Floyd Landis has been in the news a bit lately after he criticized Dick Pound and then announced that he would wants a second Tour victory to replace his memories of his last race.
Criticizing Dick Pound is nothing new; he has a history of making ill-informed and innappriate comments. What I find interesting is Floyd Landis’ take on what his appeal results in.
“The best case scenario would be if it ended in the next few weeks, we had a hearing and it was over, and I could race the Tour this year. But I don’t really see that as a possibility. The best we could hope for out of this is the system changes and no one has to go through this again. That it becomes more efficient and fair and at least if someone is accused of something they don’t have to spend a year of their life trying to prove otherwise.”
I agree that he does not stand much of a chance. The onus on athletes these days is to prove their innocence, and the same labs seem to continually make the same mistakes. The problem is with people like Dick Pound, who like to latch onto an idea and just assume that they are right, and not bother looking into whether an athlete actually did what they are accused of.
I have no trouble believing that an athlete cheated. However, I have trouble believing any evidence that comes out of a lab that has time and again shown that they are not reliable and do not hold themselves to any sort of ethical standards. I hope that the system is improved, and I hope that it becomes harder not only for cheaters to get around the system, but for the sytem to cheat the innocent. I do not know whether Floyd Landis cheated or not, and I do not think that the current system can tell us with any sort of authority.
I think that Dick Pound’s done a phenomenal job in setting up a logical set of doping controls that span all sport, and was, indeed, the right guy to wake athletes, fans, and regulators up to the wave of doping in the 80’s and 90s.
But, given his conduct in the Landis and Marion Jones cases, you’re exactly right -- he is overstepping his bounds. I do not think that athletes can get truly fair hearings while he’s the head of the WADA.
But that should in no way minimize his contribution to getting doping recognized as a problem.
The LA Times about a month ago did an expose on how out of control the system’s gotten and how incredibly hard it is for innocent athletes to clear their name. It really opened my eyes.
You can read the first part here (with a link to the second in the article).
Jank,
I will not dispute the work that Pound has done in the past; he has obviously had a long career. But I never hear of anything worthwhile that he does any more; I only hear about his persecution of athletes without cause and his championing circumspect and sometimes illegal drug testing. I think that time has past him on, and some sort of reform is needed. The sport does need protection from cheating, but the athletes deserve protection from persecution until they have been legally proven guilty.
Anne,
Thanks for the link. The article brings up some good points.