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Sports drug cheats. Time to make it allowed ?


RailwayRowdy

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As it’s announced today that more athletes have been stripped of medals at major championships due to drug use, my question is should we now allow it ?

 

Clearly a fair percentage of sports people (mainly athletics & cycling) are not being deterred by the possible sanctions, so is it time to say “hell to it” and let everyone cheat ?

 

I personally don’t think so, but at least then it would be a level playing field.

 

It seems impossible to stop these cheats, so maybe let it be legal and let the participants themselves decide if they want to “join in”.

 

What do people think ? :unsure:

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As it’s announced today that more athletes have been stripped of medals at major championships due to drug use, my question is should we now allow it ?

 

Clearly a fair percentage of sports people (mainly athletics & cycling) are not being deterred by the possible sanctions, so is it time to say “hell to it” and let everyone cheat ?

 

I personally don’t think so, but at least then it would be a level playing field.

 

It seems impossible to stop these cheats, so maybe let it be legal and let the participants themselves decide if they want to “join in”.

 

What do people think ? :unsure:

 

How could it possibly be a level playing field?

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This has crossed my mind to, the authorities must feel like a "King Canute" in that taking drugs to gain an advantage is something that is nigh on impossible to stop so an alternative strategy is don't stop it, let all athletes do it if they want to.

 

However this is not only dangerous to the individual concerned but IMHO excellence in sport (As in all walks of life) should come from a combination of genetics and hard work. The only way to minimize/prevent the use of drugs in sport is to have significant deterrents, including a life ban from competition for offenders.

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Let’s be honest, athletes, cyclists and weightlifters would appear to be the main, but not sole, culprits. Why do they cheat ? Because they want to win and gain the financial rewards that go with it.

 

Now where does all this money come from ? I don’t know exact figures, but the vast, vast majority of it must come from sponsorship. Sponsors want to be associated with winners, but would they want to be associated with drugs ?

 

I suspect that if drugs were allowed, sponsors would run like a rat up a drain pipe thus leaving little money in the sport, thus there would be less desire to cheat as they would not financially benefit from cheating in the first place.

 

Then we may get back to the old Etonian spirit.

 

Radical I except, but who knows ?

 

One thing is for certain. These above mentioned sports have little integrity with the public as it now stands, so something HAS to be done. And soon.

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There was an idea that the offending athlete would have to travel to the stadium and hand over their medal to the new owner.

 

Life ban is probably the only real solution. No 2nd chances. And also recovery of all related assets too - though this could be done by the sponsors themselves by getting the athlete to sign something in the contract. ie. If they get cheating all sponsorship for the period to be handed back...

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  • 2 weeks later...

In an amazing U turn, the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has today lifted the ban on The Russian Anti Doping Agency (Rusada).

 

The ban was imposed after evidence of state sponsored doping was found in almost all summer and winter Olympic sports involving Russian competitors, but where does the lifting of the ban now leave sport and sportsmen and women ?

 

Whilst WADA don’t actually say this, it gives the impression that they are saying we don’t want you to cheat, but it’s ok if you do.

 

A quite unbelievable turn of events. Can the public ever trust that future Olympics and championships are still not tarnished by doping claims ?

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  • 11 months later...

American Christian Coleman is the latest athlete to be charged with missing 3 drug tests.

Coleman, who ran the fastest 100m was his year  in June, denies any misdemeanour. 

However yet again, a world class athlete misses three, yes three, tests ! To allow that to happen, what does he have to hide ?

As a teenager in the 70’s I used to run for the Newcastle Schools team because I loved athletics ! No great standard I admit, but I did use to train with future 100m hurdles commonwealth games silver medalist Mark “Micky” Holtom, although I was always a distant second !

As much as I loved athletics both as a participant and a spectator, I cannot take any modern day achievements seriously as there is always that doubt in your mind, are they clean ?

I don’t know whether drugs have always been an issue in the sport, but that doubt is certainly more apparent now than in past years. 

As Ive said previously on this thread, I wonder if drug use should now be allowed. Then the public can make up their own mind up as to whether the sport is worth considering worthwhile and serious or not.    

 

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I've just finished reading the Dirtiest Race in History - the centrepiece is the 1988 Seoul Olympics 100m final.

It opened my eyes as to how corrupt athletics was back then and probably still is. Even right back to the 80s the number of back handers and arrangements outside of the governing body were common place. 

As for the drugs. Absolutely not. Calvin Smith finished 4th in that 100m final. He is only one of two athletes in that race never to have been marked as a drug cheat (Carl Lewis failed one in 1988 but it was hushed up). To this day he feels cheated from getting gold. Then there is the effect of the drugs long term. Allowing people to take them is effectively endorsing self harm. 

As for the book, Ben Johnson comes across as quite a likeable chap and in complete contrast with Carl Lewis's in your face persona, self importance and ego. He was trying to become the Michael Jackson of athletics (his own description). Ben's blanking of Lewis post race are quite funny. Lewis was clearly more obsessed about Johnson, than winning the race.

The two record breaking races are worth seeking out just for Lewis chasing after Johnson and "having a word".

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

If you look at the top 30 sprint times ever, the only person in there not to be a drugs cheat is usain bolt (15 of them). And considering literally all his team mates who had the same coach were popped, it’s prob likely he was too. We either allow it, or keep pretending the athletes are clean when we watch them. We had a three times drug chest win silver at the last Olympics. Three times! The fact he is allowed to compete at the Olympics is ridiculous. It’s the same thing with cycling. 

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