Speaking after news broke on Sunday that up to a third of Olympic and World Championship endurance-event medals won between 2001 and 2012 were claimed by athletes with ‘suspicious’ test results, Andrew Winnie has said that, while cheating in Britain may not be as lucrative as elsewhere, children may well be taken away from the sport if harsher measures are not enforced.
1 Usain Bolt
2 Tyson Gay – 12 month ban in 2013
3 Yohan Blake – 3 month ban in 2009
4 Asafa Powell – 6 month ban in 2013
5 Justin Gatlin – 4 year ban in 2006 (second offence)
6 Nesta Carter
7 Maurice Greene
8 Steve Mullings – lifetime ban in 2011 (second offence)
9 Richard Thompson
10 Bruny Surin
‘They’ve got to get it sorted out, from a coach’s point of view we’re doing something wrong, and I’m sickened at the extent people are going to these days,’ Winnie explained. ‘If you look at the probable line up for the men’s 100 metre final at this month’s World Championships there are a number of drugs cheats in there. People say “they’ve done their time”, but they’re still cheats and I find that unacceptable. We have to ban them for life.
‘In Britain there’s no money attached to the sport, whereas in some countries there is absolute poverty and someone who excels has the chance to get their family out of that if they achieve. That’s an incentive to cheat as it will change their lives.
‘There will be an initial reaction to it all, but it’s important to put across that we in athletics do more testing than any other sport. If you look at Mo Farah, for example; he is probably tested around 20 times a year. And other sports are the same … my other love is rugby and I read about young players in Division Three of a Northern League being ‘done’ for anabolic steroids. What are they trying to achieve? They’re just taking things to bulk up.’
Winnie continued: ‘I’m not shocked. Last year I read an article about testing in the 1980s and there was evidence that if they re-tested samples taken when Ben Johnson was first banned (1988 Olympic Games) there would only have been one clean sprinter in the final eight. We can now detect illegal substances that couldn’t be detected then. Back then detection methods were pretty poor, and that’s why drugs cheats were rife because they weren’t getting caught.
‘I’m a believer that if you’re caught you should be banned for life. Stupidity, like taking cough mixtures with banned substances in, is not cheating, but the drugs cheats of this world who purposely go ahead with it shouldn’t be allowed back. Until that happens people will risk it, as it is sometimes worth the risk.’
