No Dwain Chambers then

[duncan bulgaria]

All that fuss and it turns out the high court have ruled him out from competing in the olympics .

Prob the right result IMO

 

[HUTTON]

Good, he knew the rules when he took the drugs, if you can't do the time don't do the crime

 

[Andyhsufc]

Good BUT everyone knows that athletics is riddled with drugs and I bet that at least 10% of the competitors at the olympics will be under the influence. Whether they are caught is another matter

 

[Pubey]

Good BUT everyone knows that athletics is riddled with drugs and I bet that at least 10% of the competitors at the olympics will be under the influence. Whether they are caught is another matter

doesn't make it right


personally i think the British Olympics Associations stance on the life-time banning of athletes is harsh.... however as mentioned, he knew the rules. i also think that taking substances that allow you to train harder isn't the biggest crime known to man!

overall it's a shame cos he his an awesome athlete

 

[C C Csiders]

My belief is that this is a pompous ruling by the BOA - a typical British stiff-upper-lip attitude "we'll have no drug takers in our squad". This hides the fact that it is CONVICTED drug takers that are ommitted.

Other countries will be having drug cheats in their squads - in many sports. Let us not forget that many former Eastern Bloc countries had state sponsored drug taking to increase performance.

Let them serve their time (perhaps two years should be increased to 4 or 5) and give them a second chance.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Absolutely the right thing to do. Sends out a signal, loud and clear (at least to British Athletes!), that if you want to win you have to do it fairly.

 

[number11]

doesn't make it right


personally i think the British Olympics Associations stance on the life-time banning of athletes is harsh.... however as mentioned, he knew the rules. i also think that taking substances that allow you to train harder isn't the biggest crime known to man!

overall it's a shame cos he his an awesome athlete

Awesome athelete? He hardly set the world alight even when fuelled by a cocktail of performance enhancing drugs. Dont think he has been overly regretful of his actions either and Im glad he has been prevented from the chance of Olympic glory. Im glad we are taking a moral high ground and whilst other countries are not, we cant do much more than try to get our house in order first. I hope the whole appeal process has cost him a fortune.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

The biggest thing in all of this IMO is the fact that he has robbed 3 genuine team members of a Relay medal ,just think how hard that is to swallow for someone who's life long ambition is to win a medal only for it to be taken back for circumstances that had nothing to do with yourself.

That is the biggest crime he committed and thats why he;ll never be welcomed back by the GB team and rightly so .

But then again it will throw up all kind of double standard issues as other competitors have failed Drug tests only to be allowed back into the squad in their native countries.

 

[loz]

and yet Christine Ohorougu gets to run- she broke the rules too. Different offence but she was welcomed back and supported in her appeal by the authorities and the media. I do think there's an element of hypocrisy. same thing with Carl Myerscough, who's been competing since a 2-year ban without any of the witch-hunt that has surrounded Chambers.

There's a lot of politics involved here- UKA evidently feel they have to come down hard in the build up to the London games, and Chambers is, to an extent, the victim of that- there was much less outcry when he came back (and tested clean) in 2006 and ran the first leg of the relay-winning team in the European Championships. I can understand the decision today, but I equally feel some sympathy for Chambers due to a lack of consistency from the authorities.

 

[A Century United]

The biggest thing in all of this IMO is the fact that he has robbed 3 genuine team members of a Relay medal ,just think how hard that is to swallow for someone who's life long ambition is to win a medal only for it to be taken back for circumstances that had nothing to do with yourself.

That is the biggest crime he committed and thats why he;ll never be welcomed back by the GB team and rightly so .

But then again it will throw up all kind of double standard issues as other competitors have failed Drug tests only to be allowed back into the squad in their native countries.

Very good point. Also let's not forget that the benefits of drug use, particulary increased muscle mass, don't go away after you stop taking drugs. Chambers continues to benefit from his previous drug use - is that fair to clean athletes?

 

[Napster]

and yet Christine Ohorougu gets to run- she broke the rules too. Different offence but she was welcomed back and supported in her appeal by the authorities and the media. I do think there's an element of hypocrisy. same thing with Carl Myerscough, who's been competing since a 2-year ban without any of the witch-hunt that has surrounded Chambers.

There's a lot of politics involved here- UKA evidently feel they have to come down hard in the build up to the London games, and Chambers is, to an extent, the victim of that- there was much less outcry when he came back (and tested clean) in 2006 and ran the first leg of the relay-winning team in the European Championships. I can understand the decision today, but I equally feel some sympathy for Chambers due to a lack of consistency from the authorities.

Completely agree. Is it because as a 100m runner he gets more exposure? Who knows.

 

[canveyshrimper]

As Michael Johnson put it, Chambers wasn't good enough to win when he was cheating, how will he be good enough when he is supposedly clean?

Also with the world record around the 9.7 seconds mark, Chambers hasn't run sub 10 seconds in over 5 years.

 

[Pubey]

As Michael Johnson put it, Chambers wasn't good enough to win when he was cheating, how will he be good enough when he is supposedly clean?

Also with the world record around the 9.7 seconds mark, Chambers hasn't run sub 10 seconds in over 5 years.

a bit harsh i think... craig pickering wont ever win an international tournament IMO, but no one is telling him to give up.

Chambers isn't the saviour of UK Mens Sprint racing, the fact is he is by far the best of a very poor bunch and I would say the only mens sprinter we have of international class. he wouldn't get a medal but i'm pretty sure he would run sub 10 (he ran 10.00 in the trials) and get into the finals

 

[steveo]

Let them serve their time (perhaps two years should be increased to 4 or 5) and give them a second chance.

Why? The ban sghould be for life and upheld by the Olympic Federation not the country.

If they knew they would be tested if they won, and knew they would be banned if they failed the test, surely there would be no reason to take any dodgy substance. Unless of course they are stupid.

I read an article in the paper the ther week about Ben Johnson, who still blames the "Americans" for fixinbg his test because they didnt want a Canadian winner. Idiot.

 

[canveyshrimper]

a bit harsh i think... craig pickering wont ever win an international tournament IMO, but no one is telling him to give up.

Chambers isn't the saviour of UK Mens Sprint racing, the fact is he is by far the best of a very poor bunch and I would say the only mens sprinter we have of international class. he wouldn't get a medal but i'm pretty sure he would run sub 10 (he ran 10.00 in the trials) and get into the finals

Well if we accept the Olympic credo of it's not the winning it's the taking part then every clean athlete of any sport has the right to be there.

Chambers deliberately cheated, and then lied about, and finally came clean this year. He knew the BOC ruling that he would be banned for life from the Olympics but still took the matter to court.

 

[loz]

Chambers deliberately cheated, and then lied about, and finally came clean this year. He knew the BOC ruling that he would be banned for life from the Olympics but still took the matter to court.

probably because the BOC had already set a precedent by over-turning it for Ohorougu. I know there was no evidence that she'd actually taken drugs, but she still broke the rules by missing 3 tests, and was just as aware of the penalties as Chambers was. Under the cirumstances, I can understand why he felt it was worth having a go.

And if we're going on about Olympic ideals, howabout the chance to redeem yourself?

 

[steveo]

And if we're going on about Olympic ideals, how about the chance to redeem yourself?

Surely the Olympic ideal is how about dont cheat in the first place and you wont need to redeem yourself.

 

[loz]

Surely the Olympic ideal is how about dont cheat in the first place and you wont need to redeem yourself.

you've got a point... but I don't think many of us would come off well If we didn't have the chance to overcome our past mistakes.

 

[ldnfatso]

He doesn't deserve the honour of wearing a GB shirt! Let him go back to American Football.

 

[Firestorm]

Absolutely the right thing to do. Sends out a signal, loud and clear (at least to British Athletes!), that if you want to win you have to do it fairly.

Or don't attend the testing session ...it worked for Christine Ohuruogu

Sorry Should have read ALL of the thread