Olympic decathlon legend Daley Thompson has come out and said that he would like to see cycling booted out of the Olympic Games, in light of the sports governing body’s handling of Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal. He has been quoted in the British press as saying “Armstrong is a cheating Bastard and his sport is warped and damaged by drugs.” as statement that no doubt many would agree with.
However should cycling be made to suffer, after all based on Thompson’s argument, the 100m or for that matter track and field events should also be thrown out of the games, after all Ben Johnson and Marion Jones made a mockery of the 100m finals. What about weightlifting which has been beset with drug cheats over the years?
Thompson does also state “the UCI (International Cycling Union) are not fit for purpose. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) must demand that this disgraceful governing body put its house in order.” Probably every sports fan would agree with that comment.
However as yet the IOC have still to strip Armstrong of his Olympic bronze medal from the Sydney Games in 2000, and in fact only opened and investigation into this last night.
Should cycling be banned from the Olympics? Tell us what you think.
As John said on the show last night which was superb by the way, ban road cycling from the games but not the track cycling. These guys have not done anything. The road racing has lost all credibility.
As for the Government enquiry, as you said last night this is a PR stunt and a complete waste of money.