Don't Let Dwayne Go

After all the waiting, all the talk, tomorrow we finally find out whether Dwayne Chambers will be competing in this summer’s Olympic Games. You will have heard the story but, if not, this is it in a nutshell. Many, many moons ago now -2004 to be precise- Dwayne Chambers, Britain’s golden boy of sprinting at the time was found guilty of using the banned steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) and banned for two years, as well as being given a lifetime ban against competing in Sport’s greatest spectacle, the Olympic Games. That ban was and, at this time, still is a policy of the British Olympic Association in the hope that it will deter young athletes from taking performance-enhancing drugs to further their careers. However, Chambers’ bid to compete in Beijing next month may change all that.

Personally, I have a lot of respect for Dwayne Chambers as a person. He has attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to make a career out of other sports where his obvious talent would help him. Unfortunately for Dwayne, anyone who knows the slightest thing about Rugby League knows that speed alone will never make you an elite athlete. The same, I’m sure, can be said for American Football. After these two disappointments, Chambers decided to return to the sport that he knows best and earlier this year stated that he intended to overturn the ban that has stood for so long, the ban that every athlete in this country is aware of. If you are found guilty of taking drugs, you will not compete in your sport’s pinnacle.

The ban is not an opportunity to punish those drugs cheats, but a deterrent for potential athletes to prevent them from taking the easy route in the sport. Admittedly, and the current situation is a prime example, it does not always work, but imagine the situation we would be in if we send a message to young athletes that if they take drugs, they may just get away with it.