Scourge of doping athletes casts a cloud of negativity over the sport
Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100m champion who served a four year doping ban, beat the world record holder Usain Bolt in a 100m race last month. The 3-year-old shot past Bolt in their Diamond League race in Rome and hung on for his first-ever 100 metres victory over the Jamaican. Three months after equalling the world 100m record in 2006, Gatlin was suspended for four years after testing positive for testosterone. Their next likely clash will be the world championships in Moscow next month in the absence of sprinting stars Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay.
Asafa Powell was among five athletes who reportedly tested positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs at the Jamaican national championships last month. On Sunday it was confirmed that one of the athletes involved was Powell. The former world 100 m record-holder has never won an individual global sprint title but held the 100m world record between 2005 and 2008 when his then best of 9.74 seconds was broken by current record holder and fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt. Powell, who was battling injuries earlier this year, failed to qualify for the world championships in Moscow next month. However, his performance earlier this month in Lausanne clocking 9.88 seconds raised speculations that he could be added to Jamaica's 4x100m relay team.
Tyson Gay's sprinting career looks doomed to end in disgrace, the former world 100m champion reportedly failed a drug test. The 30-year-old American told US media on Sunday that he has pulled out of the world championships in Moscow next month. Gay’s personal best of 9.69sec in 2009 makes him the joint second fastest man ever behind Jamaican legend Usain Bolt and equal with Yohan Blake. But his roller coaster career, ravaged by injuries, saw his Olympic dream shattered in 2008 by a hamstring injury and the former world champion went to the London Olympics last year having needed almost a year to recover from right hip surgery. In 2010, Gay delivered reigning Olympic champion Bolt's first defeat in two years on his way to capturing the Diamond League 100m crown. Gay has run the fastest time in the world this year of 9.75sec for the 100m.
Bolt is probably the greatest sprinter of all times. The lanky Jamaican can rapidly gobble up metres of space, producing times in the 100 and 200 metres many never thought possible. He is a big draw card at major championships and has come closest to reaching perfection. What is the formula for a perfect race free of the use of drugs? Is there such a thing as drug- free sport, especially for elite athletes?
The Mooikloof Realtors 10km and 5 km Winter Road Race takes place on Saturday at the Garsfontein Primary School in Zita Street.