Some of you might know I am a cyclist and love to watch cycling on TV. I just read this morning that Alberto Contador who was the 2010 Tour De France winner has tested positive for doping at the tour this year. No conclusions have been made yet as further tests need to be performed but Contador is claiming that the food he ate was contaminated. Here is what they are saying:
All of Contador’s tests before July 21 were negative, De Boer said. The July 21 test was conducted on a rest day at the Tour, when the race was near France’s border with Spain. De Boer said friends from Spain visited Contador and brought meat with them – he believes it was beef – “to celebrate their meeting.”
Ok, I am not a Contador fan, actually I dislike him very much but for the sport of cycling I hope the test is false. The last time a rider tested positive and was stripped of there Tour title was in 2007 by American Rider Floyd Landis who at first denied the allegations but later admitted to using performance enhancing drugs that he also said Lance Armstrong used.
The reason I am writing this post is because cycling like all other sports is suppose to be about integrity. What ever happened to doing something because you loved it not because you wanted to win so bad you would cheat to get the win or advantage. Adults and kids alike look up to athletes and it sends a very bad message when someone gets caught cheating or breaking the rules. This happens all of the time in football with illegal drugs and shady conduct. When is it going to stop? I know probably never but a person can dream cant they.
These people are professionals and signed up to uphold rules that are higher then the normal person follows. They are in the public eye and I know they are human but they knew the rules and what they were getting into before they got into it.
It just really sucks that kids see this kind of behavior because at some point they may think it is ok to do something illegal to get an edge.
What are your thoughts on this?
