I have been calling for the erasure of any and all athletics records that have been attained by athletes that have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. At a first blush and or until more information is available, the PEDs should at least include anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and EPO.
As there is scientific evidence to suggest that some PEDs provide a long-term benefit to the athlete long after they have stopped taking the PEDs, they should also be banned for life.
Should an athlete test positive, by a certain agreed upon threshold in their A and B samples and where they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the athlete should have their entire history wiped clean from day one, as if they have never existed; including giving them the lifetime ban and the return of all medals, gifts, prizes and monies. For marketing purposes, perhaps the term could be: Catastrophic Expulsion or Dishonorable Expulsion.
I believe that Athletics Illustrated is the first to make such recommendations in the media. I have certainly not read it anywhere or nor have I heard of it, before A.I’s publication earlier in 2015.
Athletics UK is taking a bold step forward.
From Inside the Sport:
UK Athletics has called for all world records to be scrapped and started again in the wake of the doping crisis within the sport as part of its “Manifesto for Clean Athletics” released today.
They claim a “new set of records based on performances in the clean athletics era” should be implemented in a bid to begin a new dawn for the sport, rocked by doping cover-ups and scandals.
Currently, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards and marathon runner Paula Radcliffe are Britain’s only outdoor track and field world record holders.
Other athletes who would be affected should the changes be introduced include Jamaican Usain Bolt, who holds the world records in the 100 metres and 200m, and Florence Griffth-Joyner of the United States, whose women’s 100m world record has stood since 1988.
Discus thrower Jürgen Schult and 400m runner Marita Koch, both of whom competed for East Germany, would also see their records scrapped.
The idea, however, is not original and was first proposed by several countries in the wake of the scandal after Canada’s Ben Johnson tested positive for anabolic steroids and was stripped of his Olympic 100m gold medal at Seoul 1988.
