Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Dwain Chambers Situation

Dwain Chambers takes his appeal to the High Court today in his attempt to overturn the British Olympic Association's ban on him from competing in Beijing next month.

The athlete was banned from participating in Olympic events after failing a drug test in October 2003. He had been caught using a steroid called Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

I personally think Chambers' ban should remain as it is.

He is a cheat.

I know I may be sounding hypocritical here as I am a fan of professional wrestling and most, if not all, the performers are on something to enhance their look.

But, here is the crux of my argument - Chambers didn't take steroids to look better than the next man, he did it to beat him.

He has no right to walk back into the picture and take the place of people who have got to where they are by working hard towards the goal of reaching the games.

His timing couldn't have been more off, either. It's only a few weeks before the Olympics. Why didn't he decide to appeal sooner?

Finally, the most obvious reason why this ban should stay in effect is because of what it shows to other cheats. Athletic bodies around the World have been trying to control the use of banned substances in their sports. Some have even criticised for instances where they failed to act upon a case sooner.

In a world where sportsmen and women are finding newer ways to mask the substances in their body to cheat tests it would send out the wrong message for a known cheater to overcome the biggest penalty of all - a shot to represent their country at the Olympic Games.

Let's not even consider the younger athletes looking to break in who will see this and notice that it's okay to get caught because you can always appeal it.

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