Millar and the IOC

[Alun]

BBC article about the ongoing Millar and Chambers situation and the Olympics here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/17280765

No new information though, just opinion!

 

[ColinJ]

I don't like cheating in sport, but it doesn't make sense to allow people to compete after their bans are finished, but not do the Olympics. Valverde is busy winning races again and I wouldn't be surprised to see Contador re-emerge just in time to win the Vuelta this year. I don't see the Olympics as being inherently different to the World Championships - in both cases, you represent your country, as well as yourself.

I would have a 2-strikes and you are out policy. 2 years for a first offence, and a life-time ban for the second, but you would be able to do everything after the first ban elapsed. You'd get a genuine second chance but wouldn't be able to take the piss and get away lightly a second time.

 

[festival]

I like the idea that the Olympic movement is like an private club, anyone can join if you abide by the rules and respect the ethos of fair play etc.
As its a club run by its members, if they decide to ban cheats forever,I say good for them.
By the way, if the ASO, organisers of the TDF (another private body) can refuse a team from their race due to their dislike of certain individuals why not the IOC?

 

[Steve H]

I'm not sure it is the Olympic movement itself. I think it is a rule of the British Olympic Association. Therefore an extra hurdle that the rest of the world doesn't have to abide by.

Although I'm sympathetic to David Millar (I've read his biography and really felt for his situation), I'm not sure there should be any second chances. The rules are pretty clear. If you break them you should be out. It is essential we get the sport squeaky clean to ensure the big corporations (outside the cycling industry) feel comfortable putting their names and their money into the sport again.

 

[oldroadman]

The Olympic ban is a BOA policy. In direct contravention of WADA rules. IOC work to WADA rules. So, the rest of the world is out of step and GB is the only one in step? People at the Olympics will have returned from a ban, and compete again. It's the good old British being such good losers that they remove competitors who might just make a big contribution. Not just Millar, either.
The how about athletes who seem to change country for money, like africans who suddenly become Qataris, for instance? Or the well nown "British" athlete some while ago, Zola (I'm not really South African) Budd, who GB were happy to take when she was seen to be a winner?
Be realistic, the Olympics is simply a super-worlds for all sports, and if you have done something stupid and paid the price, a second chance is reasonable. Otherwise everyone who commits the most minor offence should be in jail for life, by the same reasoning.

The CAS will probably rule againts BOA, then maybe the posturing chairman will move aside, as he appears to have staked everything on winning the case.

 

[Alun]

I like the idea that the Olympic movement is like an private club, anyone can join if you abide by the rules and respect the ethos of fair play etc.
As its a club run by its members, if they decide to ban cheats forever,I say good for them.
By the way, if the ASO, organisers of the TDF (another private body) can refuse a team from their race due to their dislike of certain individuals why not the IOC?

It's not the IOC that have refused Millar and Chambers. It's the BOA who agreed with the rest of the sporting world for a 2 year ban for first offenders, but are now trying to say that Millar and Chambers are not "banned" but just "not selected".

WADA have ruled that the BOA is therefore "Non Compliant" with it's code and the BOA have appealed to CAS against this. The BOA are the only National Olympic Committee to be "Non Compliant". LaShawn Merritt will probably run in the 400m for USA having had a similar ban overturned by CAS.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

BOA is a out of line with this, if they were so completely moralistic like they seem to want to be seen as, then they should still be picking strictly 'amateurs' and not what are essentially professional athletes. They can't pick n' mix their stances.

 

[psmiffy]

BOA is a out of line with this, if they were so completely moralistic like they seem to want to be seen as, then they should still be picking strictly 'amateurs' and not what are essentially professional athletes. They can't pick n' mix their stances.

I think they can pick and choose their stances - drugs is cheating - playing for money is now the way of the world - The BOA position is that if you want to race/compete and earn a living after your ban is finished then OK but you are not going to do it for us in the Olympics - whilst the Olympics has become just another circus there is still something to be said for a competition that has some sort of moral high-ground to it - where the participant have generally qualified due to honest endeavour alone - personally I believe it is the rest of the world that is out of step

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Also bear in mind that the BOA regularly ask the athletes in the team whether they support the ban, and have always had a majority, at around 70%, that do.

It also irritates me that David Millar and dwayne Chambers are always mentioned together in this. Millar has become a great ambassador for clean sport, entirely honest about his past and has accepted his punishment with good grace. Chambers on the other hand has never show any great contrition that I have been aware of, beyond being sorry he got caught, and yet he is the one that keeps shouting about this, and making legal challenges. Maybe I am biased as a cyclist, but I do have a lot of sympathy with Millar in this, and absolutely none with Chambers, and I very much hope that he doesn't represent GB at the Olympics, and with a heavier heart that has to include DM too.

Oldroadman, I'm not sure that it is linked really, but I absolutely agree with you on the issue of athletes for hire. Zola Budd was one of the first and most high profile cases (there are many reasons to dislike the Daily Mail, but this is the first I remember in my life), and one of the most mercenary of the lot, but for my money Greg Rusedski was always Canadian, Wilson Kepketer is not Danish and Fiona May is not Italian, even by marriage. The problem is that the lines are not as clear as that, many people hold dual passports, or were born in countries that that they're parents are not native of. Once these uncertainties exist it is no surprise that people push them further and further, Tiffany Porter is a great example, with a Nigerian Father, English mother and born in the USA. I feel uncomfortable with her representing GB, but with a British passport have difficulty rationalising that feeling even to myself!

RB

 

[Alun]

Country of birth is not always a good indicator of nationality.If Greg Rusedski is Canadian, then perhaps John McEnroe should have represented Germany.
What I disagree with is where a sportsman represents one country and then chooses to represent another country later in their career like Peter Nicol.

 

[400bhp]

. Chambers on the other hand has never show any great contrition that I have been aware of, beyond being sorry he got caught, and yet he is the one that keeps shouting about this, and making legal challenges.

RB

Absolute garbage

 

[thom]

How long does it take to recover from a broken collarbone ?

 

[Noodley]

I would guess at 4 weeks max before he is back and riding

 

[thom]

He should be fine for the Olympics. Not at the peak of his match fitness but, since we want him as leader on the road not as a contender, that should be OK.

Well, thing is there are only 5 in the team and BW is likely to be not fully committed, so it would be placing a lot of pressure on the other team members.
I expect it to be lottery. And I have tickets for the Mall ;-)

 

[oldroadman]

Well, thing is there are only 5 in the team and BW is likely to be not fully committed, so it would be placing a lot of pressure on the other team members.
I expect it to be lottery. And I have tickets for the Mall ;-)

I can't agree, he played a perfect team captain role at the worlds, has possibly the best tactical brain of the likely selection, and could do the same - more difficult with only 5 riders - job at the Olympics. It isn't Team Sky that's racing at the Olympics, it's GB. There is only one rider with a real chance on a sprinters course, and that means 4 riders will sacrifice everything to get him to the finish in the right position.