Norwegian cycling expert Mads Kaggestad hopes that doping testing would be tightened for those athletes who have a previous doping background.
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here.
More than 100 athletes with a previous doping background will compete in the Summer Olympics in Paris starting this week, says the Norwegian Broadcasting Company NRK.
An estimated 11,000 Olympic athletes will compete in Paris. According to NRK, which consulted the anti-doping database, at least 105 athletes have previously been convicted of a doping violation. There are athletes who have previously won medals at the Olympic Games or at the World Championships in their respective sports.
– Athletics clearly has the most doping cases. It is interesting that there are no less than 12 such athletes in tennis, familiar with the database Trond Husøsays.
The list can be even bigger, because the Participant List of Paris will be updated in the coming days.
– I completely understand athletes who think that athletes who have committed a doping offense should not take part in the Olympics and World Championships if they have knowingly cheated. However, it is not always so black and white, the Norwegian ex-road cyclist Mads Kaggestad says.
Kaggestad commented on the Tour de France, which ended on Sunday, for Norway’s TV2.
He says athletes have the right to return to the Games after serving their suspension. However, Kaggestad reminds us that something can remain in the body from previous doping use that will be useful in sports performances even later.
Almost 30 years ago, he won Olympic gold in the 800 meters Vebjørn Rodal does not believe that Paris will see completely clean games. However, today’s athletics expert sees that doping work has reached a level where it has a preventive effect.
Kaggestad hopes that athletes who have committed doping violations in the past would be subjected to more detailed doping tests.
– I don’t think that international elite sports have focused enough on this, says Kaggestad.