Jacques Rogge, IOC President, welcomes the efforts of the IWF
In an interview published on the fringe of the European Championships in France’s sports daily L’Equipe, Dr. Jacques ROGGE, President of the International Olympic Committee referred to the IWF as "an example?. The article was written by Alain Lunzenfichter.
– How do you judge the efforts of the IWF in the fight against doping?
-The fight by the International Weightlifting Federation is exemplary. Exemplary because it puts an enormous financial effort in doping control, both in the detection and the education. It is very difficult, since weightlifting is the type of sport where anabolic substances can help a lot in the performance of the champions, which often explains the temptation of athletes to balance on the wrong side of the barrier.
– Are there still certain people who want to exclude weightlifting from the Olympic Games?
– It is ridiculous. One will not punish a Federation, which makes all the necessary efforts to make its sport clean. The more controls you make, the more chance you have to find positive cases. It would undoubtedly be easier for the IWF not to make controls… then it would have no positives. By the way, I encourage the other Federations to take weightlifting?s example. Lately, the President of the UCI, Pat McQuaid, stated that he wants to eradicate doping from cycling: I can only support it.
– Can we wipe out doping?
– No, of course, there will always be athletes who are tempted to cheat; it is in the human nature. However, doping should be reduced to the lowest level possible. Certain sports have records that date back more than twenty-five years and they can still hold for another ten years. Yet I am not in favour of changing the categories or to reset the records, if at the back you do not make serious efforts to stop the cheaters.
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Here is the article in French:
JACQUES ROGGE, président du CIO, tient a saluer les efforts de la F�d�ration internationale d?halt�rophilie.
? L?IWF est exemplaire ?
? Comment jugez-vous les efforts de l?IWF pour lutter contre le dopage?
– La lutte mise en place par la F�d�ration internationale d?halt�rophilie est exemplaire. Exemplaire, car elle y met �norm�ment de moyens financiers, aussi bien pour la r�pression que pour l?�ducation. C?est difficile, car l?halt�rophilie est le type m?me de sport ou les anabolisants apportent beaucoup � la performance des champions, ce qui explique souvent la tentation que peuvent avoir certains de basculer du mauvais cot� de la barri?re.
– Certains sont toujours pour l?exclusion de l?halt�rophilie des JO ?
– C?est ridicule. On ne va pas punir une F�d�ration qui fait tous les efforts n�cessaires pour rendre son sport propre. Plus vous faites de contr�les, plus vous avez de chances d?avoir des positifs. Il serait sans doute plus ais� pour l?IWF de ne pas faire de contr�les? il n?y aurait aucun positif. J?encourage d?ailleurs les autres F�d�rations � prendre exemple sur l?halt�rophilie. Derni?rement, le pr�sident de l?UCI, Pat McQuaid, a d�clar� vouloir �radiquer le dopage dans le cyclisme, je ne peux que le soutenir.
– Peut-on �radiquer le dopage ?
– Non, bien sur, il y aura toujours des athl?tes qui auront la tentation de tricher, c?est dans la nature humaine. Mais, en revanche, il faut amener le dopage a des niveaux insignifiants. Certains sports ont des records qui datent de plus de vingt-cinq ans et ils peuvent encore tenir dix ans. Pourtant, je ne suis pas partisan de changer les cat�gories ou remettre � plat les records, si derri?re vous ne faites pas une chasse stricte aux tricheurs.
