all hearing them more.

“To an extent, some of these comments have been made before. In the hot house of social media world we live in now, we get to hear them in a way we haven’t before,” he said.

Adams said the IOC is committed to continue vigilant testing and is confident that, now or in the future, any dopers will be caught.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

Listen to Yahoo Sports’ Greg Wyshynski podcast from Rio on GRANDSTANDING, featuring U.S. swimming legend Summer Sanders on Michael Phelps, IOC doping and Donald Trump: