Floyd Landis and Synthetic Sweat
If you love biking, you must’ve known his name and his upside down. The 2006 Tour de France Champion fate seems to be certain: he did the dope. And the decision is obvious: he’ll willingly or unwillingly have to surrender the crown to the runner up. Thing that’s not yet clear is when as the proceeding of the matter usually takes days or even months.
Just for the record it’s the first Tour de France champion to be stripped off his crown.
The Post reports,
It’s a race you can bet Floyd Landis never wanted to win: The descent from the winner’s podium in Paris to accused drug user. And yet he has accomplished it with breathtaking speed. With yesterday’s news that Landis’s backup “B”-sample drug test confirmed there were elevated levels of testosterone after the July 20 stage of the Tour de France, the man who two weeks ago was credited with a historical feat is now being labeled a cheat.
The idea why drug-user sportperson is unwanted because sports is considered a miniature of life; a competition of achieving higher degree of goals in the most manly and knightly manner; a race towards glory and dignity. And for that to happen, the cleanest way to achieve it is paramount. Success and failure in a competition sometimes not as important as the process to achieve it.
Yes, success is the main goal and everyone’s dream but it has to be achieved with sweat, not synthetic sweat in the form of drug. Drug is a symbol of dishonesty and corrupt manner and therefore is considered in deviation with the “clean and dignified” value the sport world hold very dearly against which will be considered unsporting.
So far, the sport world authorities relatively succeed in maintaining this value. It would be very nice to see this core value transpire into the real world of life.[]