how come we're third in the olympic games

[southeastastra]

gymnastics? what else have we won. been away from the telly

are we?
they are keeping that EXTREMELY quite down here.
tee hee HEEEEEE!

dwaine chambers tested positive therefore British olympicsbanned him for life.
Lyudmila blonska from Ukraine (hepthathlon silver medallist and long jumped) tested positive. Was banned for 2 yrs back on team win Beijing silver medal and has promptly tested positive again.
Christine Ohorougu is a totally different kettle of fish. If you look into how she missed the tests, you know full well why she did.
She changed her life entirely to ensure it never happened again
Totally different imo

Absolutely Piffle. It makes me so mad how the media continuly insinuate that she is a doper when she is not.

She has shown amazing fortitude, resilience and grace in coming back from such a setback to become World Champion and now Olympic Champion.

Look out for her younger sister who is coming up through the junior ranks.

we got medals in boxing too....or are in the running for them.

I think the Olympics has been great for us this time and here's hoping we do as well in 2012. Pity our track and field is a bit disappointing as this is one area where we usually get decent results. It's certainly caught the imagination of my 6yo DS who swears he is going to get a gold medal for swimming one day and that he's going to go and watch the swimming in London.

I think it's unfair to give Christine Ohurougu such a bad press. Yes she missed the tests, but she has served her ban for that and come back all the stronger. Some might say that it's unfair that she was allowed to compete and Dwayne Chambers wasn't, but the difference is she has never had a positive drugs test, whereas he definately did.

continously

"Some might say that it's unfair that she was allowed to compete and Dwayne Chambers wasn't, but the difference is she has never had a positive drugs test, whereas he definately did."

and that's fair enough. but many would argue that this then makes it more appealing for athletes to intentionally miss tests when they know they'll fail.if dwayne chambers had skipped his tests he'd never have tested positive for drugs either.he simply would have missed them.
as i said earlier i'm not hugely concerned by the whole story if it wa up to me she wouldn't have competed but it's not so c'est la vie, was just wondering what others thought on the area.

what were her reasons for missing the tests?

As has been said previously; the tests were carried out soon afterwards. If she had been taking anything it still would have shown up when she actually had the tests done. the same would have happened for Dwayne Chambers. You seem to be implying that he was more honest?

And for someone not overly concerned with the story majorquimby you seem to be labouring the point a little too much

and tbh, this thread was about congratulating "our" olympic heroes; if you have an issue over the whole testing/competing thing, perhaps starting another thread might be a good idea, especially as some countries have allowed athletes who have tested positive to compete.

Well, I think they have done fantasically well.

I just hope the rest of the sports that have struggled (athletics/judo etc) can learn from the cycling set up.

Chris Hoy is a STAR and is a modest charming man. A great role model and an articulate unassuming bloke.

Arise Sir Chris.

Athletes are supposed to give the testing people an itinerary months in advance of where they are going to be every minute of every day, so that they can conduct random tests. If they turn up and you're not there it counts as a miss. She was guilty of not taking it seriously enough when she had missed two tests. She missed the third and was banned for a year as a result. She was the first to be effected by the new rules and I think her punishment was intended to be a wake up call to all the other athletes that they should take the testing more seriously.

As Spokette says, she will have been tested probably within hours of missing each test- once they'd called and found out where she was- and always tested clean.

To liken her to Dwayne Chambers is bloody stupid.

"You seem to be implying that he was more honest?

And for someone not overly concerned with the story majorquimby you seem to be labouring the point a little too much "

god no i don't think he was more honest at all, he took drugs, he's a cheat. i just think it sets a bad precedent for the future as it will encourage athletes who are on drugs to skip tests and then they'll still be allowed to compete after their ban, so they may be more willing to chance their arm with drugs and hope they avoid testing at times when the drugs would be in their system.as i said earlier it's akin to treating someone that is drink driving who doesn't provide a blood or breath sample as they know they'll be clocked over the limit more leniant than someone who fails the test because one of them failed the breathalyser and one didn't.
sorry if i've been labouring the point i was just replying to posts.
for the record i enjoyed her race emensely yesterday, she was incredible on the home stretch.

but the fact that she has come out drug free and never tested positive ensures her right to compete
Bear in mind many countries allow drug cheats to compete once their time is served ie: Ukraine!

chrstine lived in a mad house with 8 siblings, her home track had a private function/was closed on one of the days butalso her mail got lost as did phone messages.
Genuinely chaotic it seems
Guilty of not taking it seriously enough but not deliberately avoiding tests
The tests are v sensitive they pick up traces of cold remedies (most banned) taken up to 12weeks before apparently.

I'm sure dwayne would have come out and run clean and well
But you forfeit your right to represent your country when you test positive.

I agree allowing athletes who have previously tested positive to compete sets a bad precedent. she didn't test positive and I think her reasons for missing the tests were valid. I don't think the drink driving analogy works in this instance as she was clean anyway and the tests are so sinsitive they would have picked anything up. A test carried out a little later than planned is not the same as not taking a test at all imo.

and sorry for sounding a bit exasperated , but the poor woman is getting it in the neck from all areas rather than her very worthy achievement being praised for what it actually is.

The aussies have a great come back - GB is only good at winning medals when we are sitting down (cycling, sailing, rowing) ARF!

they are just feeling bitter as we have won lots in the swimming pool

"To liken her to Dwayne Chambers is bloody stupid."

You'd be surprised at how many stupid people there are out there. That's why they like to gorge themselves on others misfortune because it is one of the few occasions they can feel superior.

I hope Christina focuses on her hard earned achievements and treats the haters with aloofness that they deserve.

I am going to send ds1 to school in full John Bull regalia tomorrow and see if he lasts til playtime

And she came across as a lovely person when she was interviewed by Sue Barker. Go Christina!

I think that Christine is a bloody star.

Her race was one of my fave parts of the olympics so far.

Only an idiot would compare her past to that of Dwayne Chambers.

Doesn't it feel good to be able to be proud of team GB

Bloody hell - that 10k swim is gruelling. Yay Britain again! And Natalie du Toit - fucking amazing.