Dara just one the national title in the 100M Freestyle in 54.4 at the ripe old age of 40. Simply Incredible. :applaud: :woot:
If that's not inspiring I don't know what is.
I am curious about how people feel about the Rick DeMont case, which seems to be an example of an athlete with a banned substance in his system that I would not want to condemn in the terms some here have expressed. Personally it seems to me that the system failed him despite any onus on him to control what went into his body.
In 2001, the USOC said that Rick was an innocent victim and cleared his name.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.../
About 7 years ago, I had heard that 1964 Olympian Steve Clark, who is an attorney was looking into appealing the case for Rick and trying to petition to get awarded the gold medal for the 400 Free in the 1972 Olympics. I heard that it was on the IOC docket along with other petitions, like Tim McKee's petition to get awarded the gold medal in the 400 IM in that same Olympics because today he would have tied for it and awarded one like Gary Hall Jr/Anthony Erving in 2000 and Nancy Hogshead/Carrie Steinseifer in 1984. After the 1972 Olympics it was decided that awarding races by one thousand of a second was not accurate and wrong to do so in the first place and in the future there would be ties if the time was identical to the one hundredth of a second. Simple request and the IOC has turned down the appeal for Tim Mckee.
The IOC is not known to overturn decisions even if they don't make sense in the first place. Rick's might be a little harder because it was on the banned list even though it was proven he got no competitive advantage and the person that was awarded the gold medal (Brad Cooper) agreed that he should be restored the gold medal. It might take years for a positive decision to be made in Rick DeMont favor.
The 1972 Olympics was the first Olympics that drug testing was used so there were no precedents or decisons of the past that the IOC could follow. Because the US Olympic team doctors failed to cross reference the components of a medication (ephedrine) that was on the IOC list of banned substances, Rick failed the drug test and was stripped of the gold medal he won in the 400 Free and DQ'ed in the 1500 Free after qualifing for the final. I am not sure if this was the first case at an Olympics that an appeal was made and if this was the first case that it was beyond the athlete's control in drug testing.
Possibly, the IOC set a precedent at that time in that everything is black or white and there is no in between. Now supporters of this will say that this landmark decison would preclude all sorts of appeals in the future with similar circumstances and there should be no excuses regardless of how innocent the victim is.
Here is an interesting link I found about his story.
www.sfgate.com/.../article.cgi
Are you suggesting that Jessica's situation could be viewed in a similar vein as Rick DeMont's case..... i.e. with less "moral" judgement?
No I'm not, absent her coming up with some plausible explanation of how she ingested it without knowing. I'll await the outcome of her appeal before rushing to judgment just because there is nothing to lose by doing so.
My point was purely that in the general case, in a just system it does matter how the substance got in the blood when making moral judgments.
Lynch mentality. She stole the horse hang her high. Good old western justice.
Hang em first ask the questions later. I would hate to have you as my Defence Lawyer.
Huh?
I don't understand the notion of "support" at all. She cheated two people out of their opportunity to compete in the Olympics. She tested positive. Legal standards, such as beyond a reasonable doubt, are irrelevant. As usual these days, I agree with Geek. It's very simple. No sideshow required.
If she were an Aussie, I think we would be defending her to the hilt and defying anyone who accused her.
I hope she does really well at these olympics. She is an inspiration.
Then I'm with the Aussies. She is inspiring and I don't think she has done anything wrong! I hope she wins a gold medal (or two)! I think she's a great story and definitely not a disgrace to American Swimming! Go Dara!
Lynch mentality. She stole the horse hang her high. Good old western justice.
When you are caught with the stolen horse, you get strung up. Where is the injustice in that?
Wait a minute, maybe the horse followed her. Good point.
I am sure they will investigate the whole thing then decide what is going to happen. Who knows until it is completed. They may fulfill all of your desires they may let her off with a scolding and they may ban her for 1 year or two years or lifetime whatever they wish. None of us will determine anything no matter what anyone here thinks.
It seems most of you want a lifetime ban no matter what really happened.
Let us hear the whole story and guess what, no matter what anyone thinks.
We we will not be the deciders.
Is it possible she is really not the culprit but someone in the backround is. A lot are judging without all of the facts. All I ask is wait and see.
As you say she tested positive. I don't have any problem with that.
Let us wait for the results of the investigation there could be contributing factors. Now geek I did not say there are contributing factors. How is it posible for me to tell what the end result is before it happens.
If this was a race you would be disqualified for jumping the gun.
Lindsay,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Rick Demont was partially screwed by the team physician at the time who refused to admit any wrong doing on the part of Rick or himself.
Rick had a diagnosis of asthma long before going into the games. Does anyone know if Jessica had a diagnosis for asthma?
Clen differentiates itself from something like Albuterol in that it reduces fat and increase muscle mass. If Clen wasn't used for body building purposes it would be similar to Rick's case.
John Smith
