Ah, the comeback trail, some love it some hate it. Comeback from a steroid or doping suspension and your country cheers you but the competition jeers you.
Brazilian Maurren Higa Maggi (below left) lived through a suspension in 2003 when she tested positive for the anabolic steroid Clostebol. However Maggi fought the suspension, claiming the drug entered her body through a hair removal cream, or a doctor's ointment. She lost to the IAAF, which derailed her training. However the Brazilian athlete started training again, which was rewarded by a gold medal in Beijing 2008 in the long jump. This is not popular with her competitors, including the UK's Jade Johnson (below right). To the Guardian:
Jade Johnson, Britain's No1 long jumper, was left angry and frustrated after the Olympic gold medal was won by a woman who has previously tested positive for drugs. Johnson was never in touching distance in the final, finishing seventh with 6.64m as the Brazilian Maurren Higa Maggi triumphed with 7.04m from her first attempt.
Five years ago, Maggi, 32, failed a test for the anabolic steroid Clostebol, although she was later cleared by the Brazilian Athletics Federation. She claimed that the substance was in her hair-removal cream. The International Association of Athletics Federations refused to ratify the acquittal and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but Maggi, who had been sentenced to a two-year suspension, did not attend the hearing and served the suspension. "The more annoying thing for me was that she came back and won the Olympic Games," said Johnson. "That is the most annoying thing for me - ever.
"I don't think anyone should be allowed back, regardless. I still would only have come sixth but the girls a few down the line would have got a medal. I was hoping anyone would beat
her.
"People should be banned for life if they take drugs. Simple as that. Two years is not long enough. I am sure you must still have it in your system and you must still have benefits.
"It's really frustrating when you train really hard. I didn't give my best today but if I was the girl in fourth place I would be really angry right now. You train really hard, you put everything in, you make sacrifices in everything."
Johnson's point is legitimate. Again, there is evidence that the use of an anabolic steroids causes long term changes in the musculature. Therefore a doper's advantage continues over the years. Maggi answers this way:
"You know what, doping happens," Maggi said. "It was a bad accident for me. I knew I still have things to do. Today I came with gold, it is unbelievable."
Bad accident, or a scheme for cheating. Should athletes caught doping be banned for life from sport?
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