• London Olympics 2012

Redgrave laments loss of BOA's 'nuclear deterrent'

Five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave has declared a "sad day for world sport" after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed on Monday that drug cheats could represent Great Britain at London 2012.

CAS rejected the British Olympic Association's (BOA) appeal against a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) challenge of a domestic bylaw that hands any Team GB athlete found guilty of a drugs offence a life-time Olympic ban, meaning Dwain Chambers and David Millar will be able to compete in this summer's Games.

"This is a sad day not just for British sport, but for world sport," Redgrave said in the Telegraph. "I was hoping the BOA bylaw … would be maintained because it feels in a way like one of the last bastions in the anti-doping battle, one of the final, proper deterrents to would-be offenders.

"I honestly believe that one of the reasons we have had very few positive tests in Britain is because of the teeth that the bylaw carries. If you like, it has been our nuclear deterrent. We will now have to tip our hat to WADA's two-year ban. Two years? That is a ridiculous sanction, so short that you have to ask yourself whether it is a punishment at all. Any punishment has to fit the crime - two years doesn't even take you out of the Olympic cycle.

"All credit to [Millar and Chambers] for the way they have behaved since their return to the sport and I admire the way they have spoken up, admitted their doping and become significant advocates against the use of performance-enhancing drugs. But should they be looked upon more favourably than everyone else because of that? I don't think so.

"Because both knew when they were cheating they were simultaneously forfeiting the right ever to be able to compete at an Olympic Games again should they be caught. I feel it is for leading athletes of my generation, who are vehemently anti-doping, to lead the pressure on WADA and international sport to come up with a more realistic deterrent than currently exists."

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