On 5th October 2007 U.S. sprint queen Marion Jones admitted to lying about her use of the banned steroid THG prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Since then, she has forfeited her three gold and two silver medals from those games and apologised to her family and her country for betraying their trust. Unfortunately, it would be naive to imagine Jones made this admission because her conscience finally got the better of her after having lied over seven years to the media and federal agents about her use of steroids. More likely, this well timed admission is part of a deal with authorities to avoid more serious penalties. Marion Jones it would appear is a serial drug cheat who defended positive drug tests in high school, and has been dogged by drug rumours throughout her career. She most recently (successfully) defended a positive EPO test last year after her “B†sample was returned negative.
It is a great thing for sport that high profile drug cheats, such as Marion Jones, are now being caught and sanctioned. Floyd Landis has been stripped of his 2006 Tour d’France win; Michael Rassmussen was withdrawn by his team from the 2007 Tour; and sprinters Tim Montgomery, Linford Christie, Katerina Thanou (the Greek sprinter who finished second to Jones at the Sydney Olympics) have been banned for use of performance enhancing drugs. However, as a sports enthusiast it is nonetheless devastating to continually be reminded of the cheating that clouds almost every high level sporting event. Even sports that rely on skill rather than power or endurance seem tainted. Cricket has long suffered the stigma of match fixing, and tennis is currently under investigation with Nikolay Davydenko currently being investigated after bookies suspended betting during a match in Poland in August. (Davydenko eventually withdrew with a foot injury leaving world no. 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina the winner).
Whether justified or not, outstanding performances in sport are all too often considered questionable. Even if the media doesn’t report rumours of doping or match fixing, rumours on the street are abundant. And it’s not just the pure fans of sport that are affected, the deserving winners, that is those who didn’t cheat, are deprived of millions of dollars in prize money, endorsements and appearance fees. And average punters who together bet millions on sport are cheated out of winnings. So, I have to ask, are we doing enough to punish cheaters in sport?
People who are found guilty of fraud suffer extremely harsh penalties in the criminal justice system. Two year bans or even life bans from sport are, in my opinion, not enough for sports men and women who consciously and methodically break the rules. As Marion Jones – who was one of the first women athletes to become a millionaire – elite sport is big business, and people who break the rules should be penalised accordingly.
