Dear Editor,
"Doping in sport is a cancer; it undermines the credibility of what we see. It unfairly tilts the playing field in favour of those who cheat" according to former head of the United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth.
The call for high school athletes to be tested for drugs by the prime minister recently is not new. As far back as 2006 the then president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Clement Radcliffe called for the testing of athletes participating in our annual Boys' and Girls' Championships. I wonder now if Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is on to something now, and for Radcliffe then it was mere intuition. This Radcliffe call was never revisited, taken seriously and acted upon in the interest of maintaining the integrity and credibility of Brand Jamaica's track and field. Now the higher profile prime minister's call may be heeded.
I am not fully supportive of this testing as I see it as literally blaming and punishing the victims who are merely poor, ignorant and impressionable students who are interested at this stage in running, jumping or throwing to the best of their abilities. The 21-year-old discus thrower and bronze medallist at the recent World Youth Championship Travis Smikle, who turned in a positive for a diuretic or masking agent, I believe, is a victim, unless otherwise proven.
All our coaches, athletes, parents, interested persons and friends of athletes should familiarise themselves with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Teaching institutions with special emphasis on G C Foster which specialises in the training of coaches must have this as a part of their curriculum. When this is done coaches, physiotherapists, medical personnel, school principals and/or any other concerned persons who are found guilty of aiding and abetting doping, covering up or tampering with investigations should get a life ban. A good example I have seen comes from the sport of horse racing, where the guilty is even banned from going to the race track. Offending sports personnel should be likewise banned from coaching or associating with any sports.
The truth is, being a top-tier athlete, as Justin Gatlin once said, is like "walking on eggshells". He also used to say, "it is possible to stay clean and win." Both messages need to be the substance and part of any education campaign against doping in sports, recognising that there are those who will risk doping for the gold and the glory.
Michael Spence
micspen2@hotmail.com
Doping for the gold and the glory
-->
"Doping in sport is a cancer; it undermines the credibility of what we see. It unfairly tilts the playing field in favour of those who cheat" according to former head of the United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth.
The call for high school athletes to be tested for drugs by the prime minister recently is not new. As far back as 2006 the then president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Clement Radcliffe called for the testing of athletes participating in our annual Boys' and Girls' Championships. I wonder now if Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is on to something now, and for Radcliffe then it was mere intuition. This Radcliffe call was never revisited, taken seriously and acted upon in the interest of maintaining the integrity and credibility of Brand Jamaica's track and field. Now the higher profile prime minister's call may be heeded.
I am not fully supportive of this testing as I see it as literally blaming and punishing the victims who are merely poor, ignorant and impressionable students who are interested at this stage in running, jumping or throwing to the best of their abilities. The 21-year-old discus thrower and bronze medallist at the recent World Youth Championship Travis Smikle, who turned in a positive for a diuretic or masking agent, I believe, is a victim, unless otherwise proven.
All our coaches, athletes, parents, interested persons and friends of athletes should familiarise themselves with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Teaching institutions with special emphasis on G C Foster which specialises in the training of coaches must have this as a part of their curriculum. When this is done coaches, physiotherapists, medical personnel, school principals and/or any other concerned persons who are found guilty of aiding and abetting doping, covering up or tampering with investigations should get a life ban. A good example I have seen comes from the sport of horse racing, where the guilty is even banned from going to the race track. Offending sports personnel should be likewise banned from coaching or associating with any sports.
The truth is, being a top-tier athlete, as Justin Gatlin once said, is like "walking on eggshells". He also used to say, "it is possible to stay clean and win." Both messages need to be the substance and part of any education campaign against doping in sports, recognising that there are those who will risk doping for the gold and the glory.
Michael Spence
micspen2@hotmail.com
Doping for the gold and the glory
-->