An MBE?! It makes me sick!!
dieselengine
Posts: 72
So the British Olympic Association overturn a lifetime ban for Christine Ohurougu, in a cynical attempt to get a medal in the Beijing Olympics. " You missed 3 (yes THREE!) drug tests Ms Ohurougu, you were banned for life, but we'll just ignore that".
She does win a medal, but in my view it is so tainted as to be worthless, and NOW she gets an honour in the New Years honours list!!! She gets an MBE, the same honour they give Lewis Hamilton. I'm no motor racing fan, but his achievements are superb and justify an MBE. What a total farce. Awarding ANY honour to a previously banned athlete though is stupid beyond measure.
I might be considered somewhat unsophisticated by some, by ignoring the "grey areas", but in a sporting context, there is complete justification for zero tolerance. You don't miss 3 drug test by accident if sport is the sole reason for your existence - you just don't - and if you do, then expect absolutely no mercy.
The initial decision by the BOA was a disgrace, and dilutes any deterrent that may have existed, but to "honour" a tainted athlete just makes a bad situation many times worse.
What a fabulous role model this is for young inspiring athletes! She should have the good grace to decline the MBE, but given her past conduct I doubt this somehow.
She does win a medal, but in my view it is so tainted as to be worthless, and NOW she gets an honour in the New Years honours list!!! She gets an MBE, the same honour they give Lewis Hamilton. I'm no motor racing fan, but his achievements are superb and justify an MBE. What a total farce. Awarding ANY honour to a previously banned athlete though is stupid beyond measure.
I might be considered somewhat unsophisticated by some, by ignoring the "grey areas", but in a sporting context, there is complete justification for zero tolerance. You don't miss 3 drug test by accident if sport is the sole reason for your existence - you just don't - and if you do, then expect absolutely no mercy.
The initial decision by the BOA was a disgrace, and dilutes any deterrent that may have existed, but to "honour" a tainted athlete just makes a bad situation many times worse.
What a fabulous role model this is for young inspiring athletes! She should have the good grace to decline the MBE, but given her past conduct I doubt this somehow.
0
Comments
-
-
Makes me sick too. Right up there with the entire England cricket team getting an MBE each just for winning the ashes a few years ago (or was it the rugby team for winning the World Cup - was the World Cup winners medal not enough?). Rant over.0
-
I think the problem is they let her compete, once that decision is made everything that follows is legitimate.
As for the Rugby World Cup win, this gave me my best sporting moment in my entire (and not so short) life.0 -
GavH wrote:Makes me sick too. Right up there with the entire England cricket team getting an MBE each just for winning the ashes a few years ago (or was it the rugby team for winning the World Cup - was the World Cup winners medal not enough?). Rant over.
It's no wonder that there is a large proportion for the Australian population that want Australia to become a republic. The England cricket team win the ashes once and get MBEs each. The Australian team beat the England team at almost every other occation and they get zip! If they want the commonwealth to hold together, they should recognise the citizens of other commonwealth countries at the same level that they do those from the United Kingdom.
Stuart O'Grady, Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwan should already be MBEs or OBEs. Michael Rogers should be an OBE for his World Championships. I suppose it is down to their government to nominate them.To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.0 -
dieselengine wrote:So the British Olympic Association overturn a lifetime ban for Christine Ohurougu, in a cynical attempt to get a medal in the Beijing Olympics. " You missed 3 (yes THREE!) drug tests Ms Ohurougu, you were banned for life, but we'll just ignore that".
She does win a medal, but in my view it is so tainted as to be worthless, and NOW she gets an honour in the New Years honours list!!! She gets an MBE, the same honour they give Lewis Hamilton. I'm no motor racing fan, but his achievements are superb and justify an MBE. What a total farce. Awarding ANY honour to a previously banned athlete though is stupid beyond measure.
Agree with your views on Ohuruogu - a disgraceful decision. But whilst Hamilton's driving skills are impressive, his domiciled tax status should preclude him from any New Year's Honours List.0 -
Sirius631 wrote:GavH wrote:Makes me sick too. Right up there with the entire England cricket team getting an MBE each just for winning the ashes a few years ago (or was it the rugby team for winning the World Cup - was the World Cup winners medal not enough?). Rant over.
It's no wonder that there is a large proportion for the Australian population that want Australia to become a republic. The England cricket team win the ashes once and get MBEs each. The Australian team beat the England team at almost every other occation and they get zip! If they want the commonwealth to hold together, they should recognise the citizens of other commonwealth countries at the same level that they do those from the United Kingdom.
Stuart O'Grady, Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwen should already be MBEs or OBEs. Michael Rogers should be an OBE for his World Championships. I suppose it is down to their government to nominate them.
Can't speak for other countries but I believe Oz doesn't do the imperial honours thing any more, we have our own local ones like the "Order of Australia" etc.'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....0 -
Totally agree about Ohuruguwhatever it is!!! It makes a mockery of the system!!!There is never redemption, any fool can regret yesterday...
Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!0 -
yeah i agree with everything about ohurugu. she just ruins what britain has tried to do by banning anyone from the olympics thats dodgy.
they probably only let her race cos we havent got any athletics winners other than ohuguguguru0 -
Some of the naivety about Ohurugu is rather touching! Those who agree "honours" only reached their positions by bending rules - and getting away with it!
In any case, having Olympic winners to "put forward" must be about the only time that junior Departmental officials who are unfortunate enough to find "honours" in their job titles breathe a sigh of relief when nominations are required!
The DCMS (or whatever it is now) Perm Sec would have to have had a VERY good reason to exclude one "winner". If an individual was clear to compete then logically there could be no such reason.
And I don't even know who she is!d.j.
"Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."0 -
yeh lets hang the witch
cheesy quaver0 -
[quote="meagain"
The DCMS (or whatever it is now) Perm Sec would have to have had a VERY good reason to exclude one "winner". If an individual was clear to compete then logically there could be no such reason.
And I don't even know who she is![/quote]
Well, why did they give honours to every Olympic an Paralympic gold medal winner except one? Cock up?0 -
"Well, why did they give honours to every Olympic an Paralympic gold medal winner except one? fool up?"
No idea - who was it? They may of course have "declined" when "sounded out". Not unknown. And would be bad form to make such a refusal public so early.d.j.
"Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."0 -
Rachel Morris who won Gold in the TT Hand Cycle was omitted, Someone who spoke to her yesterday said that she was bemused by it and could not understand why she had been left out.0
-
Sounds like an oversight - her MP should submit a Written PQ.d.j.
"Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."0 -
Good to see the importnant issues in life get your goat.
How does she not deserve recognition for a gold in the 400m, which is one of the most competative events?
If you have a problem with her history of test misses - surely the complaint should be levelled at the IOC for letting her run at all?
Can't exactly expect the MBE deciding people exercise judgement over something like that? I'm sure as far as they're concerned, if the IOC says it's fine for her to run, then it's a very well deserved achievement. After all, the IOC are the experts, not the MBE people.Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.0 -
Teagar, I agree there are more important issues in the world, (e.g which is better, carbon or titanium, Yorkshire tea or Tetley, Wotsits or Monster Munch etc, you know that sort of stuff), but this is Cake Stop - it's what happens here.
You are right that the IOC is a culpable participant in this whole sorry affair as are the BOA, and UK Athletics. Yes the 400m is a tough event, and you are right my gripe is that she should not have been competing in the first place! It was the honouring of a drug cheat which really wound me on this doping issue (again).
It was the gutless cowards at the BOA who allowed her appeal, instead of standing up and making it clear that the lifetime ban should stand. This was presumably for fear of reduced lottery funding if Team GB failed to get some medal from the track and field events. In a more serious judicial setting, things are not "black and white", and are deserving of a more philosophical analysis/interpretation, but in a non-essential aspect of society (sport), where the rules can be clearly defined, along with the punishments for infringements, I can see no reason not to take a hard line.
The issue of muscle memory achieved whilst training/competing during periods of drug abuse, which potentially provides long term physiological benefits to the cheat, when they are clean, is a theory receiving increasing attention. If I was one of Ohurougou's (clean) competitors, I would be unwilling to accept she won the gold fair and square. I personally don't believe she did win fair and square.
I accept the Honours Committee, or whatever they are called, wouldn't be able to take these issues into account, if they decided to honour ALL the gold medal winners, but it just makes a complete mockery of the so-called efforts of sporting governing bodies to stamp out drug abuse. They should all hang their collective heads in shame!0 -
This is the bit I find strange, I agree with the above viewpoint - at one time winning Olympic Gold was honour enough. Not that I intend to diminish the achievements of the athletes in any way, but apart from extraordinary achievements, the obvious being Hoy, why are the athletes then given further awards? Surely by doing so, the net result is the diminution of the Honours system itself?GavH wrote:Makes me sick too. Right up there with the entire England cricket team getting an MBE each just for winning the ashes a few years ago (or was it the rugby team for winning the World Cup - was the World Cup winners medal not enough?). Rant over.
Irrespective of this, I think the decision to honour Ms. Ohurougou, while other medal winners were inexplicably omitted, must be the ultimate slap in the face to them.0 -
While I'm the last to say anything good about the Poms, this criticism is unfair. Imperial honours from OBEs to full-on knighthoods were granted to Australians until we decided we didn't want them any more. Can't blame the Poms for that one.Sirius631 wrote:It's no wonder that there is a large proportion for the Australian population that want Australia to become a republic. The England cricket team win the ashes once and get MBEs each. The Australian team beat the England team at almost every other occation and they get zip! If they want the commonwealth to hold together, they should recognise the citizens of other commonwealth countries at the same level that they do those from the United Kingdom.0 -
dieselengine wrote:What a fabulous role model this is for young inspiring athletes! She should have the good grace to decline the MBE, but given her past conduct I doubt this somehow.
Get over it will you mate. Ffs. Personally, I happen to think it was just a fck up on her part. Stupidity, nothing more. Are you going to continue to slag her off for the rest of her career or what?0 -
rb1956 wrote:
While I'm the last to say anything good about the Poms, this criticism is unfair. Imperial honours from OBEs to full-on knighthoods were granted to Australians until we decided we didn't want them any more. Can't blame the Poms for that one.Sirius631 wrote:It's no wonder that there is a large proportion for the Australian population that want Australia to become a republic. The England cricket team win the ashes once and get MBEs each. The Australian team beat the England team at almost every other occation and they get zip! If they want the commonwealth to hold together, they should recognise the citizens of other commonwealth countries at the same level that they do those from the United Kingdom.
I wasn't aware that the Ozzies had rejected them. Olivia Newton-John has an OBE. The word 'Empire' is outdated and should have been changed to 'Commonwealth'.To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.0 -
The situation is complicated, but Ms. Newton-John received her OBE in 1979, when the Federal Government and States still recommended Aussies for imperial honours. It's pretty much fizzled out since the early eighties. One of the last was the knighthood awarded to Joh Bjelke-Petersen in 1984.Sirius631 wrote:I wasn't aware that the Ozzies had rejected them. Olivia Newton-John has an OBE. The word 'Empire' is outdated and should have been changed to 'Commonwealth'.0
