AW Pharmacy wrote:
^^ This x10
Agreed. I have what I consider to be a relatively simple solution to the doping culture that exists, but for some reason, it will never get implemented. Maybe it isn't good "politically". This might not be the right thread for this, but I'll put it here anyway:
Lifetime bans. No ifs, ands, or buts. Doesn't matter if you "cooperate". You test positive, you are done. You are a professional athlete, and you should know what you are putting in your body. Something in a grey area and it could maybe cause you to test positive? Guess what, don't take it!
Second, if you test positive, your results are retroactively erased going all the way back to when you started competing. As if you never even ran. Almost every time an athlete tests positive, assuming they don't just outright deny it altogether, they say "oh I just started doping right before this one race, all the rest were clean".
Third, repayment of all winnings and appearance fees going back forever. Frankly, if I was a race director today, I would already include that as a clause with any elite athletes at my race, with the stipulation that any winnings clawed back would be transferred to the athletes who moved up in the results due to the DQ. What WMM runner would cheat knowing that at any point in their life, they may be liable for repayment of $500,000+?
Fourth, no statute of limitations on testing. Keep samples frozen for as long as you can, and every time some new test comes out, go back and test everything. Does that cause a beloved gold medalist from 15 years ago to test positive? Too bad. Some guy had to go home in 4th place thinking he just missed a medal.
I know this isn't a perfect plan, but at least to me, it seems like a significant step in the right direction compared to what the sport is doing today. Harsh as it may be, show me one completely clean athlete that would reject this.
Admittedly, there is no way to fix the ultimate theft, which is the experience of standing on the podium with your national anthem playing, but if you put legitimate deterrents in place, and not just a slap on the wrist, it might just be enough of a risk that it isn't worth it to cheat, knowing that at any point you could lose everything.