I have a confession to make: In 2010 I went to a shooting range in Thailand and fired a rifle. If only someone had taken a photo of it, because I should be put in front of the entire Australian media and humiliated.
On Saturday, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced Kenrick Monk and Nick D’Arcy would return straight home after their swimming commitments from the London Olympics were finished, following the emergence of a photo of the two holding guns.
In a statement, chef de mission of the Australian Olympic Team Nick Green said “Australian Olympians are required to meet very high standards of conduct and we cannot risk the reputation of the team through non-compliance with the Team Membership Agreement.”
Green also said the pair were “repeat offenders who had shown poor judgement in their decision-making.”
Monk posted the photo on his Facebook page when the duo returned from three weeks of training in California, only to face criticism.
Both Monk and D’Arcy have apologised for the photo.
“If anyone has been offended I’m deeply sorry,” D’Arcy said late this week.
Monk said, “It was something we did after the last night of swimming. As soon as I found out about the photos going viral basically I took it straight down.”
Yes, the two have been bad boys in the past.
In 2008, D’Arcy was charged with assault and inflicting grievous bodily harm on team mate Simon Cowley. He was then dropped from the 2008 Olympic team, as well as the 2009 World Championships team.
It’s a well publicised case, which has divided many sports fans.
Monk on the other hand claimed he was involved in a hit-and-run accident in September last year. It turned out he lied about that incident, as he admitted he fell off a skateboard. Monk also made a false statement to Queensland Police, which landed him in hot water.
But, in this particular case, can someone please explain to me what these two have done wrong?
Both have had photos of firearms in a legal gun store, which aren’t loaded with any ammunition, as well as use a legal fire range under strict supervision.
These photos aren’t in the street. These photos aren’t taken in a home. These photos are in a controlled environment.
If they went to an archery range and photos were taken of them holding a bow and arrow, would we have the same reaction?
God forbid if our archery team or shooting team head to a nearby pool and have photos of them getting ready to jump in with their goggles on, especially if they don’t know how to swim.
This smacks of certain pockets of the Australian media doing their best to kick two men while they’re down.
The decision from the AOC is a complete over-reaction and they should re-think their call.
I know they’ve done some absolutely stupid things in the past. But to punish them further for something like this is a lack of judgement from the AOC.
Steve
Guest
Well, the comparison of the author firing a gun at a firing range isn't quite the same: if you were a public figure with a highly negative public image- considered to be a thug by a large segment of the population- and you then struck some bragging 'bad boy gangster' poses in a gun shop, then posted them online 100 days before you were due to participate in the highest profile international event imaginable, then you could expect some outrage- justified or not. It is true when people say it wouldn't be an issue if it were anyone else, but it isn't 'anyone else', and fair or not, this is something that public figures have to think about. Without the past context, this would be nothing- you're absolutely right about that, but nothing is ever unaffected by context- it might be fine for you to take a photo at a movie conference with your favourite sexy actress and put it online- now try it if you're a schoolteacher (or married). It might be fine for you to take a photo next to your favourite MMA fighter with the obligatory clenched fist pose- but if you found yourself in trouble for a bit of push and shove one day, it might come back to haunt you. What Monk and D’Arcy did wrong was to embarrass the AOC and show themselves to be unreliable ambassadors- the ensuing beat up itself might not be fair, but the fact that they left themselves this open suggests they don't deserve too much sympathy. Look at it this way: you could be entirely correct in asserting that your boss's wig couldn't be any more obvious if it had a chinstrap, but accidentally e-mail it to the whole company and see what happens.
Happy Hooker
Guest
AOC out of touch. Complete over reaction. They did not bring swimming into disrepute.
AOCpoorform
Guest
On the basis of that decision the whole Oarsome Foursome should've been sent home for the ads they did - now that was wrong!! I have a photo of me holding a M16 machine gun in the Philippines, glad I wasn't playing basketball for Australia!!
Onehundredandeighty
Guest
Massive Overreaction. An absolute storm in a teacup. Boys did nothing wrong. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.