Under their Code, if an athlete tests positive for a prohibited substance they are usually liable for a one-year ban. An athlete may be eligible for a reduced sanction if they can prove they bore ‘no significant fault or negligence’. Substances and methods used to dope have health consequences. Many can be lead to severe health issues or even death. The use of recreational or social drugs is banned in sport.
Whilst an athlete can be in a compromising situation with peers outside sport, it’s important for athletes to recognise that social drugs such as cannabis can be detrimental to sporting performance and result in a positive test result weeks later. An example of drugs use is European champion sprinter Dwain Chambers. Who tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid in 2003. The allegation was strongly denied by his coach. He was one of Britain’s best hopes for a gold medal at following year’s Olympic Games, Chambers allegedly failed a test for the newly discovered drug tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) which was thought to be undetectable.
Traces of the drug were found in a urine sample that the European 100 metres champion and record holder provided during an out-of-competition test at his training base in Saarbrucken, Germany, on August 1, the Guardian newspaper reported. At this time if Chambers failed the test and was banned from athletics for two years and from the Olympic Games for life. Though in 2008 he returned to athletics and competed in the European championships running the 60m to win silver.
In the same year he also launched a High Court appeal against his lifetime ban from the Olympics but the decision of the British Olympic Authority (BOA) was upheld. Though in 2012 The Court of Arbitration for Sport over-ruled the BOA’s lifetime Olympics ban for drug cheats, freeing Chambers up to compete at London 2012. He won the 100m at the UK Olympic trials with a time of 10. 25sec and was selected for Team GB despite not running under the Olympic ‘A’ standard. Another example of doping is female GB sprinter Bernice Wilson.
She was banned by Uk athletics this year as she tested positive for the anabolic steroid testosterone and Clenbuterol. Clenbuterol, similar to the asthma drug salbutamol, is used to treat breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. It causes an increase in aerobic capacity, blood pressure and oxygen transportation, and speeds the rate at which fats are burned. It is officially classified as a sympathomimetic steroid. She was given a 4 year ban from athletics by the court of appeal and she will not be allowed to compete until 2015.
In my opinion I think athletes should be given lifetime bans from their sport because when their stories come out about them doping it doesn’t give them a good image towards the younger generations that look up to and idolise these athletes. Linford Christie who served a two year drug ban from athletics competeion, said that atheletics “is so corrupt now and I wouldn’t want my child doing it. ” The world Anti-Doping agency has launched the campagin ‘Say NO to doping’ which aims to educate people on theeffects of performance enhancing drugs on both their health and sporting career.
I believe more of these programmes should be set up and more people made aware of the consequences faced when taking drugs. Gamesmanship: Another form of deviance is Gamesmanship. There is a fine line between cheating and gamesmanship. What you might consider cheating simply could be “part of the game” to another. Gamesmanship is defined as the use of dubious methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It has been described as “Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end.
” A form of gamesmanship in athletics is a false start. An athlete can choose to abort the start after the “on your marks” and “set” commands and before the firing of the starting device by raising his hand or standing up. Thiscan intimitate the other competetiors on the starting blocks as once in the starting blocks the competetiors are not allowed to move until the gun has been sounded to signal the start of the event. The athlete may also be warned for improper conduct by the referee if the action was determined to be inappropriate.
Sometimes competitors can disturb other athletes at the starting line and this may be considered a false start. If a starter isn’t satisfied that all competitors are ready to proceed with the race, he will order the competitors to “stand up. ” The most famous example of a false start was Usain Bolt in the 100m final at the World Championships in Daegu. Bolt reacted, 0. 104 seconds before the gun was fired. A second gun crack confirmed his his disqulification.
Though in recent studies and slow-motion replays of the start of the race show how Blake’s left leg twitched in the instant before Bolt pushed off from the blocks. Some commentators have suggested that Blake himself could, and maybe should, have been disqualified. The IAAF rules state that once the athletes are in the “set” position, they must not move, and Blake’s leg clearly twitched. It was that rule which caused Dwain Chambers to be disqualified in his semi-final. Another example of a false start was Christine Ohuruogu who was disqualified from the 400m in the worldchampionships in 2011.
Such events are extremely rare in the 400m, but Ohuruogu came out of her blocks way ahead of any of her rivals. She told Channel 4 that, “I knew it was me straight away. I can’t believe it. I just wanted to get a good start as I knew it was going to be a fast round. ” Under the new false-start regulations brought in by the IAAF at the start of 2010, she was allowed no warning nor second chance and was shown a red card by officials before being ushered off the track in a state of shock she commented to the BBC that, “I’ve just wasted all that hard work, it’s just wasted. ”