It must be traumatic for any athlete to discover,three years on,that they competed at an Olympics against rivals who,very likely,shouldn’t have been there.
How 23 Chinese swimmers escaped sanction after failing drug tests has shaken the confidence of clean athletes ahead of Paris 2024,and angered the camp of Australian swimmer Shayna Jack.
The GDR athletes were victims of doping,too. But if just a fraction of the 489 medals they won over nine Games were reallocated,it might be a worthwhile and cathartic exercise.
The Australian swimmer spent his career championing clean sport. He believes the integrity of “all sport” is under threat following revelations of positive Chinese drug tests.
Twenty-three swimmers tested positive for the banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics,but were secretly cleared of doping by Chinese officials.
It’s obscene that we know everything about the East German doping machine,yet we’re still talking about how to recognise that fact and offer redress all these years later.
Zeeshan Arain says he documented a disturbingly high prevalence of illicit drug use among players at the Melbourne Football Club and wanted to expose a cultural problem,not blow up the league’s drugs policy.
AFL boss Andrew Dillon has told a briefing of all 18 clubs that the league will continue with a health-based illicit drugs policy. In practice,this would mean no sanction on the first offence.
Sport Integrity Australia says it will assess allegations around controversial illicit drug tests in the AFL as the league admits it empowers doctors to remove players from matches if they are at risk of testing positive on match day.
The swimming great says performance-enhancing substances could have fatal consequences for athletes and the idea of an event that celebrates their use is “borderline criminal”.
Melbourne Football Club is under pressure to conduct a “deep dive” investigation into its culture after police became involved in allegations of drug trafficking against AFL player Joel Smith.