JayofMontreal said:The UCI and WADA are not criminal justice systems. They are regulating
bodies that have rules which must be followed, the penalties are known and
if a member who is under their jurisdiction does not agree with the rules
they are free to leave.
Hamilton, Perez and everyone else agrees to be bound by the rules when they
apply for licensure in their respective governing bodies. The rules state
that if you are a cheater you are out. It doesn't say "If you are a cheater,
we'll let you hang around and be a blight on the sport". The rules are
severe for the reason that cheating not only hurts the sport, it directly
affects every individual that participates in it.
Eckimov deserves to be the Olympic TT champion, he rode the fastest, but a
direct affect of the cheating of Hamilton is that he is now a silver
medalist (still quite impressive, but gold is the best).
I can understand Hamilton's need to cheat. He had an ok season, a few wins
in lesser races, but in the big show, he was nowhere to be seen. Sponsors,
and teams pay big $$$ for winners. I am sure the pressure is incredible (not
to mention -- I'd imagine there are a few financial perks to winning the
olympics). I would be the first in line for the "I understand Tyler" badge,
as I do understand his motivation.
Jay of Montreal,
The rules do not state anything you claim. The rules state that the Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing is suppose to afford due process to Tyler
Hamilton to determine his guilt or innocence. We will see if that occurs come
January.
As of right now, Tyler has not been adjudicated as guilty - "a cheater" as you
say - by any official body in cycling or elsewhere. And in fact, Hamilton
could still race right now if he so chose to do. So your implication that
Tyler has already been determined by the UCI, USADA, WADA, or the IOC to be a
cheater is absolutely incorrect.
Contrary to your distorted understanding of the rules, Ekimov does NOT deserve
the Olympic gold medal, nor will he get it. The reason for this is because IOC
and WADA rules are awfully clear when the B sample cannot be tested: the
positive A sample is deemed to be non-confirmed, and the doping case must be
dropped ACCORDING TO IOC/WADA RULES. In fact WADA chief [censored] Pound and IOC
president Jacque Rogge both agree with Tyler that he should be allowed to keep
his gold medal. I don't see anything that will change this.
So I have no idea what imaginary rules you are claiming Tyler has violated at
this point. You come across as completely oblivious to the most basic
anti-doping rules and your comments about Tyler are closer to libel than they
are to anything resembling truth or esoteric knowledge about the WADA
anti-doping code.
Finally, your in-depth profile of Tyler's "need to cheat" based on your
unsubstantiated, misinformed, and unprofessional psychological opinion shows
quite a reckless imagination, but once again little in terms of relevance and
factual merit.
Phil
