Dwain Chambers in GB squad

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Not really sure if this should be in here or in discussion and debate, but Dwain Chambers has been selected for the GB athletics squad.

How do people feel about a known drug cheat representing the nation? He has very openly admitted he used drugs to gain an advantage. His comments were that there were 2 types of athletes, those who had tried drugs to get an advantage and those who weren't intelligent enough to try it.

Personally I think he shouldn't have been allowed to compete again, but I am sure there will be some who believe he served his time and should be allowed to prove himself again.

 

[Houdini]

It goes to show what a bunch of two faced pricks the selectors are! Tha cheat should not be allowed anywhere near a track for the rest of his life!
His interview on TV, when he was trying to get into American football, showed him for what he really is, an out and out fraud and cheat!

 

[Legend10]

He's a cheat and should be treated as such!

 

[Shanks]

I disagree.
The guy got caught, he has held up his hands, and although sounded bitter for a while after, he is using that experience to help, and I feel he could now be in a position to give good direction for young athletes.

He is clean, he won, he has served time.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Back in the team, and rightly so - we need more drugged up competitors in the british athletics team then maybe we might win something. :|

 

[Captain Spur]

They couldn't not select him after he won the race at the weekend. The rules say the winner must be picked. All that exceptional circumstances bumf was just that, he would have sued and easily won if not selected.

 

[The Apprentice]

I disagree.
The guy got caught, he has held up his hands, and although sounded bitter for a while after, he is using that experience to help, and I feel he could now be in a position to give good direction for young athletes.

He is clean, he won, he has served time.

That's all well and good, but what he has done (and the countless others) has attributed to the current shambles that is athletics. No-one trusts that what they are watching is legitimate and there is a huge black cloud over the sport.

Drugs cheats shouldn't be allowed to return to the sport. It ruins the credibility of it.

Plus the fact he's an arrogant twat about it all.

 

[spurspimp]

If we had any other talented sprinters in the UK, we wouldn't be talking about him.

He is the best we have even when he is not on drugs. He has served his ban and is a world class athlete. He should be picked on merit and not on his personality or past.

If other athletes now think it is ok to take drugs then that is their problem. I didn't realise athletes were like sheep and would all follow Dwain Chambers as an example. Everybody has a choice on whether they take drugs or not.

 

[LSUY]

I'm glad Chambers is back in the GB squad and he should be put into the Olympics squad. He has served his ban and should be treated like everyone else.

We seem to be one of the few countries that has this mentality of once a cheat always a cheat.

Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou faked a crash to get out of a random drugs test yet nothing happened to them. Their are countries doing a lot worse than what Chambers did. What the former Soviet bloc used to do and what China are doing now is far worse.

Also without the aid of drugs Chambers is still the best sprinter we've got.

Drugs cheats shouldn't be allowed to return to the sport. It ruins the credibility of it.

Did you feel the same when we signed Edgar Davids? Afterall he was banned for taking drugs.

 

[michaelj70]

I like Dwain.... i met him on a Spurs Level 1 Coaching course in November.... top bloke.... he got in with a dodgy coach and he regrets it now .... let him be.... he looked knackered on the coaching course... surprise he is top sprinter in UK at the moment

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Love the double standards people can apply to certain things in life, especially the difference in treatment between rule-breakers and law-breakers, the latter of which governs all of us, day in, day out, regardless of our activity at the time

The drugs he has taken are not illegal - if they were then he would've been arrested too. However, the use of these drugs is against the rules that the athletics bodies concerned laid out.

Now, seems fine for someone to commit a crime and break the law, get a suitable sentence then, once it's complete, have people defend them with "They've served their punishment", but if you break a rule - oooooh, you f*cker!! Ban him/her forever!!

You get caught taking drugs on the street, you get a slap on the wrist and told to not be seen doing drugs in the area again.

You get caught a few days after you've had a tiny, legal supplement in an event, rather than a gym, then you are banned from taking part in X activity, ever again and shunned by many others, for the rest of your life.


We really need some perspective...

 

[Shanks]

Agree RSS, which is why I would like him to do well.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Kind of understand what you are saying RSS, but my argument would be that if you rob a shop for example, you do your time and come out and thats it. But if you take performance enhancing drugs over a period of time, you can improve you can train to levels far in excess of what would be normally possible. As a result you have trained muscles, gained strength and endurance etc that have improved you as an athlete. Even if you are banned for two years and don't use the drugs, your body is still at such an improved level at the beginning of the two year ban that you can still train to levels that are far higher than you would have been able to if you hadn't ever used the performancing enhancing drugs and as a result you are still using the advantage you got from the drugs.

The fact that Chambers managed to absolutely abliterate the field after a 2 year absence may or not reflect this, he may just be a better athlete and most likely is, but how can you prove it. How can you be sure that all that he isn't still benefitting? I'm certainly not sure that he is isn't.

That is my reason for being sceptical about his return. The moral issues are far less of a factor to me than him still having an unfair advantage.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

The fact is that for every one person caught using "performance enhancing drugs" there are hundreds that go undetected. Even if that person uses them for a short period of time, never even competing, they have gained an advantage over someone who hasn't and the chances of them getting caught are incredibly slim.

One thing to remember about this - you catch a drug cheat, everyone says ooooh, well done, nice job, now he's been unveiled for the super-villain he really is! NO! The super villains, the ones really benefitting from this, are the ones who AREN'T getting caught and are letting patsies like Chambers take the rap for them.

His coach f*cked him over - whether you believe that or not, i tend to believe him as his nutritional supplements and diet would've been arranged for him, not something he'd have had the time or concentration to dedicate to it, so can he be held fully to blame?

Move on - he's been punished and will never compete in the Olympics again anyway.

 

[The Apprentice]

Hope he gets booed. He's a cheat and a wanker. That's two counts that he is guilty of.


Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

 

[nidge]

I disagree.
The guy got caught, he has held up his hands, and although sounded bitter for a while after, he is using that experience to help, and I feel he could now be in a position to give good direction for young athletes.

He is clean, he won, he has served time.

We don't actually know what he has been taking for the last 2 years if anything because UK Athletics took him of the elite drug testing list.

I would however imagine that after he won the race the other day he would have been tested the only problem is that the drug takers tend to be 3 steps ahead of the drug testing agencies.

His coach f*cked him over - whether you believe that or not, i tend to believe him as his nutritional supplements and diet would've been arranged for him, not something he'd have had the time or concentration to dedicate to it, so can he be held fully to blame?

Sorry RSS I don't believe that for one minute. He was paid to be a professional athlete full time. That means he has to take full responsibility for all substances that he intakes. Yes the coach should be held accountable for his part but, Chambers is just as guilty.

One thing that should be remembered is that despite him being able to compete at the Worlds, Indoor, European and Commonwealth Game he is still banned for life from the Olympics as it should be from all competition.

But if you take performance enhancing drugs over a period of time, you can improve you can train to levels far in excess of what would be normally possible. As a result you have trained muscles, gained strength and endurance etc that have improved you as an athlete. Even if you are banned for two years and don't use the drugs, your body is still at such an improved level at the beginning of the two year ban that you can still train to levels that are far higher than you would have been able to if you hadn't ever used the performancing enhancing drugs and as a result you are still using the advantage you got from the drugs.

Exactly my worry.

 

[Capocrimini]

He should be allowed to compete, but his reputation is tarnished, hence he will never be deemed a legend or "legitimate" gold medalist. The arguments pointless at the end of the day he is allowed to compete everyone knows hes an asshole, but regardless of his past you cannot deny he is a tremendous athelete who just took the wrong path.