Poor, Poor French Hurdler

Ross Rebagliati wrote:

A 400 Hurdler.... 3 Month Ban for tokin' on the peace pipe. Interestingly other athletes that tested positive for Cannabis only recieved a warning and disqualification, I wonder what made this case different.

he's a frenchie of course

It's a good thing that they decided to ban him for this, because smoking pot clearly gives an athlete an unfair competitive advantage.

and everyone knows september-december is full of hurdle competitions

october that is

what the real reason for this ban?

its not preformance enhancing (in the ways they measure it anyway)

its illegal because the 'man' made it so

so is this just following what governments want?

Lucky this still aint prohibition.

It's meant to help in some sports... archery and shooting I believe... helps calm the nerves, but the hurdling?

Regular cigs do that too. Just take some nicotine right before your competition, is that banned?

Herm Edwards wrote:

Regular cigs do that too. Just take some nicotine right before your competition, is that banned?

no, but they're not illegal substances. creatine is also banned in france.

ignorant general public...lame.

frenchies are so stupid, who smokes up the week of a major competition. they should have thrown him in jail or fined him, in the good old USA we wouldn't just ban him. silly frenchie got caught hahaha!

This illustrates the unreasonable effect of politics in sport.

I'm not sure if this is what the OP is getting at, but maybe he is trying to say that Kechi was treated differently because of his African ethnicity? I have lived in southern France for over 3 years this decade, and have worked and been in athletic clubs with a number of Tunisian immigrants so I have some perspective on this question. Pretty much I can guarantee that the French doping committee did not ban him for being of Tunisian origin; most of the bureaucracy there has grown very sensitive to being perceived as un-PC, and most African-descended sports stars (such as Zidane) are treated with the same respect as would be given any French athlete. If it was a black athlete I still don't think my analysis would be any different.

If this was not the implication of the OP's post, then I apologize for the tangent. Most people like to be indirect when they like to point a finger to racism, I think because most of the time they know it's not the case but they like to incite polemique and anger.

Forgive me here, but I'm having a heckuva time reading the OP... I believe it states the following...

Ross Rebagliati wrote:

KECHI -Last name

Héni -First Name

FRA -Country

M -Sex

IC -??????

19.06.07 -Test/Infraction Date?

Cannabis -Illegal Substance Found

3 months ineligibility -Disciplinary Action

09.10.07 - 08.01.08 -Disciplinary Period??

One thing I'd like to note is that it appears this ban, if my labels above are correct, has already been served. I don't think anyone stated the ban was still to be served, but just in case...

The date for the test/infraction date - 19.06.07 is in DD.MM.YY format.

My guess is that ALL the dates are in the same format. So, 09.10.07 - 08.01.08 is October 9, 2007 - January 8, 2008.

And it is odd that some only received warnings. Didn't a Canadian snowboarder lose a MEDAL for this same infraction a few years back??