LONDON (AP) — Marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe says Britain’s lifetime Olympic ban for doping offenders unfairly penalizes athletes.
Britain is the only country with such a strong sanction, but it is under threat after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned an IOC rule that bars any athlete who has received a doping suspension of more than six months from competing in the next Olympics.
Radcliffe told The Associated Press she used to support the British rule, but “at the moment it’s unfair because Dwain Chambers is the only one who is really being penalized for it and it’s not across the board.”
Chambers, a former European 100-meter champion, served a two-year ban in connection with the BALCO scandal. However, he cannot compete in the 2012 London Olympics.
