Bill Collins signed German anti-doping pledge at worlds
Bill Collins has lent his name to the Vaterstettener Declaration, an anti-doping pledge big in Germany. His signature, “done in the presence of Guido Müller, the world’s Senior Athletes of the Year 2004 and author of the Vaterstettener statement,” represents “a major step towards a clean and fair sport in the movement of the Senior Athletics,” reports Annette’s Seite. Other signatories at Riccione included Vesa Lappalainen, the Eurovets veep, Dr. Stephen Peters of Britain, the M50 sprint world record holder; and Charles Desjardins, a longtime anti-doping crusader in the United States.
I appreciate Bill’s sentiment, but it’s a little redundant — since anyone who signs a USATF membership card pledges “to uphold the ideals of fair play and sportsmanship and . . . abide by the competition rules of track and field at all times” and “will cooperate with all drug testing authorities.”
Anyway, Bill is a good guy.
BTW, here’s a shot of Bill at Orono stitched together in Photoshop by his Dallas sprinter friend Rick Riddle, showing how Tyson Gay’s form mirrors Bill’s. The photo is flopped (as evidenced by the backward number). But it’s still cool.
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6 Responses
And – the inference is – that the rest of us are suspected of using banned drugs?
The idea of signing a pledge is nice – makes folks think about what they are doing or might do, or are not doing etc – but it is pretty cosmetic – and should not be a substitute for drug-testing. As for the USATF membership card “pledge” I admit that I had never noticed it – I did notice the silly pledge we have to sign when competing internationally – mandated by USATF -not to fold, spindle, or mutilate our USATF mandated uniforms or cover up the Nike logo. USATF certainly has its priorities “right”
Nice photo of Bill – great form – the photo is not flipped – Bill is running so fast that his number turned backwards!
The USA Master Track and Field movement resisted drug testing long enough. It is nice to see a master big shot showing where he stands. Is there going to be a drug testing in Sacramento?
Signing this groundbreaking declaration is necessary and an important step in the fight against drug cheaters. Thanks, Bill!
Yes, there wil be drug-testing at Sacramento worlds in 2011, as there probably was at Buffalo 1995. In fact, I think the standard WMA contract with host sites is that they (the meet organizers) will pay for drug-testing. But I doubt more than 50 tests will take place. Out of 6,000, that’s under 1 percent. Test ME! Test ME! (It would be the highlight of my track career.)
Ken, with all due respect, you just don’t look like you are on steroids :-). Milan
I’ve been in favor of testing since the 1980’s.
How do we expect the young athletes not to use enhancements, when some older athletes are still experimenting in them.
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