Pavey: 'I fear doping is rife'
The 34-year-old from Feniton yesterday welcomed the High Court's decision to not overturn disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers' life ban from the Olympics.
But middle-distance runner Pavey says other countries should follow the British Olympic Association's example and bar athletes for life if they are caught using performance-enhancing substances.
At the moment only a handful of nations maintain such a strong stance against drugs cheats and the Exeter Harrier said: “I have suspicions about many people but I'm not going to mention names.
“I feel I compete against drugs cheats at every championships and it is so frustrating.
“It's good that as a country we are setting this example (Chambers' Olympic ban) to the rest of the world.
“It's a shame other countries aren't following suit. There will be other drugs cheats at the Olympics coming back from bans.”
Chambers received an automatic ban from the BOA after he was caught taking anabolic steroid THG in 2003.
The Belgrave runner argued in the High Court that the ban was an unfair restriction of trade as he sought a temporary injunction to overturn the BOA by-law in order to compete at this summer's Beijing Games.
But the court quashed Chambers' bid, saying the runner's right to work was not a good enough reason to overturn the ban. Pavey said she had no idea how the High Court would view Chambers' case.
She says she was pleased by the outcome and believes that denying the 100m specialist a place in the Great Britain Olympic team will help to safeguard the future of athletics in the UK.
The end of the Chambers saga will also help the current GB squad concentrate fully on next month's Games, according to Pavey.
She said: “It's good news. It's important they have done that.
“I'm definitely pleased with the result. It's good for the team because we can refocus and get on with what we need to do.
“It's the best decision — we need to send a message out to young athletes that drugs cheats won't be tolerated in the Olympic team.
“The rule was there before Dwain took drugs, so it is not as if he wasn't aware.”
Pavey says she would never be tempted to take drugs. The 10,000m runner was one of a handful of current GB athletes who signed a petition supporting the BOA's stance in the Chambers case.
And Pavey knows first hand what it is like to suffer at the hands of drug cheats, having previously competed against Turkey's Sureyya Ayhan, who in May this year received a four-year ban — reduced from life — for doping and was also suspended for two years in 2004 for breaking drugs test rules.
“As an individual Dwain is not an arrogant character, but he made a mistake and must pay for it,” she said.
“What he did was wrong for our sport and when you have had drugs cheats finish ahead of you it's very frustrating.
“I would never be tempted. I have great support from my family and friends and I don't know how people can do it to their friends and family.
“If you achieved something and they were getting excited, imagine how you would feel if you knew you had cheated.
“I couldn't imagine doing that to people close to me.
“There's more to life than doing that to people, it's not worth it.”
Pavey's husband Gavin, who is also her coach, added he believed the only way to stop drugs cheats was to introduce harsher punishments throughout the athletics world.
He pointed out that the current mandatory two-year worldwide ban for testing positive was not a strong enough deterrent for some athletes who are desperate for success and stardom.
“Dwain got caught, he didn't own up to it. Only after he got caught did he try to play along and help people,” Pavey said.
“Being in the Olympics is something people aspire to and people look up to Olympians, so to try and take anything away from that is a bad thing and a bad route to go down.
“When people weigh up a two-year ban against the money and glory, some believe taking drugs is worth the risk. The bans have got to be much stricter and much longer.”
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