Banned Ohuruogo has surprising ally

[Daisy]

From front page: Radcliffe criticises Ohuruogo ban

Reading the article makes me sympathetic to the legitimate problems an athlete may have in not making it to a drug test. However, if these types of excuses (got stuck in traffic) are acceptable then athletes will just lie to avoid the tests. I am guite surprised that Radcliffe is so strong on drugs but sympathetic to lame excuses for missing a test.

Perhaps a compromise is that an athlete should have an opportunity to contact and find the tester if they miss a meeting. So, if the tester has left due to the athlete being late at the prearranged meeting place, the onus is then on the athlete to find the tester. There obviously needs to be a plan B option so the legitimately clean athletes can make an honest effort give their sample.

[gm]

I can see missing maybe one test due to unavoidable circumstances, but three??? Come on, Paula.

[La_Spigola_Loca]

Re: Banned Ohuruogo has surprising ally

Perhaps a compromise is that an athlete should have an opportunity to contact and find the tester if they miss a meeting. So, if the tester has left due to the athlete being late at the prearranged meeting place, the onus is then on the athlete to find the tester. There obviously needs to be a plan B option so the legitimately clean athletes can make an honest effort give their sample.

What is the case currently? The tester shows up at your door, unannounced, you're not there, you get a first warning out of 3? That's the impression I got from the linked article (at least for the UK), but I'd like to hear someone confirm this absurdity. For once, I hope my reading comprehension skills have failed me, because that sounds WAYYY too Kafkaian.

[Daisy]

Re: Banned Ohuruogo has surprising ally

Perhaps a compromise is that an athlete should have an opportunity to contact and find the tester if they miss a meeting. So, if the tester has left due to the athlete being late at the prearranged meeting place, the onus is then on the athlete to find the tester. There obviously needs to be a plan B option so the legitimately clean athletes can make an honest effort give their sample.

What is the case currently? The tester shows up at your door, unannounced, you're not there, you get a first warning out of 3? That's the impression I got from the linked article (at least for the UK), but I'd like to hear someone confirm this absurdity. For once, I hope my reading comprehension skills have failed me, because that sounds WAYYY too Kafkaian.

That's what it sounded like in the article. Which is why there needs to be a plan B. This type of narrow window to meet the tester makes it hard for the innocent and easier for the quilty to concoct a cock 'n bull stories. "I fell off my moped, honest"

[mojo]

I agree with Paula that a ban from the Olympics would be a ridiculously harsh punishment and way over the top.
I think a one year ban is quite appropriate- not quite sure if Paula feels even that is too harsh. i sure hope not.

After one missed test you would think you would be extremely careful. A simple text message explaining a change in your plans is all that is needed .
British athletes are to give one hour of the day with a location which is where they will be five days of the week. If they won't be there in that time frame they let authorities know-not that big of deal.

We had a Finnish Olympic gold medallist stay with us a few years back and she was constantly updating doping officials in Finland as to where she was. She took it very seriously.

[La_Spigola_Loca]

I agree with Paula that a ban from the Olympics would be a ridiculously harsh punishment and way over the top.
I think a one year ban is quite appropriate- not quite sure if Paula feels even that is too harsh. i sure hope not.

The life ban from the Olympics is mandatory in Britain for athletes convicted of drug offences, and the three miss is a drug offence. As long as the ruling isn't overturned, Ohuruogo will banned from the Olympics and thus not entitled to lottery funding.

British athletes are to give one hour of the day with a location which is where they will be five days of the week. If they won't be there in that time frame they let authorities know-not that big of deal.

Thanks for this info - this makes it seem a bit less draconian. Wouldn't one be able to just say "I am always at home on weekdays on 4am"????

[mojo]

Yes the athlete picks the time and location but I am not sure if they can say the middle of the night.

I would hate to see her banned from the Olympics or given more than one year. Mark Lewis-Francis got his Olympic ban overturned after the cannabis incident at the EIC in Madrid.

[El Toro]

Re: Banned Ohuruogo has surprising ally

that sounds WAYYY too Kafkaian.

Isn't the accepted descriptor "Kafkaesque"?

[eldrick]

no

it's "seinfeldian"

[La_Spigola_Loca]

Re: Banned Ohuruogo has surprising ally

[quote=El Toro]

that sounds WAYYY too Kafkaian.

Isn't the accepted descriptor "Kafkaesque"?[/quote:moma2z8q]

Seeing as an altavista search for the latter yielded 1500 times more results than a search for the former, I assume you are correct.

[piaba]

lifetime ban from the olympics? my goodness, did this woman commit murder?

[mump boy]

lifetime ban from the olympics? my goodness, did this woman commit murder?

technically christine is banned for olympics but there is no way that is going to stand MLF and mark richardson both succesfully appealed against the ban and they both tested +

i don't think paulas point is that christine shouldn't be banned just that it's not fair that in UK we have very rigorous testing and you can be banned for missed tests while some countries have no out of competition tests at all

which is a very fair point

[Jug]

Sorry if I missed this somewhere. What were the circumstances surrounding the three missed tests? What were the explanations?

Also wondering, are these the UK's requirements only? Isn't there some international standard for out-of-competition tests?

Saw Lance Armstrong on the Today Show recently and he mentioned he was sometimes in contact with the testers on an hourly basis.

[Flumpy]

Mump is right. Paula isn't criticising the ban asuch, more the way it had been implemented.

The way it is at the moment in Britain it's almost as if the testers are trying to catch out the athletes. If an athlete says that they are going to be at a location but are not for whatever reason the tester immediatley leaves and it's regarded as a missed test. At no point do they try and contact the athlete to ask their whereabouts or wait until the full hour is up and see if they arrive.

I'm all for strict drug testing procedures and have little sympathy for Christine but I don't know of any country in the world with rules this tight. I certainly don't think that Christine's peers will be experiencing this level of scrutiny. How many out of competition tests have Tonique or Vanya had done this year by their own federation. And how often have USATF tested Sanya this summer?

[tandfman]

And how often have USATF tested Sanya this summer?

It's my understanding that USATF does not test anyone. That's done by USADA. Sanya, of course, spent much of the summer in Europe, where she was subject to IAAF testing. Given her successes, I am sure she was tested. How often? No idea.