The rumours are now turning into
names and facts as the results of retested blood and urine samples from
the Beijing and London Olympics are published. The number of positive
tests that are coming out is quite honestly shocking and in some
cases they are almost eight years too late. All of these samples were
originally tested but it would appear that the athletes and their doctors were
years ahead of the developed tests.
It is easy to shrug these
results off as a step forward and celebrate the new drug free medallists, who
are in some cases British athletes. To know that justice has been done and the
rightful winners have been awarded their titles comes as refreshing news.
Underneath the surface it is not so rosy, I cannot imagine how it must feel to
know you were cheated out of that moment of glory and elation; no amount of
recognition or delayed celebration can compensate for those missed moments.
What does this mean for sport as
a whole? Surely this will affect all athletes and spectators during the
upcoming Rio Olympics. Will we have to wait another eight years to
discover the truth? Athletes and international federations have to attempt to
restore our faith in top level sport. It does feel that as soon as any sport
begins to look clean another drug or corruption story is
uncovered.
One advantage that a smaller
sport, such as Modern Pentathlon, has over the large money making federations
such as athletics is the reduced incentive to cheat. That brings us on to
another question, what is cheating? Until a conversation at the recent World
Championships I had not realised the scale of Meldonium use in my
sport. It was only added to the banned list this year so
some athletes were using the drug legally until January 2016, completely
within the rules. What message does this send out to young athletes?
The difference between cheating and competing clean isn't
necessarily as clear cut as perhaps it should be.
