Jessica Hardy has removed her name from the US Olympic team

Associated Press: "...The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced Hardy's decision Friday, saying she did so "in the best interests of the team. ..." [Link]

Now that she has removed herself from the team and will not appeal her removal, what happens to the alternates? This whole episode has been a definitive fiasco in planning by both US Swimming and the US Olympic committee.

A deal must have been struck. I am NOT saying that Hardy is dirty; that is for WADA and USADA to judge, I just have a strong suspicion that a lot of people really want this to episode to go away and to do so quickly. Now, Jessica Hardy has provided an out.

After reading this from Bloomberg, this sort of smells like the deal to me: "...Hardy didn't contest the laboratory findings and was granted additional time by an American Arbitration Association panel to investigate possible causes of her positive test. While she received a two-year ban from competition, Hardy will be permitted to come back to the AAA panel to present evidence which could reduce her period of ineligibility, USADA said. ..." [Link]