Demon Drawer's Tangental Thoughts
Created | Updated Aug 19, 2004
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Demon Drawer's Tangenatal Thoughts, or D2T2 for short. For a while know I've realised that my brain goes off on quite obscure tangents at times and so I thought I'd start to share that with you dear reader of The Post. I do not promise that I will go off on a tangent every week but if I do The Post Team will be the first to know.
This weeks tangent:
Would drug-free sport make our roads
safer?
As some of you know I have been, and still am, a sportsman of some standing. To be honest I have been offered performance enhancing drugs. I can also unequivocally say that I never taken any such substance to enhance my sporting career.
Last Friday saw the start of the 2004 Olympic Games back in the home of Olympia, Greece. Greek golden boy from Sydney, 200m champion Kostas Kenteris was supposed to have lit the Olympic flame to announce the return of the Olympic movement. That would have been but for the
continuing Greek tragedy that these games have become.
On Thursday Kenteris and his team-mate Katerina Thanou, who won silver in the woman's 100m, flew in from Chicago where they were training. They then were allowed to go home to pick up some personal belongings before moving in to the Athletes' village. Allegedly they were not informed that the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) wanted them for an out of competition test that evening. The deputy Chief de Mission of the Greek team has since claimed that the athletes
were informed of this.
Apparently once they were finally tracked down to their coach's apartment they hurried back into the centre of Athens on a motorcycle but in their haste crashed. Details of this RTA are sketchy and many locals in the area say they heard or saw nothing. However, Kenteris and Thanou were still on intravenous drips on Monday morning when they were scheduled to appear before the IOC disciplinary panel. In total three of the Greek Olympic hopefuls started the Olympics in hospitals in Athens. A judo player had earlier fallen from a balcony and was on life support.
If drugs were not in sport. If the media, coaches and sponsors did not require a continual winning result from top athletes. If athletes could learn that losing wasn't the end of the world. If WADA had been able to get hold of these athletes and allowed time for them to turn up for testing. Would this motorcycle accident have actually happened? One RTA is surely too many.
While the drugs do appear to work. Is it really worth it, in the long run? For you own health,sense of self pride and achievement, is it worth the risk or damage or eternal shame?
This is DD reporting on a tangent, Athens.
