LONDON: International Olympic Committee presidential candidate Sergey Bubka urged athletics authorities to clamp down on drug cheats and increase the length of their bans.
The 49-year-old pole vaulting legend is backing fellow athletics great Sebastian Coe’s recommendation that athletes who fail drugs tests be banned for four years instead of the current two-year sanction.
Bubka was speaking yesterday in the wake of a recent wave of high profile positive dope tests that have seen sprinters such as Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay sidelined and have damaged the credibility of the sport.
The Ukrainian is adamant bans must be longer if youngsters are to be attracted to track and field and the sport is to retain its integrity and that athletes must not hide behind the use of supplements if they fall foul of the drug testers.
“We will not excuse the dopers. It must be increased from a two-year ban to a four-year ban,” Bubka told reporters.
“We need to go this way and we must protect the honest athletes. We must eliminate the cheaters and this is very important for sport, very important for the youth and for the credibility of the sport.
“We need to be very strong and tough with the doping.
“You are responsible. The supplement business has become a multi-million dollar business and we give them information but in the end it is the athletes’ responsibility.
“They could simply use vitamins. Who is paying the price? The athletes. Of course some positive cases are unpleasant but you will pay the price if you go the wrong way.”
Bubka is one of six candidates for the IOC presidency along with Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Denis Oswald of Switzerland, Ng Ser Miang of Singapore, Germany’s Thomas Bach and C K Wu of Taiwan.
The elections will take place on 10 September in Buenos Aires at the 125th IOC session to see who will succeed Jacques Rogge in the sport’s top office.
And if he is successful Bubka, who was a six-time world champion and is current world record holder, hopes to use his influence to bring more youngsters to athletics and build on the success of last year’s Olympic Games in London.
“One of the priorities is the youth because we want to promote what is good in the generation. We had a successful Olympic Games but we need to promote the sport,” Bubka said.
“We need to look at the health condition of the kids with obesity and diabetes. With computers and social media there are a lot of activities that replace physical activity.
“Physical education at school is not very good in many countries and we need to change and engage the youth with the help of governments and institutes of sport.
“We need to get a legacy for future generations. This is a great opportunity for me to run for the IOC presidency.”
Bubka is currently the president of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, senior vice president of the IAAF and a member of IOC Executive Board. He has also been a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. REUTERS
