Dope cheats must withdraw from Olympics: WADA
July 11th, 2012 - 8:09 pm ICT by IANSOttawa, July 11 (IANS) Doping athletes should withdraw from the upcoming London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency(WADA) has warned.
WADA president John Fahey sent out this message in a statement from WADA as a strict anti-doping programme has been set up for the July 27-August 12 Games, reports Xinhua.
“I say this in the clearest way possible: if you are a doping athlete and you are planning to compete in London then you must withdraw from your Olympic team,” said Fahey.
“Doping is cheating, plain and simple. A doping athlete cannot achieve success, it is a complete contradiction. Even if a doping athlete won a medal he or she would never be able to look at themselves in the mirror and say ‘well done, I deserved this’.”
Fahey also applauded the efforts of the world’s anti-doping community in trying to identify doping athletes ahead of the Games, as well as the International Olympic Committee and Games organisers LOCOG for preparing a comprehensive anti-doping program.
“These will be the most tested Games in Olympic history and doping athletes must know that they will be under the severe scrutiny of anti-doping officials from the moment they set foot in the Olympic Village,” added Fahey.
There will be up to 6,250 tests during the London Olympics while the anti-doping authorities are already sharing intelligence to assist with target testing of athletes under suspicion.
“There has been a coherent effort to make London 2012 as ‘clean’ as possible and doping athletes should know that their chances of avoiding detection are the smallest they have ever been,” he said.
Despite the work of the world’s anti-doping community, Fahey stressed that ultimate responsibility lay with athletes as to how free of doping London 2012 will be.
“Athletes are responsible for what they put into their bodies and athletes are responsible for whether or not they choose to dope,” added Fahey.
“The world’s ant-doping community can only do so much. If every athlete decides not to dope then we will have a completely dope-free Games, that’s the simple reality.
“It is up to the athletes and I urge them to collectively take more responsibility for the sake of clean competition.”
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- Cuba's Olympic athletes declared free of doping - Jul 12, 2012
- BOA recommends changes to world anti-doping code - Apr 12, 2012
- Russia's London-bound athletes to undergo dope test - May 25, 2012
- Avoid meat before Olympics, China tells its athletes - Mar 15, 2012
- Five fresh doping cases in athletics, IOA orders probe (Lead) - Jun 30, 2011
- Winter Games dope free so far - Feb 20, 2010
- High court's interim relief for banned quarter-milers - Mar 30, 2012
- Pound's drug remark about Jamaican athletes rubbished - Aug 15, 2012
- Uganda athletes undergo doping test ahead of Olympics - Jul 03, 2012
- Cleaners to report drug abuse in London Olympic Village - Oct 04, 2011
- Olympics: Chinese anti-doping official warns athletes - Jul 24, 2012
Tags: athlete, contradiction, international olympic committee, john fahey, locog, london 2012, london olympics, olympic games, olympic history, olympic team, olympic village, olympics, paralympic games, president john, scrutiny, suspicion, target, wada, world anti doping agency, xinhua