ROOT FOR U.S. ATHLETES, BUT JUST DON'T TRUST THEM.Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE ATHENS, Greece - Torri Edwards, suspended two years Wednesday for failing a drug test? So be it. Just now, we can think of nothing finer than running every drug cheat out of Athens. Before they light the Olympic flame. Not after. Athletes and coaches might not believe this, but fans are sick to death of sports doping doping, in electronics: see semiconductor. Altering the electrical conductivity of a semiconductor material, such as silicon, by chemically combining it with foreign elements. . They are tired of bold-faced lies, legalistic le·gal·ism n. 1. Strict, literal adherence to the law or to a particular code, as of religion or morality. 2. A legal word, expression, or rule. evasions, tortured excuses and wide-eyed protestations of innocence. They are weary of reacting cynically to every great performance. They wish they didn't have to view every breakout athlete with a world-class dose of suspicion. They want to believe their Olympic champions are running on Wheaties, not on steroids, amphetamines Amphetamines Sympathomimetic amines; sometimes called speed; synthetic chemicals that stimulate the central nervous system. Mentioned in: Weight Loss Drugs amphetamines , THG THG Tom's Hardware Guide THG Tetrahydrogestrinone THG Third Harmonic Generation (laser physics) THG The Humble Guys (hacker group) THG The Holmes Group or nikethamide - the stimulant that brought down Edwards, a USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. product. So what if America's top hope in the 100- and 200-meter dashes just crashed out of the Games? America's top hope before Edwards, the heroically doped-up Kelli White, was gone months ago before Edwards, admitting guilt and accepting a two-year ban when she was caught in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative This article is related to a . For the main article on the event, see Marion Jones. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. The Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, also known as BALCO, was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte. (BALCO) scandal. And the nation's former queen of speed, Marion Jones, is only one step ahead of the doping posse, hot in pursuit, after her name came up in the BALCO records. Jones is a woman America would love to love, but her former husband, shot putter C.J. Hunter, did a suspension for 'roids. Her current beau, Tim Montgomery, is about to take a fall on a BALCO rap. And Jones never, ever dipped in her swains' chemical stash stash Drug slang noun A place where illicit drugs are hidden ? We would like to believe you, Marion, but we can't. Not in this climate. And not since you began running like a Clydesdale once the BALCO story broke. Edwards is asking for special dispensation DISPENSATION. A relaxation of law for the benefit or advantage of an individual. In the United States, no power exists, except in the legislature, to dispense with law, and then it is not so much a dispensation as a change of the law. , as well as our sympathy, using the well-worn ``I didn't know what I was taking'' tack. She had a cold, see, before a meet in Martinique, and some flunkie bought ``glucose'' at a store there and, darn, if it didn't contain nikethamide, a prohibited stimulant. And the label on this voodoo juice either didn't name the nikethamide, or it was in French and indecipherable. Or something like that. Now, this happened in late April, well after the doping cops stepped up their vigilance. Exactly when somebody who purports to be clean should have been careful to the point of paranoia. In sports these days, every elite athlete elite athlete Sports medicine An athlete with potential for competing in the Olympics or as a professional athlete; EAs are at ↑ risk for injuries, given the amount of training, for psychological abuse by coaches and parents, and self abuse. knows you don't put anything into your body you can't vouch for. That most certainly includes mystery glucose from the Martinique 7-Eleven. Edwards is represented by HS International, and in a statement last week its management was suitably enraged en·rage tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es To put into a rage; infuriate. [Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. . This was after track's international sanctioning body called for a two-year ban, but before the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency got around to it on Wednesday. ``We are, at best, disappointed, and at worst, cynical, about the ruling which took place in Torri's matter,'' read part of the HS International statement. ``Charging her with the harshest punishment that has ever been given to any athlete, in any sport, for this type of violation, surely points to this case not being decided on its merits, but one decided upon based on politics and prejudice.'' This, after Edwards admitted imbibing the nikethamide. Unknowingly, that is, which makes it OK. Edwards might take this to the globe's final sports arbitration board, but the wheels of justice finally are turning. Illegal is illegal. Whether it be a feeble stimulant or the most powerful steroids. If you can't win clean, don't come to the party. The greatest travesty in sports is to win a gold medal at the Olympics and bathe in the accolades of the planet - then fail the drug test. That's known as the Ben Johnson Syndrome, and the International Olympic Committee “IOC” redirects here. For other uses, see IOC (disambiguation). The International Olympic Committee (French: Comité International Olympique) is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on June 23 went through that at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. A world-record 100 meters one day, red faces all around when the rabbit died a few days later. We're sure the IOC IOC abbr. International Olympic Committee IOC n abbr (= International Olympic Committee) → COI m IOC n abbr (= doesn't want to go through that again here. Neither do sports fans. We like to think the doping cops just punished the last cheater. But we don't believe that, either. Our cynicism and doubt remains a stain on the Olympic Games, a stain that can't be expunged soon enough. Not before Friday's Opening Ceremonies, we fear. Paul Oberjuerge, (909) 386-3865 paul.oberjuerge(at)sbsun.com |
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