Olympics

Did Hitler invent highways and microphones, as Ye said in a radio interview? No, that's not true: The Nazis appropriated highway plans and construction already occurring. Several people are credited with inventing the microphone in the late 1800s, long before Hitler's time in power in Germany. The claim appeared in an interview (archived here) by Ye, who changed his name…

Did Queen Elizabeth II make it known that she does not wish any of her dogs to go on living in the event of her death? No, that's not true: Suggestions that the queen wanted all surviving dogs euthanized at the time of her death are satirical. A 2015 article on vanityfair.com included anecdotes from horse trainer Monty Roberts about…

Is the first woman to medal in six straight Olympics ignored by the media and sponsors because she is outspokenly pro-Second Amendment? No, that's not true: Kim Rhode, a highly decorated Olympic double trap and skeet shooter, has had multiple news articles published about her as well as multiple TV appearances over her decadeslong career, and she has several lucrative…

Will a Mormon athlete named Rebecca Washington replace U.S. runner Sha'Carri Richardson on the U.S. Olympic team? No, that's not true: This claim comes from a post made by a parody Twitter account; the runner replacing Richardson is not named Rebecca Washington. The claim appeared in the screenshot of a tweet on an Instagram post (archived here) on July 5,…

Did Shelby Houlihan, an American runner poised to run in the Tokyo Olympics, receive a less harsh punishment than Sha'Carri Richardson, another potential American Olympic runner, when Olympic officials found out they both had banned substances in their bodies? No, that's not true: Houlihan got suspended for four years, while Richardson's suspension is for a month. The claim appeared in…

Did U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps get a lighter penalty than U.S. runner Sha'Carri Richardson for smoking marijuana? No, that's not true: Phelps was suspended from competition for three months, while Richardson was suspended for one month. The timing of the suspensions, however, made the impact of the suspensions seem harsher for Richardson. Phelps' suspension came six months after he…

Did New Zealand female weightlifter Laurel Hubbard suffer from a testicular injury just weeks before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? No, that's not true: the claim is lifted from from The Babylon Bee, a satirical website that writes about "Christian stuff, political stuff, and everyday life." The story, titled "Female Weightlifter Suffers Tragic Testicle Injury Just Weeks Before Tokyo Olympics," got…

Does a video prove that "final moves against the deep state" are happening now? No, that's not true: Many of the conspiracy theories claimed in the video are false. Donald Trump is not still president or "in charge," the London 2012 Olympics did not foreshadow the coronavirus outbreak and John McCain and George H.W. Bush were not found guilty by…

Did Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook declare that Richard Jewell was a "mass murderer" and were efforts to raise money for Jewell's defense and family banned from social media? No, that's not true: The claim was oddly made by the lawyer who helped Jewell sue news organizations that published false accusations that the security guard was suspected of planting the backpack…

Did U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn put down a wreath honoring dead terrorists on Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles? No, of course not. That claim was made by a satirical website mocking the recent controversy about Corbyn laying a wreath or attending a ceremony for Palestinian terrorists. The terrorists and the terror incident mentioned in the article are fictional: they…