41 year old American swimmer Dara Torres qualified for the Olympic team last week. Vidya Pradhan is unimpressed with an article in the San Jose Mercuty News which relies on innuendo to suggest that Ms Torres has taken performance enhancing drugs.

Why would a respected journalist put out a piece that is pure smear? Two explanations come to mind. One is that there is a real fire behind the smoke that Ms. Killion has generated, except there is no way of mentioning her sources. And this is the charitable explanation. The other is that the entire article is founded on a personal belief that women beyond a certain age are simply not capable of the kind of strength and stamina that gave Ms. Torres a berth on the Olympic team. ( The third, more mercenary explanation, is that of sensationalism, but I am going to give Ms. Killion the benefit of the doubt here.)

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