Some gold medals tainted by time-served dopers
Source: Agencies |
August 12, 2012, Sunday
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THE seedy underside of the sport was exposed on Friday when two former dopers won Olympic gold. Asli Cakir Alptekin, who served a two-year ban for doping from 2004, led a Turkish 1-2 in the women's 1,500 meters, a race distance riddled with drugs in recent years.
Earlier, Russia's Tatyana Lysenko, who watched the 2008 Olympics on TV while serving a two-year ban, won the women's hammer with an Olympic record throw of 78.18 meters.
Also making an appearance in the men's 4x100m relay semifinals were American Justin Gatlin and Briton Dwain Chambers, both time-served drugs cheats, and earlier in the day France and Kenya both confirmed pre-Games positive tests on distance runners Hassan Hirt and Mathew Kisorio.
The hearty reception given to Chambers, a rarity among drug cheats in that he confessed, suggests that the crowd might have been in forgiving mood.
Other athletes were not easily placated, however, and Briton Lisa Dobriskey spoke of her frustration after finishing 10th in the 1,500. "I'll probably get into trouble for saying this but I don't believe I'm competing on a level playing field'," she said.
Dobriskey, silver medalist in the 2009 world championships, said she thought the new blood passport system was proving effective and would weed out more dopers in the future but was clearly unhappy at having to share the track with one. Her anger is understandable as barely a year passes without one of her rivals being exposed.
Moroccan Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, the world leader and favorite for 1,500m the London Games, tested positive in July and faces a lifetime ban having returned only last year from a two-year doping suspension for an EPO.
Also in July, three Russian runners, including major championship middle-distance medalists Svetlana Klyuka and Yevgenia Zinurova, were banned.
Earlier, Russia's Tatyana Lysenko, who watched the 2008 Olympics on TV while serving a two-year ban, won the women's hammer with an Olympic record throw of 78.18 meters.
Also making an appearance in the men's 4x100m relay semifinals were American Justin Gatlin and Briton Dwain Chambers, both time-served drugs cheats, and earlier in the day France and Kenya both confirmed pre-Games positive tests on distance runners Hassan Hirt and Mathew Kisorio.
The hearty reception given to Chambers, a rarity among drug cheats in that he confessed, suggests that the crowd might have been in forgiving mood.
Other athletes were not easily placated, however, and Briton Lisa Dobriskey spoke of her frustration after finishing 10th in the 1,500. "I'll probably get into trouble for saying this but I don't believe I'm competing on a level playing field'," she said.
Dobriskey, silver medalist in the 2009 world championships, said she thought the new blood passport system was proving effective and would weed out more dopers in the future but was clearly unhappy at having to share the track with one. Her anger is understandable as barely a year passes without one of her rivals being exposed.
Moroccan Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, the world leader and favorite for 1,500m the London Games, tested positive in July and faces a lifetime ban having returned only last year from a two-year doping suspension for an EPO.
Also in July, three Russian runners, including major championship middle-distance medalists Svetlana Klyuka and Yevgenia Zinurova, were banned.
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