MANY of us will have spent time recently watching events at the World Athletics Championship in London. The winning of medals was, of course, a main objective and in that respect, GB won six, which put us one above Ethiopia.
The World Championships are, of course, run under the auspices of the IAAF, which previously was an acronym for the International Amateur Athletic Association. Even although since 1982 the IAAF recognised that athletes could receive compensation for taking part in international competitions, it retained the word “amateur” in its name until 2001, when it became, more appropriately, the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is clear that now, through the IAAF World Championship competitions and the Diamond League, financial rewards can be significant.
In 2015 the IAAF’S blood tests from major competitions were leaked. This showed that between 2001 and 2012 a large number of the medals in endurance events at the Olympics and World Championships had been secured by athletes with doubtful drug test results. We have now seen the All-Russia Athletic Federation disqualified by the IAAF for the creation of a doping system. We have also recently had the spectacle of athletes who had been deprived of medals by questionable means in previous competitions being belatedly presented with what was rightfully theirs.
The fact that being caught using drugs to enhance performance does not lead to permanent disqualification really sends out the wrong message. You can serve your time, as it were, and return to compete, as the winner of the 100 metres at the recent World Championships illustrated. For as long as the use of drugs is not vigorously and definitively addressed in all countries, the reputation of the sport of athletics will be diminished and results may be open to question.
Ian W Thomson,
38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.
REFLECTING on the recent excellent World Championships in athletics, was I alone in finding many of the national anthems played ranged from dreary and uninspiring to truly awful?
I recognise that it is not possible to please everyone and musical taste differs,but is there an alternative other than “mute” on the remote control?
R Russell Smith,
96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.
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