Hardly surprising
Dwain Chambers has lost his case to be allowed to compete for the UK in the up-coming Olympics. He was seeking an injunction that would have allowed him to compete, ahead of a full hearing on the legality of the ban that is expected to be heard in March.
It’s not surprising that this is the outcome; the by-law that bans athletes convicted of drug offences of ever competing in the Olympics may or may not be unlawful, but it was in place long before Chambers received his ban. He left it too late to embark on his challenge, and the judge saw no reason to overturn the status quo.
The unfortunate thing is that the UK team is going to be deprived of a very good medal chance by not allowing Chambers to run. And the position of the BOA goes against that of the IOC and the IAAF - basically, it says to athletes that they have no hope of rehabilitation, ever. Yet, in Beijing there will most likely be athletes that will be competing, having already completed bans for similar offences. As I said the other day, the BOA’s rules should not be the ones that apply here - it should be the IOC, as they are the ones organising the event.
In an ideal world, we would not be having this discussion because no-one would ever cheat. But the reality is that athletes do all the time, for many and varied reasons. We can’t continue with a system that is so grey; it needs to be clear cut. Do we want drug cheats to be banned for life, as the BOA would have it? If so, let’s make that the rule. You get caught, you get banned. No grey area. Or do we believe in giving an athlete the chance to be rehabilitated and come back to the sport for another go? If that’s what we want, then once they’re served their ban they should be able to compete in ALL competitions, not just ones that are picked for them by the ruling body.
Either way, we need to pick one. And we need to do it now, so that everyone knows where they are come 2012.
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