Cathal Lombard

DaveH

Ok,
I bet this will be a major argument.

Cathal Lombard has completed his suspension for EPO use in 2004. He was second to Alan O'Shea in The Cork Senior Championship on Saturday.
Lombard will compete in the Inter Counties in the Curragh on Sunday week. If he runs well he could be selected to represent Ireland in the European Cross Country Championship.

What do people think.

British athletes who tested positive for banned substances were never picked for the GB team up until 2006. David Coleman and other BBC staff would ignore British athletes who had tested postive for banned substances after there bans had been completed.

What are peoples opinions?

Interested to see what people think.

cheers
Dave

ecoli

good to see him back runnin but he will never get any sort of glory from it because ppl will always question is he bak to using drugs

however the thing that angered me about him is his attitude wen he admitted to takin the drugs his response was yea so wat i would have to be on drugs to compete wit the likes of the (africans) to me this was a cop out and an infuriating one at that especially in the wake of people like mottram

TheRoadRunner

He did the crime and his time. I think it's time to move on.

I am not a fan of his by any means but what is the alternative?

He got caught, he admitted to it (agree, he copped out slightly) and did his ban.
Having said that if I was watching a race and he was in contention I would probably root for the other guy

Clum

Came across this article on EPO while browsing letsrun.com.

And I'm not suggesting anything!!! Just thought it was interesting...

Transform

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

He did the crime and his time. I think it's time to move on.

I am not a fan of his by any means but what is the alternative?

He got caught, he admitted to it (agree, he copped out slightly) and did his ban.
Having said that if I was watching a race and he was in contention I would probably root for the other guy

Totally agree

epo addict

Everybody deserves a 2nd chance

Cathal lombard is a legend!!

runningbean

he does deserve a second chance but to call him a legend is crazy.
legend are people like mark Carroll,John Treacy,Eamonn Coughlan,Sonia O Sullivan who all got to the top without cheating.

TheRoadRunner

I think epo-addict was having a laugh. Well I hop he was

Common Sense

He broke the rules got caught, got a ban. He has now served the suspension applied under the rules. Time for us all to move on.

thirtyfoot

I'd agree with the sentiment that he has done his time and served his punishment and time to move on. Takes some element of balls to come back while at the same time you would be annoyed with him for using in the first place. Anyway we are supposed to be moving on.

Dodge

I'd be in favour of a total ban on Athletes representing Ireland who have been found guilty of doping

PR wise Lombard running for Ireland can do no good

A P

I'm with Dodge on this one. Some of ye may be familiar with the intro to Newstalk 106's nightly sport show "Off the Ball". It contains the words of journalist Paul Kimmage speaking about the return of the disgraced Tour de France cyclist David Millar who admitted using EPO in 2004. "...he deserves another chance... he does in his boll*cks."
My personal view is that he should be allowed to run as much as he likes, but not represent Ireland again.

runningbean

he should never run for Ireland again.He is not worthy of putting an Irish vest on again.

TheRoadRunner

yeah I hope he never represents Ireland again either.

As I mentioned I'm not his biggest fan. However, if he does manage to get in a position to represent Ireland I'll just have to accept it!

T runner

The strictest example should probably be shown by national organisations. However, we have only one life and I think everyone deserves one second chance.
My opinion is athlete should not be allowed to compete for 2 years after ban finishes. AAI to adjudicate at that stage on whether athlete has demonstated beyond doubt that he/she is clean and fit for national representation.

Domer

Appologies for not knowing names, but that 400m runner from the UK, she was found guilt of a drugs offence (I am trying to be PC), but is still protesting her innocence....

But Didn't I read somewhere that she is serving a life time ban from the Olympics? Does this mean Lombard cannot run in the Olympics anyway?

I agree with the comments above that he should not be allowed run in internationals. It is a harsh punishment, but the crime was pretty bad too.

Dodge

Domer wrote: »

Appologies for not knowing names, but that 400m runner from the UK, she was found guilt of a drugs offence (I am trying to be PC), but is still protesting her innocence....

But Didn't I read somewhere that she is serving a life time ban from the Olympics? Does this mean Lombard cannot run in the Olympics anyway?

Christine Ohuruogu. She's banned from running in the Olympics by the British Olympic Association, not by the IOC. The Olympic Council of Ireland don't have that rule (AFAIK)

She won gold for Britain at this years World Championships though.

She's appealing the Olympics ban

ecoli

is he still elegible for funding if he makes the criteria? if so it sends ou the wrong message though i respect him comin back to the sport hopefully learnin from his mistakes but should never get another green vest or get funding

Domer

No matter how good he gets this time around, I cannot see John Tracy part with one cent in grants to him no matter what the rule book says. This is the same John Tracy who refused to sit on a panel with Geraldine Hendricken on the Late Late Show... she had to be a regular guest in the audience to be allowed to speak and get her point accross. He is an adamant anti-doping campaigner (Even and anti-vitamin supplement campaigner!)

thirtyfoot

Domer wrote: »

. He is an adamant anti-doping campaigner (Even and anti-vitamin supplement campaigner!)

I think the vast majority of people are anti-doping campaigners but Treacy's stance on vits is very unrealistic. I remember when Treacy spoke out about this first few years back, Ger Hartmann said it was crazy for an elite athlete to be expected to get enough Vit C for example in a normal diet. Although he is an olympic silver medalist, on this one I'd listen to Hartmann over Treacy.

If Lombard comes and runs brillantly and becomes eligible for a grant, it would be unprofessional and probably unlawfull not to give him a grant (unless there is some ISC clause on dope offenders). The rules are the rules and Lombard broke them. The rules then banned him for 2 years and the rules now say he can compete and has the same rights now as any other athlete. Taking this board as a general consensus of what the athletic community feels, I'm now starting to hope Cathal Lombard comes back and runs brillantly and clean and be proof that no matter how low and how bad things get that as long as the love of the sport is there and the will and determination that anything is possible. I'll say it again, its takes balls to do what he is doing and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets and how he reacts. I was competing at a British League match in London years ago and Jason Livingston was just after making his comeback a few months previous, he ran the 100m and was abused from gun to tape by a guy on the bank. He finished, turned on his heel and went to confront the guy and they had to be separated, great entertainment. Can't see this happening in the Curragh though.

Common Sense

Dodge wrote: »

Christine Ohuruogu. She's banned from running in the Olympics by the British Olympic Association, not by the IOC. The Olympic Council of Ireland don't have that rule (AFAIK)

She won gold for Britain at this years World Championships though.

She's appealing the Olympics ban

In fairness Ohourogu was (rightly) suspended for missing three tests. She has never tested positive for taking drugs and was, in fact, tested pretty shortly after she missed her third test. As far as I know the British Olympic Council is the only (or one of very few) councils who impose life time bans on athletes competing in the olympics. I don't know the guy's name but they recently lifted such a ban on a triathlete who committed a similar offence as Ohourogu. As regards Lombard, I'd have grave doubts as to whether he has the ability, without drugs, to gain selection for Ireland - however, if he does, he should be allowed to do so.

DaveH

I was speaking to Cillian O'Leary who is on the Cork team tomorrow. He told me that Lombard isnt running.
Watch out for Cillian, its his first Inter-Counties but he'll do very well!!! Mark my words!

As regards Lombard. I opened this thread a couple of weeks ago, I hadnt even thought about this. I was speaking to a Cork man who thought he had done no wrong. I was wondering what the attitude was to him.

I think he should be banned for competting for Ireland. If Lombard was a Raheny man I would have pushed for him to be removed from the club.

People say he should get a second chance. He didnt make a mistake. He delibrately took EPO so he could get to that level. Remember in March of 2004 he was only 3rd in the Short Course and a few months later he was the fastest white man in the world.

What summed him up was when he ran 20 Miles of the Dublin marathon in 2004!
"oh I was just doing a tempo!"

ecoli

Christine Ohuruogu is actually appealing that ban to run next year and the general view is that she will win goes to show if they have the talent and bring glory for the country the council will go bak on the word easy enough

Common Sense

I don't want to start an argument with you, Ecoli - but do you think a clean athlete (and the IAAF have recognised this) should be banned for life from the olympics for missing 3 tests?

ecoli

that actually wasnt a dig at her like i know she missed them test but i admire that after the ban she can come bak as a gold medallist days after the ban lifted.
i was jus sayin ya cant take wat admin s say to be worth a thing i say fair play hope they do let her run

Common Sense

ecoli wrote: »

that actually wasnt a dig at her like i know she missed them test but i admire that after the ban she can come bak as a gold medallist days after the ban lifted.
i was jus sayin ya cant take wat admin s say to be worth a thing i say fair play hope they do let her run

I'm glad you clarified that - I'm in total agreement with you now. The British OC is, in my view, totally OTT in banning her for life. Hopefully, sense will prevail at her appeal

Dodge

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/7112577.stm

Ohuruogu earns Olympic reprieve

Scott Hall

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

He did the crime and his time. I think it's time to move on.

He didn't take any drugs, He had been drinking the night before and it showed up in the test

Domer

Scott,

Not sure where you got your information from, but he clearly was taking a banned substance, and admitted it afterwards saying that he took EPO to "level the playing field".

He may have been drinking something very strong the night before he decided to embark on this drug fuelled season, but fact remains he DID take a banned substance and deserved his punishment.

TheRoadRunner

Scott Hall wrote: »

He didn't take any drugs, He had been drinking the night before and it showed up in the test

I think you are thinking of Gareth Turnbull!

Lombard was shipping EPO to his home address. Cathal has also admitted to taking EPO.

Scott Hall

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I think you are thinking of Gareth Turnbull!

Lombard was shipping EPO to his home address. Cathal has also admitted to taking EPO.

Yeah my bad I got the 2 mixed up.