Athletics: Scandals and Reputation
- The Sports Burrito
- May 27, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 18, 2020
As we all know, the World Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games are extremely prestigious global sporting events, but have the recent scandals surrounding sports and athletics overshadowed what should be unifying occasions celebrating sporting excellence?
Written by Phoebe Street
Kai Pfaffenbach// Reuters, 2016
The World Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games work in harmony with one another, with the Olympics being every four years and World Athletic Championships a biennial event - taking place the year prior and after the Olympics. You do not have to be an athletics, gymnastic or cycling fan to know about, or to have watched, the Olympics. The Olympics dominates our news, social media, TVs and radios not only during the event, but for the long build-up before as well as for many months after.
These events act as a stage for athletes from all over the globe to compete to be the very ‘best of the best’. It’s no surprise that they’ve created some of the most iconic sporting moments in history, leaving a lasting, and still talked about legacy. Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett’s rivalry, the extraordinary success of Britain’s long-distance runner Mo Farah, the artistic gymnast Simone Biles, Usain Bolt breaking the world record for 100m in 2009, Derek Redmond’s injury mid-race at the Barcelona Olympic Games 1992, Serena Williams finishing with an ace to win gold at the London Olympics 2012… are just a few to highlight.
The Olympic Games unites people through the love of sport and collective and national identity, allowing worldwide issues and controversies to be temporarily put aside. But what if issues arise within the Olympic organisation itself? Do cracks in the reputation of the Olympics and its organising committees harm its unifying presence?
There have been countless scandals over the years, but the use of performance enhancing drugs and manipulating records appears to be reoccurring themes. Russia in particular has been subject to such scandals for over a decade, and despite being banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the issue popped up again in 2019 - resulting in their four year ban from competing internationally. Do these accusations only affect their reputation, or the reputation of the Olympics as a whole? Russia is surely not alone and history would suggest many other countries have questionable performance by athletes in many sporting disciplines. This is a difficult question to answer as it fundamentally comes down to whether the public feel the regulations, scrutiny and their punishment was appropriate for the ‘crime’. Despite Russia’s punishment proving that World Athletics take doping allegations seriously, how can the Olympics unify the world when their structural integrity is called into question?
Alberto Salazar, who was an influential athletics coach at the Nike Oregon Project, was also investigated for doping allegations, which stemmed back to 2015. Salazar also received a four year ban, but his appeal is due in November this year. The consequences following the disclosure and sanctions from such transgressions are not confined to the guilty as the ripple effect can extend far and wide and include unintended or expected casualties. One high profile victim is Nike which has since shut down its Nike Oregon Project - an organisation which has produced many world-renowned athletes including national hero Mo Farah. Farah’s knowledge on Salazar’s illegal activity was questioned despite his departure from the Project in 2017. Do people believe all athletes under the Project’s management know or participate in breaching the doping conduct? Were the participating athletes willing or coerced? Are the athletes’ successes now tainted and questioned despite the general presumption of innocence? How far back should the investigation go?
Once an allegation is made public perceptions change. Prior to the 2019 World Athletics Championship, Christian Coleman - the face of USA athletics - was investigated for missing multiple drug tests. In an interview after his 100m victory he was asked “Has it been tough facing criticism about your integrity after the whereabouts issue that popped up last month?.” Coleman responded; “I’m not gonna say it’s been tough, it’s been kind of disheartening that first people would leak something like that… and for people to believe it.” He later went on to say that “Lies are what prevail in these types of situations.” Despite being proven innocent, Coleman has had to continue to defend his actions, illustrating just how quickly reputations can be damaged, whether just or not.
Christian Coleman pips compatriot and convicted drug cheat Justin Gatlin at the Doha World Championships, 2019// Rex
Salwa Eid Naser, the Bahraini sprinter, was also investigated during the time of the World Championships for missing three anti-doping tests, where she went on to win the 400m title, the third fastest time in history. It was only recently that she was made provisionally suspended by the AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit) due to her fourth attendance failure in January this year. The World Athletics anti-doping states three missed anti-doping tests consists a violation. Then why was she allowed to compete? If Naser had not missed a fourth test would she even be provisionally suspended now? Faith in World Athletics and the AIU may be misplaced. Were there other athletes being investigated during this time that we don’t know about? Should she have been allowed to compete while under investigation? Great Britain placed fourth in the 4x400m mixed relay, do they feel cheated of a medal position? In an interview at the start of June Naser said it was “normal” which sparked anger among other athletes. Naser normalising her violation not only questions the credibility of World Athletics and AIU and their role to prevent doping, but normalising it is almost insulting to those athletes who abide by the rules, who think missing an anti-doping test is the highest form of violation. But the angry reactions of Naser’s fellow athletes, who mirror my concerns, give me a measure of faith in the integrity of the many observant and honourable athletes that consider Naser’s violation was anything but ‘normal’ as suggested by her.
In my opinion, artificial, unapproved and unregulated performance enhancing drugs doping is one of the highest forms of scandals within the current and accepted conventions of the sports world. Doping completely defeats the whole concept of ‘best of the best’ in natural human effort time and place. Engaging in doping is effectively running a solo race as you are not all playing the same game - maybe there is an argument for having separate games for those pre-disposed to use body and mind altering stimulants to test and push the human body to destruction.
Sport is not just a reflection about a person, or team or event or a nationality, it’s so much more than that - it’s a reflection of a civilisation at any point of time - that is, the way we like to be seen and to see others, to treat people and to be treated ourselves, to respect and be respected, to regulate and be regulated and so on.
To ensure a ‘fair race’, as well as upholding the integrity of the games, it’s essential to formulate and maintain fair and attainable rules and regulations and to continue having regular checks on athletes to stop any scandal right in its ‘tracks’, or change the rules and testing as appropriate. But ironically, it’s the haphazard testing and the delayed investigations surrounding any athlete that eat away at the pedestal of sporting excellence. It begs the question: how can we effectively monitor athletes (and their coaches) before it’s too late?
Despite scandals posing a threat to the Olympics’ reputation, I hope the Olympics is always able to maintain its ability to unify. Due to the extraordinary world we seem to be living in at the moment, with such unusual and distressing circumstances, the rescheduled 2021 Olympic Games has never been so needed to unify and rejuvenate people from all over the world.
For more information on rules, regulations and latest sanctions:
Athletics Integrity Unit:
World Anti-Doping Agency:
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