Perkins on Barnwell case: Relay teammates can keep medals
Stan Perkins
Expanding on day-old news, WMA President Stan Perkins wrote me this evening: “Athlete Val Barnwell has been suspended by USADA for two years, dating from 11 December 2009 for a positive doping test that was taken during the WMA World Stadia Championships held in Lahti, Finland in 2009. The athlete’s results will be annulled and new placings awarded. A new medal allocation will also take place in each event where he was awarded a medal. The athlete will be requested to return his medals; however, we will not pursue the return of the medals from the other members of the relay teams in which this athlete competed. The status of the test selection of athletes in Lahti is confidential. A full statement in regard to this matter is posted on the USADA website.”
4 Responses
It is absolutely wrong to allow Val Barnwell’s USA relay teammates to keep their medals. Stan Perkins is way out of line and WMA should change that decision now.
Sweet! So I’ll give some money to someone running a Ponzi scheme, innocent people will suffer as a result as they lose their life savings, the person running the scheme will go to jail for it but I get to keep all the money I make in the end. Nice.
This decision is absurd. The teammates have to lose their medals. The whole performance is tainted and the team that won silver should have won gold.
Hi All
Stan Perkins has stated that the other members of the USA relay team of which Val was a member “will NOT have their medals taken back”. However, the wording from the WMAs own rules are as follows (these words were copied from their own rules.)
RULE 39
Disqualification of Results
1. Where an anti-doping rule violation occurs in connection with an in-competition test, the athlete shall be automatically disqualified from the event in question and from all subsequent events of the competition, with all resulting consequences for the athlete, including the forfeiture of all titles, awards, medals, points and prize and appearance money.
2. Where the athlete who commits an anti-doping rule violation under Rule 39.1 is a member of a relay team, the relay team shall be automatically disqualified from the event in question, with all resulting consequences for the relay team, including the forfeiture of all titles, awards, medals, points and prize and appearance money. If the athlete who has committed an anti-doping rule violation competes for a relay team in a subsequent event in the competition, the relay team shall be disqualified from the subsequent event, with all the same resulting consequences
for the relay team, including the forfeiture of all titles, awards, medals, points and prize and appearance money (if any).
It clearly states what should happen. Mr Perkins has seen fit to go against the rules of the governing body, and I would therefore call upon him and any others who agreed to this course of action to resign.
This is not meant to be a vedetta against Val and his team mates and I sympathise with them as it is not their fault , but we have rules for a reason and if the governing body wont treat this matter seriously then we may as well rip up the rule book and do anything we want.
(this comment is also posted on another article relating to the same subject)
Completely agree, Kevin. If the rules aren’t followed, then the rulebook might as well be used as toilet paper. Ridiculous to see them not being followed when it’s clear as day as to what the rules says is to happen.
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