If you have read this blog for several years, you know that
swimming, next to investing, is my favorite activity. As the Olympic Games of 2016 are under way,
we have seen some great racing already, like the 4x100 men free relay and both
400 free finals.
But we have also witnessed the controversy about doping rising to
the point of nearly overshadowing the athletes’ performances and, at times,
turning these Games into confrontations from a bygone era. The Olympics are supposed to bring people
together through sport, not to cause spectators to boo its actors.
As with all important issues, making an early decision, even an
imperfect one, beats delaying; as time passes, problems get bigger and control
over resolution timing is lost.
The German broadcaster ARD had long been leading the charge
against doping at home and around the world, but it was their 2014 reporting on
organized doping that set in motion a series of official investigations and the
suspension of the Russian track and field federation. The swimming federation (FINA) was much
slower in responding, as was the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The result was a series of, literally, last minute decisions, often
contradictory, which left everyone unhappy.
More importantly, it didn’t address three issues which are critical to public and corporate sponsors' perception.
-The “unlucky” doper: Behind the relative tolerance of first time
offenders is the impression that these were unlucky enough to have been caught
just that one time when they cheated. In
reality, doping is never a onetime event; most drugs need repeated intakes to
produce results; furthermore, athletes and their medical staff need time to
adjust the dosage and strike a balance between effectiveness and detectability. In reality, the unlucky doper is a repeat
offender.
-The penalty box:
If you watch ice hockey matches, you see players commit a fault and
skate towards the penalty box where they will spend a few minutes before
resuming normal play. Penalties are part
of the games. In swimming, doping and
serving a time suspension is becoming the norm.
Now, if you are an unknown Peruvian flyer, you will incur a four year
suspension, effectively ending your career.
But if you are a star, your federation will fight for you, assemble a
top notch legal team if need be, and you will either go scot-free or stay a
few months away from the pool. So, for too many elite swimmers, the choice is between risking a slap on the wrist and winning a medal. Tempting isn’t it?
-State organized doping:
We thought we had left that nightmare behind when East Germany
collapsed. Apparently not. Most people will recoil at the thought of a state
putting its might behind an organized effort to corrupt testing procedures and
results. Clearly, this would put
competitors at a disadvantage. But what if
the top athletes from the country in question had little choice but to
dope? Not that they would be jailed if
they didn’t, but they wouldn’t receive the kind of technical, medical, financial
and logistical support that fulltime athletes can’t do without. That would be even worse.
Procrastinating FINA and the IOC have dug themselves into a big hole. So far, they have shown that they are
incapable of getting out of it on their own.
The main factor is money, and I expect that, if we get to a solution, it
will be because MORE money speaks again the status quo than for it; I mean the corporate
sponsors and broadcasters. This is how
the Tour de France overcame its own scandals.
Unfortunately, the spirit and ideals of the late Baron de Coubertin have
long been left behind by the very same people entrusted to uphold them.
