In the 125-year old history of the Olympics, elite athletes are being open about their use of cannabis products to prepare them for the world’s biggest stage in sports. 

Driving the charge is Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team star Megan Rapinoe, who integrates the use of CBD in her training regime using products from a company founded by her sister Rachel Rapinoe and Brett Schwager, called Mendi. 

Mendi’s founders began the organisation with an aim to make a brand of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) items that furnish competitors with regular wellbeing answers to assist them with recuperating, and perform at their best. And keeping in mind that Mendi has gathered a group of top competitors as brand diplomats, the organisation desires to take advantage of a market of purchasers searching for a more normal way to deal with wellbeing and health. 

“CBD has become part of my all-natural recovery system that I use throughout the day to help with pain and inflammation, stabilize my mood and get better sleep. Instead of taking Advil or other pain management meds, I’ve almost exclusively substituted with Mendi CBD products,” said Megan Rapinoe. 

“We really believe there is a movement and a flood of people wanting healthier alternative medications. They don’t want what we typically have been prescribed in this country, whether it’s over-the-counter meds, prescription opiates, sleeping pills, or various tools to help with stress and anxiety,” Rachael Rapinoe says in a Zoom interview. “So, we want to give people the healthiest option to stay on top of their game longer, specifically positioned with athletes.” 

CBD, or cannabidiol, is a compound found in the cannabis plant which has some therapeutically proven advantages to ease pain and swelling, helps in convulsions, and enhances mood. 

The cannabis plant incorporates more than 100 different amalgamations but THC(tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD are generally the most talked about because of their medical and relaxation utilisation. THC is also accountable for mind-altering reactions or the ‘high’ which people feel after consuming it. 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) put away CBD from its list of prohibited substances in September 2017. THC, however, still remains on that list as the world learned about the disqualification of American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson after she was tested positive for THC.  

Yet, while the competitors have been utilising CBD paving the way to the tournament, they cannot carry with them to Japan the chewy candies and effective sticks they’ve been depending on for alleviation from the anxiety of competing because of Japan’s strict anti-cannabis laws.  

Megan Rapinoe thinks that it’s high time that there should be complete legalisation of cannabis as well as THC. “The societal effect in terms of social justice that weed has had on this country is just absurd. There are so many, mostly Black and Brown people sitting in jail for 10 or 20-plus years for weed, and it’s completely unnecessary. From a social perspective, we’re long overdue for the legalisation of cannabis.”