| 1 | 1 | | Where is the achievement in becoming the greatest athlete in the world if nobody |
| 2 | | believes you? Yet there are still those willing to pursue Olympic glory through drugs, |
| 3 | | risking the shame and humiliation of discovery, and the unknown long-term side-effects, in |
| 4 | | return for the possibility of a moment spent in the global spotlight. |
| 2 | 5 | | If they get away with it (some have, and more will), theirs can be a secure future: |
| 6 | | commercial contracts, fat appearance fees, a place in history. But what else? A guilty |
| 7 | | secret, and a gold medal won with all the praiseworthy efforts of someone who has talked |
| 8 | | an old lady out of her life savings. |
| 3 | 9 | | But when exactly should we cheer the Olympic champions, and when should we |
| 10 | | throw rotten vegetables? H's impossible to know. After all it doesn't show on the druggies' |
| 11 | | skin. |
| 4 | 12 | | And is the individual who decides to buy steroids in his local gym any more or less |
| 13 | | to blame than the state-sponsored, drug-nurtured athlete who has been under close |
| 14 | | supervision from childhood? The pulling down of the Berlin wall has shown us that most |
| 15 | | of the rumours concerning east European drug practices were true. Last month a BBC |
| 16 | | Horizon programme revealed the records of the former East Germany's state-run doping |
| 17 | | plan, set up to achieve international sporting success. |
| 5 | 18 | | At least the recent introduction of random testing seems to be helping sport turn the |
| 19 | | corner. Several former East Germans, including Katrin Krabbe, the double world sprint |
| 20 | | champion, were banned earlier this year for trying to manipulate random tests which had |
| 21 | | been ordered by the German federation while they were training in South Africa. All of |
| 22 | | them produced negative urine samples which were identified as having come from the |
| 23 | | same person. |
| 6 | 24 | | The situation is not quite as depressing as it was after the Seoul Olympics of 1988. |
| 25 | | Then, it seemed, the chemists had taken over. Not only had the disqualification of Ben |
| 26 | | Johnson, after his world record 100m victory, underlined the urgency of the drug problem, |
| 27 | | but there were other suspicious performances in the Seoul arena which will not be |
| 28 | | bettered, or probably not until the 21st century. |
| 7 | 29 | | In the history of the Olympics, for instance, Florence Griffith-Joyner ('Flo-Jo') ought |
| 30 | | to be ranked among the greats, having overwhelmingly won the 100m and 200m in 1988. |
| 31 | | Her performances were unbelievable. And I mean unbelievable: she even set two world |
| 32 | | records for the 200m in one day. But, as I wrote at the time: 'Female sprinters have been |
| 33 | | running 200m long enough to know that such a huge leap from 21.71sec to 21.34sec is |
| 34 | | astonishing. ' |
| 8 | 35 | | Now that I am able to look back, my feelings have only been strengthened. In Seoul |
| 36 | | Flo-Jo ran 21.34sec smiling. It was easy. Nobody else since then has run under 21.64sec. |
| 37 | | This year, going into the Games, nobody has broken 22 seconds. Certainly not Flo-Jo. |
| 38 | | Early in 1989, after many awards for the Olympic achievements, and pursuing the |
| 39 | | profitable writing and fashion-designing careers which resulted, she announced that her |
| 40 | | goal for that summer was to break the world 400m record. Then, shortly afterwards, she |
| 41 | | suddenly and inexplicably announced her retirement instead. She was probably too busy far |
| 42 | | too busy to take to court those people, including Carl Lewis, who publicly stated she |
| 43 | | had used drugs to achieve her astonishing results. |
| 9 | 44 | | Morally, those who stand, drug-aided, with a gold medal round their necks, are |
| 45 | | losers. But, as sadly for the long tradition of the Games as for the individuals involved, |
| 46 | | they have also created a new species of undeserving super-loser: the man or woman who |
| 47 | | actually wins through their own skill and sweat, their own determination and dedication. |
