• London Olympics 2012

Hoy supports BOA; wants lifetime bans for drug cheats

Sir Chris Hoy has won four gold medals during his Olympic career © Getty Images

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Sir Chris Hoy has launched a vehement defence of the British Olympic Association's stance on drug cheats, declaring that those caught for doping should never be allowed to compete at an Olympic Games.

The BOA is currently engaged in an ongoing dispute with the World Anti-Doping Agency over its controversial lifetime Olympic ban for drug cheats, with the former taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in order to defend its degree of punishment.

WADA claims the BOA - the only national Olympic committee to hand out such a punishment to drug cheats - violates the global anti-doping code.

However, four-time Olympic champion Hoy is backing the BOA over the contentious issue, insisting that if sport is serious about ridding itself of drug cheats then lifetime Olympic bans must stand.

"There is no grey area on this subject for me," he told the Daily Telegraph. "I completely support the BOA in its stance and, frankly, I have always been pretty bemused that the rest of the sporting world hasn't followed suit.

"Are we serious about fighting against drugs in sport or not? What message is being sent out when we allow proven ex-dopers into the Olympic Games and offer them the possibility of winning Olympic gold medals against fellow competitors who have been blameless throughout their careers and fought the temptation to cheat and use drugs if ever it presented itself? That has always struck me as illogical and a massive backward step.

"The BOA seems very much out on a limb over this question but just because it is on its own, it doesn't mean to say it is wrong. Far from it. Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in. I admire the BOA for its stance and for sticking to its guns. Proven drug cheats have no place in the Olympics and just because the rest of the world is allowing such athletes to represent them doesn't mean Britain has to toe the line."

The argument has divided opinion among athletes, with Jessica Ennis saying the same rule should apply to everyone regardless of nationality and cyclist Mark Cavendish backing David Millar, who was banned after admitting taking EPO, to take his place on the start line at London 2012. However, Hoy is adamant the BOA's position is the only viable one to take.

"Quite how the BOA can come under criticism for this I don't know," he said. "It is being consistent and strong. In my opinion competing for your country at an Olympic Games is a privilege and that privilege should be taken away from anyone who has been convicted of a serious doping offence.

"To my mind unless you ban a convicted doper from the Olympics there is almost no deterrent. I believe there has to be a meaningful consequence to cheating, otherwise we are not going to stop the cheats.

"There has to be a price to pay over and above simply missing two years' competition through a ban. You can miss two years' competition just through injury alone. If the BOA is forced to back down it will be very difficult to regain that stance in the future and to me that would seem like a huge setback in the fight against drugs in sport."

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