Dope is big news again
Pills, thrills and bellyaches...
It seems that since the chimes of Big Ben took us into 2009 the bells begin to toll again and doping rears its ugly head in many sports.
With the return of Dwain this weekend in Birmingham we are set for column inches galore of should he / shouldn’t he stories. Whatever your view on Chambers and whether he deserves a second chance, the ruling bodies need to get their stuff together, and fast, which is why the TGT report last week was so timely. We’ve read the recommendations in detail (and suggest that you download for an in-depth read) and they are extensive, yet the action needs to be swift and decisive.
Chambers - a 'victim'?
Pro cycling still probably carries the mantle for doping stories, especially in the last 10 years, and with the return of Lance, Basso publishing his cleanliness online and Floyd Landis talking about his clean comeback, it’s big news again in ’09. With Operacion Puerto rearing back up, like a beast scorned once again, the light will still shine on that sport for some time to come.
Don't do it
Matt Stevens made sure that rugby is dragged through the mud once again, although his recreational use is not seen as damning to the sport, more so his character – however with the players of today bearing no resemblance to the built-on-lard-and-ale players of the seventies the use of muscle-building substances (legal I am sure) will ensure that any mention of dope outside of that sport will encourage skepticism within.
Chabel - he's a big lad!
Equally we are not quite out of the Beijing doping woods. The IOC will begin testing the Beijing samples at its labs in January, with results expected at the end of the first quarter of 2009, which means we could have (let’s hope not) a raft of news stories in March.
Does what it says on the tin!
But the fightback is being fought. With WADA’s new ADAMS code updates you can be sure that athletes will see that doping is not only wrong, but also an inconvenience. Then there is the call for lifebans – but we’ll save that story for another day!
Reactions so far
Roger Owens Jan 30, 09:12 AM
I would say that Chambers has been a pawn really. He has only exploited a loophole which the authorities have left wide open. Also what kind of message is UKA sending out saying that they are okay with him competing for GB in the future? (I think Charles Van Comenee said that?)
MST Jan 30, 09:17 AM
You’re quite right Roger…
Story here
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