Rob's Blog

Does the drug nightmare for sports ever end? Track and field are having their turn at the moment. World and Olympic 100 meters champion Justin Gatlin admitted failing a drugs test in April, and has just been given an eight year ban, though this may change over time. The world record for the 100 meters of 9.77 seconds that he shared with Asafa Powell has been taken off him. The harsh penalty follows his previous positive for an amphetamine at the 2001 US Junior Championships. Also in the news is five-time Olympic medallist Marion Jones, who has been linked to doping in the past, and recently gave a positive result for EPO. Her second sample has yet to be tested, but her reputation must now surely be tainted. All this in the wake of the other high profile USA athlete found to be doping, cyclist Floyd Landis, who tested positive for elevated testosterone during the Tour de France. As talked about previously, the answer to this problem of drugs in sport does not seem apparent. Hopefully as more high profile athletes are found to be cheating, this will deter others from doing so. What happened to the old adage of just playing fair? Maybe one day that will return. In the meantime, I hope the scientists continue to fight and catch the cheats so I can again truly enjoy watching sport.

Related Pages: Doping in Sports, Track & Field, Marion Jones profile, Floyd Landis profile

An interesting thing happened in a Test Match between England and Pakistan the other day. It was unfortunate for controversial Australian umpire Darrell Hair that he happened to be officiating on this day, however it seems like he just followed the rules as they are laid out. Originally, Pakistan were penalized five runs after the umpires noticed that the ball had been tampered with. Whether they did it or not, the Pakis should have just got on with the game. Instead, after the tea break they decided to have a ’sit in’ and did not retake the field. After giving them adequate time to make it to the pitch, the umpires decided that Pakistan had forfeited the match with victory being awarded to England. As with all sports, the umpires are the sole adjudicators of the rules out on the pitch, and the umpires decisions should be final. It really doesn’t matter that people have paid to see a game - they have paid to watch a fair game of sport, and if the umpires declare that the game is not fair, and a team does not follow the rules and laws of the game, then they (and the supporters) will have to suffer the consequences. I don’t like how so much of the blame went to the umpire Darrell Hair (but not his co-umpire?). The blame should go to the Pakistan Cricket team for spitting the dummy and not playing ball.

Related Pages: Cricket

Nearing the business end of the season, the Melbourne Storm are well clear on the Australian Rugby League (ARL) ladder, which must be disappointing to many people from the states north of here (NSW & QLD) where the game is most popular. I was at the Storm’s game against the Warriors last night. It was the first game I had seen live in Melbourne, and it was a different experience than the Aussie Rules games I have been watching lately. This game had an international flavour as the opposition were from NZ, something that never happens in Aussie Rules. There was also a great atmosphere, with dancing girls, fireworks and music. Combined with a vocal crowd and a smaller field it seemed like we were right in amongst the action. Although the Storm were beaten, it was a very entertaining evening, and I think that any Victorians who find it hard to see what all the fuss is about with Rugby League should go along and watch a game live.

Related Pages: Rugby League

Is Ian Thorpe fat? In a country where we have a real obesity problem, there are people calling one of the world’s greatest swimmers fat because he may have put on a couple of pounds. If he is out of shape, he has shown by his determination and previous workrate that he could easily get himself back to top form. It is most likely that he was just photographed in a non-flattering pose eating junk food. And there is nothing wrong with an elite sports person having some junk food every now and then. As part of a balanced diet there is room for all types of food. As a swimmer he would burn copious amounts of calories before most of us are even out of bed, and so he would need to eat a large quantity of food to provide his energy needs. Let’s wait for the next major championship where he puts himself against the world’s best before we criticise him any more.

Related Pages: swimming, Ian Thorpe profile, sports nutrition

It seems like just about every day we see in the news some high profile sports person who has been up to no good. When athletes are in the public eye they need to accept that they are role models, whether they want to be or not. Some say they don’t ask to be role models, while other people defend them by saying that they are just human and occasionally make mistakes. However, some of them seem to make too many mistakes, and when you are a high profile athlete, you have to work extra hard not to make mistakes in public. If they don’t want to be a role model, they can stop playing their sport at a high level and get away from the public eye. While they continue to play sport and entertain people, and for many get paid very well for it, they have to accept their position in society. The way they are idolized and paid excessive amounts of money only makes them further removed for normal society. That is not an excuse, just more reason that they need to work harder to maintain their standards.

Related Pages: sport psychology

It has recently been announced that the Beijing Olympic Committee are considering turning the swimming program on it’s head, so that the finals are in the morning and the heats in the evening. The reason for this is so the finals are on at prime time in the US. I have no problem with this, and I think the swimmers should welcome it. Although the world’s top swimmers are professional athletes, as with all sports, there are able to be professionals due to sponsors and the public who enjoy watching them perform. By swimming their finals in the morning they are able to satisfy both of these groups. Physiologically, they should be more than capable of swimming their best in the morning. Look at every swimmer’s training program, and you will see that they are up early every day doing laps in the pool. If the Olympic program is switched around, you will see all the lead up meets also change their program around so they can get used to the new schedule. I have also always wondered about how fresh the swimmers are after swimming several heats in the morning then coming out later that day to swim in their finals. Having to come to the pool fresh each day to race their finals, we may well see better performances - then we will not be hearing any complaints.

Related Pages: swimming, Olympic Games, Beijing 2008