This years Olympics will be hailed as the cleanest ever. No way will the IOC dare to upset/insult China.
We want to play on a level playing field but the reality is the pressure to win is so great few countries take the stance we do.
For many years I have believed the best athlete /chemist wins.
2. you have strict rules for cheating backed up by rigourous testing as pertains now.
I would questions whether or not we have this now. Each federation around the world throws different levels of resources at testing (see the Jamaican reference i made in an earlier post). The IAAF tries to pick up the slack but not in the most transparent way so it is not clear how much testing is done by smaller countries.
The thing about this, is that it isn't a UK Athletics decision, they allowed him to run, but its a BOA law, and it's been in place since 1992.
He knew what the punishment was when he was taking the drugs, and should take the punishment that come with it. It's also the reason why Linford Christie is banned from being involved with Team GB
He served his UK Athletics/IAAF ban, but the BOA ban is something different, and to me it's tough titty for Dwayne
He has every right to be aggrieved though. Doping agencies the world over all say that missing a test is treated the same as testing positive, yet three athletes who have missed several tests have all successfully had their lifetime bans overturned. Whilst I accept that missing a test does not mean you are using something you shouldn't, missing three tests in a short period of time with pretty lame excuses would at the very least raise alarm bells that perhaps you were trying to avoid being found out.
To me the whole thing smacks of too many complications, too many blazers, too many contradictory laws/rules/call it what you will with no-one actually having the balls to make a decision, instead hiding behind various statutes to ensure that their free lunch is not affected, something that is inherent throughout so many sports. Lots of these people that pertain to regulate sport love to pontifficate about things when they don't have to make a decision, yet it when it comes to sticking their head above the parapet and offering an opinion one way or the other, it's squeaky bum time. Having dealt with far too many regulatory authorities in my time, that epitomises the entire problem - there are far too many. Surely there should be consistency of approach throughout the sport and if you know what's going to happen should you get caught, whatever the mandatory punishment is should be adhered to regardless - the trouble is no-one is quite sure exactly what it is and until such time this is established, this circus will continue throughout sport. Surely one universal rule, one punishment, end of.
[cite]Posted By: Rock Spectacle[/cite]To me the whole thing smacks of too many complications, too many blazers, too many contradictory laws/rules/call it what you will with no-one actually having the balls to make a decision, instead hiding behind various statutes to ensure that their free lunch is not affected, something that is inherent throughout so many sports. Lots of these people that pertain to regulate sport love to pontifficate about things when they don't have to make a decision, yet it when it comes to sticking their head above the parapet and offering an opinion one way or the other, it's squeaky bum time. Having dealt with far too many regulatory authorities in my time, that epitomises the entire problem - there are far too many. Surely there should be consistency of approach throughout the sport and if you know what's going to happen should you get caught, whatever the mandatory punishment is should be adhered to regardless - the trouble is no-one is quite sure exactly what it is and until such time this is established, this circus will continue throughout sport. Surely one universal rule, one punishment, end of.
Sorry, after all that, a no for me personally - Johnson had his medal stripped from him, that's the precedent so they should stick to it. Apart from anything else, given the next Olympics happen to be in ermm...London, what a terrific message that would send out from the next host nation allowing Chambers to run.
[cite]Posted By: Rock Spectacle[/cite]given the next Olympics happen to be in ermm...London, what a terrific message that would send out from the next host nation allowing Chambers to run.
Firmly wearing my Mike Parry hat, i would actually let Chambers carry the flag into the stadium, showing to the world the unique British attitude of forgiveness, and encouragement for those who have sinned to see the light and battle against adversity. We will not shun those who have illed, but will smother them in our collective blanket of warmth to show them the road back to correctness.
And wearing my Alan Brazil hat, I would say "you tube!" :) Wouldn't fancy being under a collective blanket of warmth with Dwain Chambers and Linford Christie either if the truth be told!
Dwain Chambers was a promisng young athlete who won gold in the European Juniors. After taking the bronze in the 1999 Worlds all loooked rosy and the country thought they had found another star.
But whether the weight of expectation got to him, or he just wasn't good enough to compete with the worlds top athletes, he failed spectacularly from then on until in 2002 he decided to move to LA and be coached by Remi Korchemny. This coach has since admitted to providing his athletes with performance enhancing drugs between 2000 and 2003.
It would seem therefore that Chambers made a concious decision to be trained by a man who provided him with the chemicals necessary to win at the top level.
The Olympics whether we like it or not, are held up as an ideological event like no other, the whole ethos of the games are different to any sporting event and if that is to remain then the strict stance on drugs must be kept.
I have no problem with the whole secomd chance scenario and the very fact that Chambers is allowed to compete at all signifies that that is exactly what he has been given. But the man stole the right of his three team mates to celebrate gold, he stole the right of Francis Obekwelu to celebrate a win and to stand on that podium for what would have been the first time. And by cheating to gain a place in the team, he stole the right of a potentially clean athlete to compete at the highest level.
If he takes his place in the Olympics, then an athlete who has never tried to cheat and win will be denied a place and that is wrong. The Olympics are not about winning, but competing and doing it fairly, Chambers has foregone that right in my opinion.
I don't know whether there were mitigating circumstances surrounding Ohuruogu missing three tests, but I fervently hope that there were and that the decision to overturn her ban was done so for the right reasons and not just becuse she might have just run for another country anyway.
Was quite surprised by the ruling today - I thought that he would win on the unreasonable restriction of trade argument. I am no lawyer but it would seem to me that as he has "qualified" to run and has served his ban that the BOC should be unable to stop him from going.
This is not a question of morals as to whether he should go it's a matter of law and from what I understand it would seem to me that the by-law is unlawful. It seems in a changing environment of Kolpak and to a lesser extent Bosman that this ruling is in the opposite direction to other unrelated but similar rulings.
No real suprises in the squad, though Hannah England is desperately unlucky to miss out, being the only athlete to have the A qualification in both middle distances. Steph Twell has the best time this year at 1500, but i think England is a much better prospect. Both of them and Lisa Dobriesky run in the 1,500 tonight in Monaco, will be very interesting to see how that turns out.
I realistically see us coming home with 3-4 medals, and with a much better team performance in the women than the men.
[cite]Posted By: AFKABartram[/cite]No real suprises in the squad, though Hannah England is desperately unlucky to miss out, being the only athlete to have the A qualification in both middle distances. Steph Twell has the best time this year at 1500, but i think England is a much better prospect.
Twell come a distant last in her heat. Should have listened to me !
[cite]Posted By: AFKABartram[/cite]No real suprises in the squad, though Hannah England is desperately unlucky to miss out, being the only athlete to have the A qualification in both middle distances. Steph Twell has the best time this year at 1500, but i think England is a much better prospect.
Twell come a distant last in her heat. Should have listened to me !
indeed, she looked like she was struggling all the way round. She is a good prospect, but I suspect her future lies at the 5k and eventually the 10k and marathon. She has the style of a longer distance runner, but I suspect she will struggle at even the 5k with the change of pace at business end of the race.
I don't think it's a question of whether he should be allowed. He can't keep up with the lightening Bolt. Doesn't really make a difference to me seeing sprinters lagging toward the tail end of a race. No-one was surely bothered he came 6th were they? It's like Blackburn finishing 15th. No-one cares.
Yup for me. He was banned, the ban was served. You can argue that the ban should have been longer, but I think it's idiocy to have a hearing, decide a punishment, then decide after the punishment is complete that it wasn't enough.
In answer to the original question: No he shouldnt.
people say his ban has expired but it has not.
There are in effect 2 bans in place here that he knew about before cheating.
1 - the UK athletics who had a 2 year ban.
2 - The British Olympic Assoc who have a life ban.
I fail to see how the life ban has expired.
He may also be clean now, but I bet those muscles are still the result of taking the drugs initially.
Anyway, not as if he can run sub 10 secs - the people he competes against do it for fun.
If anyone is found using muscle enhancing drugs or any other drugs that give you more than you have got naturally they should be banned for life. The only problem is that the other countries let their athletes compete again so it needs to be a blanket ban across every country for every athlete. Its the only way to stop the younger ones coming through from following in the likes of Dwains foot steps
Erm he ran in the World Championship which just might not be the Olympics????????
Yes. With the huge ammount of cheats out there getting away with it for years with tacit help from their governing bodies, I'd just feel you should get a second chance. Personally I think atheletes should get a second chance if they admit and fully whistleblow all details of their cheating. Let's face it Chambers was a lot more forthright than Marion Jones and most of the US atheletes.
He's shown some contrition and admitted that he's screwed up. To be able to run a 100m in 10 seconds while clean demonstrates his talent and that he didn't really need to cheat in the first place.
Comments
We want to play on a level playing field but the reality is the pressure to win is so great few countries take the stance we do.
For many years I have believed the best athlete /chemist wins.
Let Chamber race, he wont even make the final.
He knew what the punishment was when he was taking the drugs, and should take the punishment that come with it. It's also the reason why Linford Christie is banned from being involved with Team GB
I'm fully against cheats, however he's served his ban and now he should be able to compete.
He served his UK Athletics/IAAF ban, but the BOA ban is something different, and to me it's tough titty for Dwayne
Firmly wearing my Mike Parry hat, i would actually let Chambers carry the flag into the stadium, showing to the world the unique British attitude of forgiveness, and encouragement for those who have sinned to see the light and battle against adversity. We will not shun those who have illed, but will smother them in our collective blanket of warmth to show them the road back to correctness.
:-)
Dwain Chambers was a promisng young athlete who won gold in the European Juniors. After taking the bronze in the 1999 Worlds all loooked rosy and the country thought they had found another star.
But whether the weight of expectation got to him, or he just wasn't good enough to compete with the worlds top athletes, he failed spectacularly from then on until in 2002 he decided to move to LA and be coached by Remi Korchemny. This coach has since admitted to providing his athletes with performance enhancing drugs between 2000 and 2003.
It would seem therefore that Chambers made a concious decision to be trained by a man who provided him with the chemicals necessary to win at the top level.
The Olympics whether we like it or not, are held up as an ideological event like no other, the whole ethos of the games are different to any sporting event and if that is to remain then the strict stance on drugs must be kept.
I have no problem with the whole secomd chance scenario and the very fact that Chambers is allowed to compete at all signifies that that is exactly what he has been given. But the man stole the right of his three team mates to celebrate gold, he stole the right of Francis Obekwelu to celebrate a win and to stand on that podium for what would have been the first time. And by cheating to gain a place in the team, he stole the right of a potentially clean athlete to compete at the highest level.
If he takes his place in the Olympics, then an athlete who has never tried to cheat and win will be denied a place and that is wrong. The Olympics are not about winning, but competing and doing it fairly, Chambers has foregone that right in my opinion.
I don't know whether there were mitigating circumstances surrounding Ohuruogu missing three tests, but I fervently hope that there were and that the decision to overturn her ban was done so for the right reasons and not just becuse she might have just run for another country anyway.
This is not a question of morals as to whether he should go it's a matter of law and from what I understand it would seem to me that the by-law is unlawful. It seems in a changing environment of Kolpak and to a lesser extent Bosman that this ruling is in the opposite direction to other unrelated but similar rulings.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8169008.stm
I realistically see us coming home with 3-4 medals, and with a much better team performance in the women than the men.
Christine O possible sliver or bronze and Idowu in the triple jump.
I think its time to cut off a lot of these from the lottery money and give it to the youngsters
Twell come a distant last in her heat. Should have listened to me !
indeed, she looked like she was struggling all the way round. She is a good prospect, but I suspect her future lies at the 5k and eventually the 10k and marathon. She has the style of a longer distance runner, but I suspect she will struggle at even the 5k with the change of pace at business end of the race.
people say his ban has expired but it has not.
There are in effect 2 bans in place here that he knew about before cheating.
1 - the UK athletics who had a 2 year ban.
2 - The British Olympic Assoc who have a life ban.
I fail to see how the life ban has expired.
He may also be clean now, but I bet those muscles are still the result of taking the drugs initially.
Anyway, not as if he can run sub 10 secs - the people he competes against do it for fun.
If anyone is found using muscle enhancing drugs or any other drugs that give you more than you have got naturally they should be banned for life.
The only problem is that the other countries let their athletes compete again so it needs to be a blanket ban across every country for every athlete.
Its the only way to stop the younger ones coming through from following in the likes of Dwains foot steps
Yes. With the huge ammount of cheats out there getting away with it for years with tacit help from their governing bodies, I'd just feel you should get a second chance. Personally I think atheletes should get a second chance if they admit and fully whistleblow all details of their cheating. Let's face it Chambers was a lot more forthright than Marion Jones and most of the US atheletes.