Promising year marred by scandal
This summer’s sport promised so much, yet the big events were marred by incompetence and, more distressingly, the unsavoury side of sport.
Let’s first go back to the beginning of July, the height of summer, with so much sport ahead of us. The England football team soon dampened any optimism as they managed to go through the whole World Cup without playing well and succumbed meekly to a cynical Portugese side. The final, contested by two similarly mediocre teams, was decided by a misdirected header from one of the few ‘great’ players to live up to his reputation in the competition. The winners were a team who admittedly played beautifully against Germany, but whose league is in disgrace.
The Tour de France offered a welcome diversion from headbutt analysis and the discrediting of the lip reading profession. Yet, days before the race, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were implicated, alongside 200 others, in the Operación Puerto doping case. The two favourites withdrew from a Tour severely lacking star appeal.
However, the quality of the racing made up for this, with the yellow jersey being passed around like after dinner mints. After taking the race lead on the infamous L’Alpe D’Huez, Landis cracked the next day and slid eight minutes behind the pace and seemingly out of contention. The following day though, Landis embarked on a lung-bursting 120km solo breakaway which snatched the yellow jersey back. It was hailed one of the most remarkable comebacks in cycling history and Landis went on to win a memorable Tour.
The euphoria did not last long. On July 27, Landis tested positive for a high ratio of testosterone. The American was sacked from his team despite making numerous excuses.
Just two days later, with sport still reeling, another drug scandal hit the headlines. Justin Gatlin, the American sprinter, had also tested positive for excess testosterone. This drug story is even more frustrating: whereas Landis was set for a hip operation, Gatlin was beginning an epic rivalry with Asafa Powell as they had both run 9.77 secs, a world record, this season. Their refusal to race against each other just further whetted the appetite, but they will not meet on the track again.
The cricket season was also marred when umpire Darrell Hair decided to steal the limelight again. The disruption which followed overshadowed an excellent series victory for England, in which Ian Bell and his coverdrive were a revalation.
Thank goodness the Ryder Cup provided an uplifting end to summer. It was great sporting theatre without a headbutt, excess testosterone, or tampered balls in sight. The only cheating seen was in the post match knees-up when Ian Woosnam left half his pint of Guinness on his top lip after claiming to down it.
