Axios

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is working to mitigate the "harsh consequences" but can't unilaterally change the rules even if marijuana is not intentionally used to improve performance, USADA leaders wrote in a letter Friday.

The big picture: The letter was addressed to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who wrote to USADA to encourage the group to rethink sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson's one-month suspension for recreational marijuana use.

What they're saying: Friday’s letter, co-signed by USADA CEO Travis Tygart, stated that because Richardson voluntarily accepted her 30-day suspension, any attempt to reverse it, “would have been quickly appealed” by the International Olympic Committee or World Anti-Doping Agency, which could have resulted in an even longer suspension.

• “Most governments in the world have been very reluctant to take marijuana off the prohibited list for public health reasons,” the USADA letter reads.
• “It is worth noting that when marijuana was included in the first prohibited list in 2004, one of the strongest advocates for inclusion of marijuana on the prohibited list was the U.S. government," the letter reads.

Catch up quick: Richardson was suspended by the USADA and disqualified from the Olympics' 100-meter race and U.S. relay team after testing positive for cannabis. Richarson said she took the substance to cope with the death of her biological mother, who passed just days before the Olympic trials.

U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Andrew will remain unvaccinated for COVID-19 when he participates in the Tokyo Olympics set to begin this month, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: Andrew, 22, said he didn't want to get the vaccine in the month between trials and the Olympics because he didn't know how his body would react to it.

• The USA Swimming Team can't mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for its athletes because the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee have not mandated them but athletes are subject to certain health protocols, per the Post.

What they're saying: "As an athlete on the elite level, everything we do is very calculated … I didn’t want to risk any days out, because there are periods where, if you take the vaccine, you have to deal with some days off," Andrew said, per the Post.

• Dave Durden, head men’s coach for the U.S. Olympic swim team, said "Regardless of vaccinations or not vaccinated, it’s what our attitudes and actions are," per the Post.

Go deeper: Olympics to be held without spectators as Tokyo enters state of emergency

Get your towels ready. It's about to go down! The Lightning won another championship, so of course there's gonna be another Tampa boat parade!

The big picture: Monday, around 10am, players will board boats at Davis Islands and begin rolling upriver, through downtown Tampa, with plans to end around noon at Rick's on the River, south of Columbus Drive.

The Olympics will be held without spectators after Tokyo declared its fourth state of emergency less than three weeks after lifting its third.

The state of play: The Games begin two weeks from today, and these last-minute changes impact 15,000+ athletes, 50,000+ officials, 70,000+ volunteers and countless others as they prepare for the Games.