Ultraboy. wrote:
Just to clarify. Can you confirm the following.
Paul Edwards was banned fir 4 years after 2 failed tests in 1994. The first was in Helsinki at the European champs and the second a couple of days later in England. I don’t know how true it is but it’s frequently recounted that the attempted defence was that he’d accidentally swallowed a bottle of shampoo. It seems those two tests were conducted by separate labs. But I can’t find that info anywhere reputable. Can you confirm if the 1994 tests were carried out in separate labs and that both were failed on A and B samples? Can you provide evidence that both of these labs failed to follow process and that both failures were incorrect?
Here’s the thing about asking for support in overturning his 1997 failure. If you can’t prove his 1994 ban was unsafe then most people in athletics really won’t give a crap if a convicted drugs cheat got a lifetime ban based on a second test that was less than perfect. Most people I know would like to see a life ban for first offence, so you need to show me this is an innocent man being failed by the system for me to be supporting him. I don’t think that’s unreasonable,
Your post is indeed reasonable.
I believe the details of the earlier ban and its failing have already been set out in this series of posts.I can only comment that the shampoo story, in various glorious forms, is a great example of urban myth.
Possibly following by the use of such bottles/containers to evade giving the correct urine in the good old days of the late 70’s and early 80’s at Crystal Palace.
Indeed I can see a lack of enthusiasm to deal with fatal errors in the 97 test because of a lack of faith in Edwards.But our justice system is not based on this.
The failings of the WestMids Police in stitching up evidence to convict known (assumed)baddies of something or anything led to PACE.
I think we need transparency and integrity in doping control.
The cover up in this case goes well beyond the actual detail of the test abd that is one extra reason why it should be resolved.