Dear Editor,
I saw something unfold online which amazed me just as much as that brilliant final relay leg run by our very own Javon Francis at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia.
A poster in response to a YouTube video online, showing Rosemarie Whyte committing an infraction, had made the point that the disqualification of our women's 4X400m relay team was entirely justified.
The poster also expressed dismay at attempts by the Jamaican officials to exploit loopholes to have the decision reversed via technicalities. Going even further, the poster suggested that some form of ban be imposed on the runner for committing the offence.
Even if the runner in question was fresh out of high school, to commit such an offence at this level and on such a stage speaks volumes. Still, while I am not in agreement with the ban, I entirely endorse the rest of what the poster wrote. There are rules in place at these games for a reason, and our challenging this one leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It appears our officials wanted to get by on a technicality, despite the glaring fact that our athlete had broken a rule. This strikes me as eerily similar to what is currently being played out in our justice system, where lawyers are becoming adept at exploiting loopholes to free people who are guilty.
What really amazed me in all of this however, is the vitriolic response to the valid points the poster had raised. It leaves me to seriously wonder if cheating has now become encoded into the DNA of Jamaicans, bar none. Despite the stellar achievements of the Bolts and Fraser-Pryces out there, at times I really am ashamed to be a Jamaican.
Robert Mitchell
Manchester
mitcib@yahoo.ca
Jamaica loses another stripe
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I saw something unfold online which amazed me just as much as that brilliant final relay leg run by our very own Javon Francis at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia.
A poster in response to a YouTube video online, showing Rosemarie Whyte committing an infraction, had made the point that the disqualification of our women's 4X400m relay team was entirely justified.
The poster also expressed dismay at attempts by the Jamaican officials to exploit loopholes to have the decision reversed via technicalities. Going even further, the poster suggested that some form of ban be imposed on the runner for committing the offence.
Even if the runner in question was fresh out of high school, to commit such an offence at this level and on such a stage speaks volumes. Still, while I am not in agreement with the ban, I entirely endorse the rest of what the poster wrote. There are rules in place at these games for a reason, and our challenging this one leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It appears our officials wanted to get by on a technicality, despite the glaring fact that our athlete had broken a rule. This strikes me as eerily similar to what is currently being played out in our justice system, where lawyers are becoming adept at exploiting loopholes to free people who are guilty.
What really amazed me in all of this however, is the vitriolic response to the valid points the poster had raised. It leaves me to seriously wonder if cheating has now become encoded into the DNA of Jamaicans, bar none. Despite the stellar achievements of the Bolts and Fraser-Pryces out there, at times I really am ashamed to be a Jamaican.
Robert Mitchell
Manchester
mitcib@yahoo.ca
Jamaica loses another stripe
-->