This villain (Christine Ohuruogu) has served her time – now let’s catch the real cheats

From The Times Simon Barnes

She is the most reviled British gold medal-winner to have run on the track. And that’s rum, really, because normally we are as soppy as hell about our golden girls. But when Christine Ohuruogu won the 400 metres at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, in August, she was promoted to the company of those who can do no right.

“Please don’t let this be the face of our London Olympics,” The Sun, our emotional sister, begged. The face in question is strong, female and black: never a good combination for red-top editors. Ohuruogu made admirable casting as villain of the week.

Well, now the way has been cleared for her to run at the Olympic Games in Beijing next year and, if we are all saved, in London four years on. No doubt the ranters will have their say again. And they’ll be wrong.

Ohuruogu did not test positive for drugs. Nor did she swerve a test when she knew that the testers were waiting for her, which was the offence of Rio Ferdinand, the England footballer. Her error was all to do with the complexities of out-of-competition drugs testing.

An athlete has to be available at certain agreed places and times in case the testers show up. The whole point is the random nature of the business. There is a certain tolerance in the system and it works like the high jump and baseball. Third failure and you’re out.

Ohuruogu failed to show up at the right place and time three times in 18 months and, frankly, that’s pretty bloody stupid. It’s also a sporting crime; it has to be if we want drug-free sport. Ohuruogu was banned for a year, and so she should have been. Grow up, get your act together, try to behave like a professional.

She will always have this crime on her CV. Again, quite right. Every time we write about her, no matter what she has just achieved, the missed tests will have to be mentioned. That’s only right. The consensus in athletics is that Ohuruogu was guilty of bad diary-keeping rather than evil practice, but, hey, nobody takes anything about drugs on trust these days, not from anybody.