Djokovic shares Oly regrets with Murray
LONDON: Live tennis action is a fading memory during the coronavirus shutdown but 20,000 fans tuned in to watch old rivals Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray chew the fat on Instagram on Friday. Sitting on their sofas at home, the duo spent an entertaining hour reminiscing about some of the classics in their 36-match series, painful losses and even came up with the perfect tennis player.
The knockabout banter offered some candid reflections on their glittering careers — both on hold as tennis awaits the end of the pandemic which has claimed more than 150,000 lives globally.
Asked which losses hurt the most, both selected matches against each other. “For me it was the French Open final against you in 2016,” Murray, who has also finished runner-up at the Australian Open five times, said.
“Obviously I would have loved to win the Australian Open or the French Open but I think as a challenge
TOKYO: The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics will allow athletes banned until 2020 to qualify for the Games next year as doping bans are based on time periods and not events, Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) head Brett Clothier told Reuters.
Last month, the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government agreed to postpone the Tokyo Games, due to start in July, to 2021 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 150,000 people worldwide. for me, because clay was such a tough surface for me throughout my career, that would have been for me my biggest achievement.”
The Serb hit back from losing the first set to outplay Murray in that Paris showdown, completing his career Grand Slam in the process. World number one Djokovic has never won the Olympic gold medal though, a feat Murray achieved in 2012 and 2016.
Djokovic said his semi-final defeats against Murray and Rafa Nadal in the 2012 and 2008 Olympics were two of his toughest losses — together with his defeat by Juan Martin del Potro in the first round of the 2016 Rio Games.
“Maybe that match against you in London, or the
Athletes banned until 2020 can qualify at Olympics
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) bans are designed to prevent athletes from competing during an Olympic cycle and Clothier said stopping athletes whose bans expire this year from competing in 2021 would lead to legal complications.
“The standard penalty under the WADA code for doping is a four-year ban,” Clothier said. “And that’s been designed that way to tie in with the Olympic cycle. “But in this case, of course, it’s an anomaly that the Olympics have moved so some athletes will benefit from that. “It’s an unfortunate situation but one that is very clear under the legal framework so the ban is based on time and not tied to particular events.” The anomaly could prove to be a doubleedged sword, however, with Clothier saying athletes caught after August this year would be banned for two Olympic Games — in Tokyo and Paris — since they fall within the four-year sanction range.
But with social distancing protocols and lockdowns in place in several countries, Clothier said the biggest impact the pandemic has had on anti-doping agencies is the lack of regular testing.
“The restrictions on movement that are happening in many countries are having a severe disruption to testing processes around the world,” he said.
“We do testing for over a 100 countries round the world and there are different restrictions in each country... and those restrictions are changing day-today, week-to-week.
“So our normal testing operations are disrupted. We are still conducting testing where we can but there is a severe disruption, no question.”
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said a new self-administered doping test, where athletes are monitored live by a doping control officer, could help protect clean athletes, as the agency tries to ensure no one gets a “free pass” from reduced testing during the pandemic.
Clothier said that though current testing limitations give dopers an opportunity to cheat, agencies should be proactive in identifying athletes prone to cheating while also cracking down on the root causes of doping. “One thing that needs to be understood though is testing for us isn’t just a numbers game,” he added. “We use intelligence and investigation methodologies to make sure we are testing the right athletes we need to at the right time.
“While our testing activities are reduced at the moment, we are focusing on our priority and highrisk athletes and making sure we can test them as much as possible within the limitations we have.
“We’re hoping that we’ll see change around the anti-doping world... where more organisations invest in intelligence capabilities so that they can address the root causes of doping and the people behind doping rather than just using the tests as a facade or a numbers game.” — Reuters