‘The Dwain Drain’

President Obama during his political campaign came out with the quote ‘you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig’.  Don’t for one second think I’m calling Dwain Chambers a pig, but more of a drugs cheat. Therefore, It doesn’t matter how much he or anyone else dresses it up, he always will be.

First off, I totally understand the decision of Runnerslife to interview the most infamous man in British athletics. And of course I’m a hypocrite straight away, as I’m now adding to the column inches written about this now tiring story. But, after a long think about the whole situation, I felt I couldn’t let this chance go without explaining my views on drug takers and the need for lifetime bans.

The whole build up to the UK Olympic trials were a joke last year in the eyes of the media. According the Press Association; Dwain now claims that he had no idea failing a drugs test would result in an Olympic ban. What? Every good athlete in the UK knows this. It’s common knowledge. The fact that he thought he was hard done by the situation is hard to believe!

Thus, the motto of the story in the first place is ... don’t cheat! The life time ban for drugs cheats to the Olympic Games the British team has is a great policy.  We can all agree, the Olympics is special, and should be out of bounds to cheats.

Now in recent weeks, I have a problem believing what I am hearing and seeing. The fact that Dwain has now ran a lifetime best of 6.52 over 60m at the age of 30..Clean? The reason for my doubts have been caused by his own tainted past, but also those that have gone before setting the track alight, Ben Johnson, Marion Jones and Tom Montgomery. Dwain’s history has sadly taught us to be sceptical about his great performances, echoing the sad state that athletes for years found itself in. Therefore why should I now believe a guy that admitted taking all the ‘then’, latest high tech and systemic drugs? Why should I believe him now, when he is running faster without?

Ok, I have two views on what could be the reason. First, he’s still on the juice, but I don’t think he is. Or the drugs years on are still providing Dwain with an advantage years on, against those athletes that have been clean their whole careers.

How? Running is like riding a bike; you never really forget or lose some of your ability gained and adapted after years of training.  This is partly due to muscle memory, which occurs deep in the muscle cells. It allows the body to repeat certain actions and also adapt back quicker to previously done types of training. Take something you have never done before, for example the pole vault,  your muscle and mind have no idea what this action feels like to vault and would take time to teach the muscles the movement. Then take in to account the mental belief to perform a physical performance, which is the belief that certain performances are achievable. Your body will remember this. The 4 minute mile is a great example of this, as for year’s athletes got close but it was started to be regarded as ‘impossible’. The great Australian John Landy got close on a number of occasions, until our own Sir Roger Banister ran 3:59.4. Landy then followed soon after. Later, both in the same race went under the previously thought ‘impossible’ barrier. It could be argued that the mind set of athletes changed around this time and now the 4 minute miles was something that could be done.

This brings me to Dwain, as I would expect, if you asked him his 100m best time he would reply 9.86. This time was achieved while he admitted taking banned substances, but I think this partly gives him an unfair, lifelong advantage as he ‘knows’ what it’s like to run 9.8. His muscle cells deep down, know this feeling and also while he was taking drugs he was able to train for long periods of time, much harder and be able to recover, which is every athlete’s dream. This, along with the mental belief given by drug fuelled performances, is why we should only have life bans in athletics.

The juries are out on the long term benefits that drugs give there uses, and especially those that are on the cutting edge of science. That aside, one area the general public seem to forget are those that have been cheated out of success through drugs cheats. Take Jason Gardener (one of the fastest ever clean 100m runners 9.98), a friend since we ran on the same school team in 1993, and then GB team mates in the World indoors in Budapest 11 years later. Jason winning the 60m title, and myself finishing 4^th in the 1500m final. The whole Dwain situation cost him over the years, team places, relays medals, possible sponsorship and prize money. He will never get those moments back, and history has shown us time and time again, winners standing on the podium and failing a drugs test after the competition. Think of the person that came 4^th, that never got their moment and got sent the medal in the post a few months later.

I would love to have known in my athletics career that I competed against totally clean competition, and who knows maybe I would have an International medal to show for years of hard work. But I know I can look my kids in the eyes, and tell them I came 4^th in the Worlds, clean.

As for Dwain, he’s certainly not going away, but hopefully lessons are learnt by the new generation of athletes. But I will agree rules are rules, Dwain is free to run the Trials this weekend, and then the Europeans. But, my beef with the situations that he feels athletics owes him something, and the whole Olympic campaign, I have I said before was a sad affair.

 So this story and saga will continue to run and run for the mean time, and as its does it just drains the spirit of true athletics. Athletics should be a true test of human abilities to run, jump and throw. Rather than who has the best doctor, or some new drug developed in labs underground that they have no tests for yet. And further research needs to be done into the long term benefits of drug taking in sport, or we have to go down the route of the ‘lifetime ban’, and then all athletes know it’s ‘one strike’ and you’re out!

Good luck to the Runnerslife boys at the trials,

Cheers james