Dwain Chambers

SpeedFreak · 13 Feb 2008 at 14:58

memphisto said:
weird isnt it, we have asociety which on the whole backs second chances for criminals, yet when it comes to athletics we dont want to give anyone a second chance who makes a mistake.

I think the way he has been treated, and villified by the media and the athletics community is nothing short of a disgrace.

The above example of mine may be extreme in highlightin a criminal as an example of a scenario wehreby we give second third, fourth, and fifth chances. however if we look at other sports such as fgootball didnt Mutu get banned for using cocaine or something ?

anyway hes back playing, Ferdinand is playing, Davids, Stamm the list goes on and on, and TBh Footballers are much more in terms of role models than anyone within the athletics community.

Hes done his time he paid for his crime, let him get on with the rest of his life.

couldn't agree more. What would be best for athletics imo is if Chambers wins the world indoors. With complete testing he can show that it is possible to win clean which is the best advertisement for the sport.

Indie · 13 Feb 2008 at 15:32

i just think the whole thing is really pathetic... team mates refusing to do a lap of honour??? wtf grow up! their all acting like kids! - not allowing him to train with them or run with them, hes earned his palce in the team if you ask me, hes clean and he's still kicking backside out of everybody else UK has. let him repay his debt.

i agree that if the rule was one strike and banz0r! but its not... we arnt really debating that case at all. of course hes going to come back to what he loves doing if he has the chance, what athlete wouldnt?

I also brought up the Rio case as a comparison - imo 'forgetting' a drugs test or two is just as bad as failing one. i just question how they figure out the bans for these people...it just means, if he didnt go to be tested, he would have only been banned for 8 months, and only got flak from the press for a few weeks... just drive sme nuts the way the media/governing bodies work!

as for kelly holms, shes can effyoffy to put it politely - id rather use stronger language though! :mad:

Indie · 13 Feb 2008 at 15:33

SpeedFreak said:
couldn't agree more. What would be best for athletics imo is if Chambers wins the world indoors. With complete testing he can show that it is possible to win clean which is the best advertisement for the sport.

ahh what id give for that to happen... wonder how the GB Team would treat him then?

Fools!

"andy" · 13 Feb 2008 at 15:50

FrankJH said:
Couldnt have said it better myself - ban Chambers for life

Rio (and Christine) are clots for fogetting to take the test, Christine even more so for the sheer number of times she forgot, but they where undoubtedly clean - so its pretty extreme to ban them completely imo

clean ? yea right , you dont just "forget" to attend one of the most important things in your life.

like you wouldn't "forget" to go to for example an important job interview or a loved ones b day ( and if you do you definetly dont do it more than once! )

dannyjo22 said:
He should be allowed to compete, just like any other offender he's done his time and he's repaying his debt. If they changed the rule to a lifetime ban I would be in favour of it, but until then he's done his time.

I don't believe that many of them are clean anyway. They just get sloppy and get caught.

my thoughts too

Indie · 13 Feb 2008 at 15:58

"andy" said:
clean ? yea right , you dont just "forget" to attend one of the most important things in your life.

like you wouldn't "forget" to go to for example an important job interview or a loved ones b day ( and if you do you definetly dont do it more than once! )

word!

Ripper · 13 Feb 2008 at 15:59

How is a routine drugs test one of the most important things in their lives?

Gilly · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:00

Ripper said:
How is a routine drugs test one of the most important things in their lives?

Without it he'd be banned and vilified in the press, as well as fined and called a drugs cheat for the rest of his career.

Slinwagh · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:01

I can't help but think there is a bit of Hypocrisy going on in the athletics world at the minute.

Not long ago Christine Ohuruogu who missed not 1, not 2 but 3 tests went on to win a gold medal at the 2007 Osaka World athletics championships.

She was celebrated in some corners and very mildly criticised in a few others.

She also spouted of about running for another country if see wasn't allowed to compete for GB at the 2008 Olympics.

As for Chambers, as long as he proves he is clean then I say he should run. He has been forced to pay back all the money earned while running under the influence so to speak, he has served his ban and according to the rules he is allowed to run.

As for the "He is depriving other athletes of a place bandwagon" the fact is he has run faster than other people and thus qualified.

weringo · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:05

Indie said:
team mates refusing to do a lap of honour??? wtf grow up! their all acting like kids!

I can understand why Campbell did that, thanks to Chambers he lost his European/World (?) relay medal because he was disqualified.

SpeedFreak · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:07

"andy" said:
clean ? yea right , you dont just "forget" to attend one of the most important things in your life.

like you wouldn't "forget" to go to for example an important job interview or a loved ones b day ( and if you do you definetly dont do it more than once! )

Think you have a basic misunderstanding of the testing procedure in Britain. You inform UKA of your whereabouts at all times. If there are any changes you are expected to let them know. This includes where you are training, if you are ill, if you are missing training, where you are staying that evening.

You will not know if you have missed a test immediately, that's why they are random tests. You don't forget if you don't know. With Ohurogu's case, I believe she had missed one which she then found about and then missed two very near to each other, finding out in quick succession, so by the time she knew she had missed a second test, she had already missed a third.

Indie · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:15

picking up a phone and calling them doesnt hurt though tbh! lol

FrankJH · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:16

"andy" said:
clean ? yea right , you dont just "forget" to attend one of the most important things in your life.

like you wouldn't "forget" to go to for example an important job interview or a loved ones b day ( and if you do you definetly dont do it more than once! )

my thoughts too

Rio and Christine both proved very quickly they were clean, and the tests also proved more than likely that they hadnt actually ever taken anything

From that point of view they were clean, Rio deserved his ban just about, Christine imo shouldnt be banned from the Olympics as thats the whole point of being an athlete (Rio was never going to have lifetime ban for the World Cup or CL)

Yes the testing proceedure for UKA is strange, in that its entirely plausible that a 3rd test can be missed before you are aware of the 2nd being missed, and needs to be changed - but missing the Olympics is too extreme

Pigeon_Killer · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:45

Indie said:
as for kelly holms, shes can effyoffy to put it politely

Why? She's got it spot on.

Weebull · 13 Feb 2008 at 16:55

He's served his time, he's been stripped of all his records and medals, he has to pay back all his prize money, and he'll never go to the olympics again. If he still wants to come back and race after all that, then fair play to him really.

Viper² said:
Get of your high horse Kelly

Hey, look what I found. Surely not the same Kelly Holmes? :confused:

The_One · 13 Feb 2008 at 17:52

Kelly holmes is a hypocrit

When he first came back she was saying he sould be picked and now hes been picked she says itsa disgrace.

square_imp · 13 Feb 2008 at 17:55

I think he should be allowed to continue, he has already paid the cost for what he did (2 years) and now he should be allowed to compete like anyone else. Don't really get all the anti arguments.

Gilly · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:44

FrankJH said:
Rio and Christine both proved very quickly they were clean, and the tests also proved more than likely that they hadnt actually ever taken anything

More than likely? That isn't good enough.

FrankJH said:
From that point of view they were clean, Rio deserved his ban just about, Christine imo shouldnt be banned from the Olympics as thats the whole point of being an athlete (Rio was never going to have lifetime ban for the World Cup or CL)

Rio deserved his ban just about? No. He deserved what he got and more.

dannyjo22 · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:54

The_One said:
Kelly holmes is a hypocrit

When he first came back she was saying he sould be picked and now hes been picked she says itsa disgrace.

Not only that I've always found her progress through the sport to be somewhat suspect. As soon as she won she just about quit.

Loads of them make the right noises and some get found out in the end.

I remember the gatlin thread when people where congratulating him on his world record, I suggested he was doped up and was dismissed.

It's just a game of cat and mouse and timing. Making sure your one step ahead of the testers and retire before your caught.

Smit · 13 Feb 2008 at 20:33

I believe that the team has another person who was banned for drug use, yet no one seems to have a problem with him being in the team. (could be wrong)

It's unfair to single out Chambers IMO, leave him to just get on with it. Yes he has taken some 'clean' athletes place, but the fact is that the 'clean' athlete is not good enough to compete. Chambers wont be in the Olympics anyway so what's the big deal.

They should have a 100m event just for athletes on drugs, we'd all love to see someone run the 100m in under 9 seconds!

Ripper · 13 Feb 2008 at 20:35

Smit said:
They should have a 100m event just for athletes on drugs, we'd all love to see someone run the 100m in under 9 seconds!

Lol, I'm up for that, have an entire athletics championships. They'd go so fast you could do every track event in a day

The javelin world record would be a few miles