Dwain Chambers, Should he be allowed to run in the olympics

[maffew]

Not seen another poll, so....

I dont know personally. At first I thought no way, life time ban should stay we dont want him as part of our team. Now part of me thinks well hes done his time for the crime, and its only us who impose life time bans. The main problem for me is that he cost the rest of the relay team their medals

Think I'm on the fence on this one, possibly edging towards let him run

 

[Scoffers]

yep, they all take drugs anyway, he just got caught

 

[Gazwag]

If he is so good now why did he need drugs in the first place.

Life Ban - show kids you dont need drugs to win as he is showing now

 

[Fourteenth Eye]

Cheats shouldnt prosper

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Difficult one. My gut feeling is that he deliberately cheated in the most blatant way, and I've never heard any regret from him, he always sounds like he is a victim. It was not as if he took some medicine which he didn't know contained banned substances, he went out of his way to take drugs.

On the other hand, you can say that he has served his sentence (whether the banning rules are strict enough is another issue), so he should be able to redeem himself.

On balance I say, if he runs in the Olympics, it's not in my name.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Gazwag. spot on.

 

[vegster]

Its a difficult one.... At the recent trials ( track, that is ) several of his fellow competitors hugged him and high fived with him after the heats. I would find it difficult to say anything if I was in that position and knew he had cheated.

There is a case which says that if you take drugs and then go clean, there is always a small residual advantage in muscle mass. so, he's a cheat for life

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

He knew the BOC rules, as does every other athlete. The fact that they deny a proven cheat means the rules are OK as far as I'm concerned. As things stand, he won't even miss an Olympic cycle if the BOC are forced to allow him to run.

If there had been no BOC rule stating you'd be banned from the Olympics for life, fine, let him run, but there is. He doesn't like it - tough. Doesn't mean the rule ain't fair - it's not stopping him making a living or anything. He can still run at other tournaments and make money.

 

[bhafc99]

He can still run at other tournaments and make money.

They were debating this on 5Live the other day, and someone said that Chambers' aim would be to make the Olympic final. If you're an Olympic finalist, you're virtually guaranteed paid invites to all the big meets for the next couple of seasons.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Nothing hard here. He knew the rules,he is a cheat and the woman runner should also be banned for missing the drugs test THREE times in 12 months.

 

[vegster]

They were debating this on 5Live the other day, and someone said that Chambers' aim would be to make the Olympic final. If you're an Olympic finalist, you're virtually guaranteed paid invites to all the big meets for the next couple of seasons.

I think I heard that programme or another one about the same time. A couple of experts said he had " No chance " of winning a medal and would be very lucky to make the final at all.
They said that his going would deprive an up and coming developing athlete of the chance to gain Olympic experience before 2012 London. They seemed to concur that his best days were behind him and that he was past his best at a top level .

 

[Simster]

Personally I agree with Sir Steve Redgrave. He should be punished, and unless he's missed an Olympic cycle then he's not really been punished. Therefore, he should be banned from competing in Beijing but if he's able to run in London 2012then he should be allowed to. A life ban is far too harsh.

 

[Nemesis]

Cheats shouldnt prosper

Like he's the only potential Olympic athlete to cheat...athletics is full of cheats. His crime was that he wasn't smart enough to time his cheating so he wouldn't get caught.

 

[Yoda]

They seemed to concur that his best days were behind him and that he was past his best at a top level .

Really??
His time of 10.00sec at the AAA's is only 0.06sec off his PB which he ran before he started taking the drugs. I wouldn't say he was past it, he's getting quicker with each race this year.

 

[algie]

Not this again.I had this out with Easy 10

 

[Barrel of Fun]

There seem to be plenty of wimps in the sport. Apart from Pickering, I can't think of any other current athletes that have criticised Chambers. He has cheated people out of medals, he has cheated himself and he has cheated the sport.

He was attempting to fix the outcome for personal gain. Would those that have said he has done his time and should be able to run be so charitable if a Brighton player had thrown a game for personal gain?

 

[Easy 10]

If it was up to me, he'd never pull on a pair of trainers again. He made the decision to cheat and deceive his way to medals, there is no way back from that. As mentioned before, the drugs he has taken permanently alter the muscle mass, irredeemably giving him greater potential. He will ALWAYS have that advantage now over a clean athlete.

As far as I'm concernde, he shouldn't even compete in an egg and spoon race, let alone the Olympics. His presence there representing Great Britain would be an embarrassment.

 

[Digweeds Trousers]

He disgusts me

 

[Fourteenth Eye]

If it was up to me, he'd never pull on a pair of trainers again. He made the decision to cheat and deceive his way to medals, there is no way back from that. As mentioned before, the drugs he has taken permanently alter the muscle mass, irredeemably giving him greater potential. He will ALWAYS have that advantage now over a clean athlete.

As far as I'm concernde, he shouldn't even compete in an egg and spoon race, let alone the Olympics. His presence there representing Great Britain would be an embarrassment.

Spot on

 

[Knotty]

If it was up to me, he'd never pull on a pair of trainers again. He made the decision to cheat and deceive his way to medals, there is no way back from that. As mentioned before, the drugs he has taken permanently alter the muscle mass, irredeemably giving him greater potential. He will ALWAYS have that advantage now over a clean athlete.

As far as I'm concernde, he shouldn't even compete in an egg and spoon race, let alone the Olympics. His presence there representing Great Britain would be an embarrassment.

Totally agree. He knew the British Olympic rules before he decided to cheat.