world championships

Professionalism and the ethics of doping in sport

International Association of Athletics Federations members, as list in http://www.iaaf.org/insideIAAF/federations/index.html (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What’s normal, what’s not?

What’s a ‘zero tolerance’ policy?

Can rules and regulations prevent cheating?

These are all questions that the general public who follow athletics must be asking themselves and of the IAAF when shocking revelations of more than 800 athletes recorded one or more “abnormal” results over a period of 12 years.

Panoramic view of the olympic stadium of Berlin during the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you surprised?

Am I?

The answer, unsurprisingly, is an emphatic no.

Why would we be? Why should we be?

We’re all aware that athletes, in these modern times, are as likely to be supremely naturally gifted yet equally likely to be products of laboratory concoctions.

The debate is age-old.

Science and its manifestations can be used for both good and bad.

The ethics of sports has undergone several changes over the past 100 years or so.

The term ‘professional‘ can denote both excellence as well as ruthlessness and unscrupulousness.

The numbers cited are bewildering; the conclusions are far-reaching—clean athletes are a  minority if not a myth.

Will there be a redistribution of medals, of prizes won and claimed?

Will that be enough?

Maybe it’s time to revert to games at a micro level, say, a village rather than the ‘global village’ that is the Olympics and the World Championships?

Mercifully, the tainting of athletes will not put off the amateur and sports lover from indulging in activities that taught them the benefits of regular exercise and notions of fair play.

Unmercifully, it should get them to tighten their purse strings when it comes to doling out cash to watch or cheer these ‘supercharged’ monstrosities or deviants.

Pep Guardiola: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Pep Guardiola Needs Stronger, Quicker Legs

What he said:

"Not even Usain Bolt would have been able to stop him.I’d like my team to have legs with so much running in them."

Barca manager, Pep Guardiola, does not blame his side for allowing AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato’s fifth-quickest goal in the Champions League—in all of 24 seconds.

What he really meant:

“A real pity Pato’s goal did not meet the same fate that Bolt’s 100 meters run at the World championships did.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“What if I picked the Jamaican relay squad as defenders? Would that have worked?”

Top Of The World!

Image via Wikipedia

Though India was expectedly knocked out of the World T20 tourney late yesterday evening, Indian sports fans had much to cheer about with Viswanathan Anand retaining his world chess championship title by defeating Veselin Topalov in the 12th and final game of the match series  with black pieces.

Long Journey For Anand

It has been a long journey for Anand from child prodigy to being the best chess player in the world. This was his 4th world title with victories in all 3 formats of the world championships: 2000 (knock out), 2007 (double round robin tournament), and 2008 & 2010 (match play).

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