By Robert Taylor, Special to TrackAlerts.com
All the critics of Jamaica testing policies are silent about the Tyson Gay issue. Are we to believe the Victor Conte, the Dick Pound, the Philip Hersh, the Carl Lewis and of course less we forget, the British and USA media are hypocrites?
They were all over the Asafa Powell story and funny it was only a stimulant. For a long time CNN website for track and field had Asafa Powell as their poster child for performance enhancing drug ban. It was as if nothing took place in track and field since then. It was only after the Tyson Gay punishment announcement that Asafa Powell posting disappeared. Tyson Gay innocent/naïve story that some in the USA media tried so hard to sell us makes me wonder if they actually think out their apologist mantra before coming out with it. Of course, Tyson Gay could be innocent but did he not at least look at the significant improvement he experienced and question what he was consuming as cream on his body?
I understand Carl Lewis and his hatred of anyone who outshines him. I even understand his inability to accept his place in history as one of the all time greats instead of the current greatest. I understand Victor Conte need to feel important and media coverage bestowed upon him as the séance in performance enhancing drugs. With that being said, I cannot understand the media blitz of negative coverage about Jamaican athletes yet silence on the Tyson Gay situation and the lack of question on who is or are implicated by Tyson Gay. We heard about Jon Drummond and that is it.
Apart from rumours, Jon Drummond implication becomes officially known because of the lawsuit he filed. As for Dick Pound, why the contrasting silence on this situation? Phil Hersh of the reputable Chicago Tribune media house, he might have written something on the Tyson Gay positive test issue but I have yet to see it. He came out so vocal against Jamaica and performance enhancing drugs yet so silent in this situation.
Funny no one seems to question the silly excuse given for hard-core drugs usage. I have read where some talk about he was innocent in his consumption but no condemning anywhere near what was bestowed on the Jamaican track and field athletes, federation and testing body. Recently WADA issued a statement that they would not challenge Tyson Gay 1 year ban because he has provided substantial information. Is this “substantial information” Jon Drummond? No one seems to know or care to ask. In this day of high-speed technology, information on this case is moving at the pace of the tortoise.
Funny the hypocrisy displayed. No one seem to question the lifetime banning of Trevor Graham and Raymond Stewart but nothing for another coach who had both himself and some of his athletes implicated by an admitted supplier of illegal performance enhancing drugs. It is so funny the pointing of fingers and damning of the Jamaican athletes yet silence about situations that are obvious in a powerful track and field nation. I guess Jamaica had the misfortune of having Bolt represent Jamaica instead of Canada, like Donovan Bailey, former world record holder, world and Olympic champion in the 100m or Linford Christie Great Britain only Olympic 100m champion. I say this because surely with the rich history of Jamaican sprinters dating back to 1948 Olympics, there should not be any surprise that Jamaica produce the fastest man alive. I guess the fastest man alive and the slew of sprinters coming out of Jamaica is hard to accept. This thought process is baseless because if one look at cultures, competition, expectation, systems are what drive certain regions or demography to consistently produce certain qualities.
There is no question about the absurdity by the usual finger pointers at Jamaica. The disparity in punishment is ignored and the fact that all the positive tests happened in Jamaica even though the athletes trained at different camp and different countries with no positive test happening outside of Jamaica. No question was asked, why this anomaly. It is either the testing abroad was weak or there is something nefarious happening in Jamaica with regards to those applying the test.
Of course, certain questions would not help their cause of denying the athletic capability of the Jamaican athletes and the quality development system of Jamaica. We know Carl Lewis and Victor Conte reason, the frailty and ego of man is evident. As for the media houses in USA and England, Dick Pound and Philip Hersh, these are professionals and blatant hypocrisy should not be expected. At the very least, subtlety and or appearance of objectivity and balance should be a constant. It seems more like conspiracy to diminish the accomplishment of a country with vastly more impediments in their economic system and much smaller population size. This is too much for their ego to accept.
In all honesty, the deafening silence of the critic rubs me the wrong way. Who among us is not upset about the hypocrisy and abuse of power against the weak by the powerful?
**The views expressed in this article are those of the author (Robert Taylor) and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, TrackAlerts.com.
