The gold medalist who chose self-care over Olympic glory

... plus curiosities from a K-pop bop, the Supreme Court, and more.

Welcome back to another edition of The Detour. We have some big news: Starting this week, we are continuing to offer our World in Numbers section for free. But if you’d like to keep reading The Detour in its entirety, including the Cover Story, The Week Ahead, and Concepts, we’re asking subscribers to support us with $5/month or $50/year.

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Without further ado, here’s what’s on deck this week: 

🏋🏽 A record-shattering weightlifting champion’s last goodbye

🏛️ Inside Biden’s big plans to shake up the U.S. Supreme Court

✨ How “sparks flying” can be explained by science

But first, here’s a closer look at what’s been going on around the world lately:

Kelly Kimball for Frame. // Wikimedia Commons

6 — The number of prisoners detained in Russia who have been moved to “an unknown location,” per local reports. The Russian prisoners include opposition politicians Liliya Chanysheva and Ilya Yashin, human rights activist Oleg Orlov, artist Sasha Skochilenko, and some supporters of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The sudden move has triggered speculation among opposition leaders and experts, who think the group may be part of an imminent prisoner swap with the West.

18 — The number of years U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed could be the new term limit of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The proposal, issued on Monday, is part of a series of reforms initiated by Biden. It also includes calls for a binding code of conduct, plus a requirement that justices must disclose gifts they receive, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have conflicts of interest. (By the way, many of these rules are what journalists must adhere to in their own line of work.)

Here’s a quick and dirty list of some recent Supreme Court Justice scandals that helped spark Biden’s call for reform:

Justice Clarence Thomas — reportedly accepted gifts and luxury travel from GOP donor Harlan Crow and other powerful friends for years without disclosing it. Thomas also attended at least two summits hosted by the right-wing Koch network, and has attended dinners with high-level GOP donors without disclosing his attendance.

Justice Samuel Alito — someone flew an inverted flag after the 2020 election outside his house (Alito claims his wife flew it), which is around when the court was considering a 2020 election-related case. The upside-down flag gas been associated with false claims that the 2020 election was stolen by Biden. Alito’s home also flew a “Return to Heaven” flag, which is currently associated with Christian nationalists and Trump supporters. Alito also took a luxury fishing trip with billionaire Paul Singer without disclosing it.

Justice Neil Gorsuch — sold a vacation home to the head of a law firm who had frequent business before the Supreme Court, a month after being sworn in as a justice. Gorsuch has also attended events hosted by right-wing organizations like the Federalist Society.

40 — The amount of time in seconds that the 25-year-old American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik’s routine lasted. It would be Nedoroscik’s near-flawless routine that would help the U.S. men’s artistic gymnastics team make it to the Olympic podium for the first time in 16 years.

“I thought about it before, about how I get to be the last person that goes at the Olympics. And I framed that in my head as like a positive — like ‘I can be the exclamation point,’” Nedoroscik said at a news conference in Paris on Monday.

1 & 2 — The Billboard 100 rankings of two K-Pop albums this week. This presents a massive milestone in chart history, as it’s the first time that K-pop artists hold the chart’s top two spots. Mazel Tov to the album ATE by Stray Kids and the album MUSE by BTS member Jimin.