ELITE ATHLETE | PERFORMANCE COACH | P.E. TEACHER
The rules are the rules — except when, as is often the case, they are open to interpretation. Rules play a crucial role in sport, and referees, umpires, or adjudicators are frequently cast as the villains as they make split-second decisions that can change the course of an athlete's performance.
Sometimes the breach of rules is clear, and despite somewhat comical appeals from the transgressor, the rules are firmly enforced. At other times, rules are bent slightly and excused as ‘sportsmanship’—such as a football player feigning injury to waste time at the end of a match. There are also darker moments when the line between competitive sportsmanship and cheating becomes blurred.
Performance-enhancing substances are, unfortunately, now a part of sport. It is a cancer that eats away at the very essence of what I love about competition. I believe we cannot ignore this reality, and we must prepare future athletes with the knowledge and moral compass to understand right from wrong and make the right decisions when faced with temptation or external pressures.
At BISS Puxi, I work with an exceptional group of sports educators who lead by example. I hope to contribute some of my real-world experience from my time in athletics to help students grow in this area.
React at the B of the Bang
"Go at the B of the Bang" is a phrase coined by Linford Christie, an athlete who paved the way for many like me toward Olympic gold. Christie pushed the boundaries of what was possible and achieved significant breakthroughs in British athletics.
There is a rule that has caught both me and Christie out—the "Anticipation of the Gun" rule. This rule states that an athlete cannot react faster than 0.1 seconds after the sound of the starting gun. If an athlete reacts faster than 0.1 seconds, they are considered to be gaining an unfair advantage by anticipating the start, effectively jumping the gun.
The start is critical. You can win or lose a race in the first milliseconds. Any advantage is crucial in elite performance. Both Christie and I have been disqualified for reacting too quickly off the blocks—Christie at a World Championship and myself at a Diamond League Grand Prix.
There is a fine line between breaking the rule and competing aggressively at an elite level. Even top athletes can get caught up in the myriad of regulations. You have to study the rules, know them, and be accountable to them.
Micro-doping is different—it’s very clear that it’s illegal. To be clear, the majority of athletes are clean and are great ambassadors for their sport. They work hard to compete on a level playing field and truly love the sport. However, micro-doping has become a growing issue in sport. Some may regard it as a grey area, but for me, it's clearly wrong.
Our genetics provide a map of who we are. We all have unique levels of hormones that define us. Testosterone, for example, significantly impacts an athlete’s performance, aiding in muscle growth, increasing strength, and accelerating recovery. This allows athletes to push through intense lactic acid build-ups that would normally take days to recover from.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has set limits on the levels of certain substances, including testosterone, based on the natural maximums found in the human body. Micro-doping involves synthetically increasing these levels—via injections—just within the legal limits allowed by the IAAF.
Is this breaking the rules, or is it simply leveling the playing field? Is it right or wrong? For me, the answer is clear: this is illegal and a clear violation of the rules. Elite performance is about competing with the body you were born with, improving through training, hard work, and a natural diet. Some might argue that caffeine is a stimulant and is socially accepted, but it also enhances performance. Technically, any health supplement can enhance performance in various ways—so where does the line get drawn? This is where the line becomes blurred.
The lack of transparency in micro-doping undermines the spirit of clean sport and erodes trust among athletes, spectators, and sponsors who believe that the athletes they watch are competing fairly.
I have faced the temptations that come with sport. I’ve navigated the grey areas of regulations and chosen to follow the clean path. I’ve heard voices trying to lead me down the wrong road. For an ambitious young athlete, it’s not an easy decision. But in the end, you must follow your own moral compass and choose to do things the right way.
The IAAF is fighting back against those exploiting micro-doping through the Athlete Biological Passport. This is a blood test that measures the natural levels of substances in an athlete’s body. If an athlete’s levels rise suspiciously, it triggers an investigation. If proven guilty, the athlete faces a ban.
Drugs & Drug Testing
There is no excuse for drugs in sports. They undermine the very essence of competition and threaten everything that professional athletes stand for. Governing bodies are continuously developing more sophisticated methods to monitor athletes and ensure they are clean.
I have never, at any point, taken performance-enhancing drugs. This allows me to enjoy the victories of the past and work with young athletes today with a clear conscience, sending a message that you can win gold—and you can win it clean.
Professional athletes are tested randomly. I was required to provide the authorities with my whereabouts for one hour of every day. This was documented via a website, and most athletes set their “whereabouts” for early morning when they are typically at home in bed, to avoid missing a test. So, if I had a knock on my door at 6 a.m., I would often find a WADA anti-doping officer there, and I would gladly welcome the test.
This system works well—except when you’re in competition. In 2006, during a busy training and competition period, I had booked an early (and very cheap!) flight to an event. I usually pride myself on being organised, ensuring that I have everything—sponsored items, event passes, and all the essentials. But that morning, I forgot to update my whereabouts on the drug testing website.
As I sat waiting for my flight to depart, my phone buzzed. My heart sank. The drug testing team had arrived at my apartment for a random test, but I wasn’t there.
It was my fault. As an athlete, despite the support from Team GB, you are 100% responsible for your actions regarding drug testing. It was an honest mistake, but a silly one, and I learned from it quickly. From that point on, updating my whereabouts became an integral part of my routine. At the time, missing three tests could result in a three-month ban, which would be disastrous for both training and competition. I was lucky, but it’s a mistake I never made again.
The Future of Athletics
I believe that tackling the misinterpretation of rules and drugs in sport begins with education. The future of the sport lies in schools, colleges, and training clubs around the world. At BISS Puxi, we take a firm stance: cheating is unacceptable at any level of sport.
We go a step further by discussing values in sport. This helps students develop a moral compass that enables them to make the right decisions outside of school.
Those who cheat, in any area of life, will never truly learn the valuable lessons that come from success.
It’s easy to tell people to always follow the rules, but having competed at the highest level, I understand the strength of the competition and the temptation to win at any cost. Only with a solid moral compass can young people make the right decisions, ensuring they follow the right path and propel themselves—and the sport they love—toward even greater heights.
The Contradiction
I’ve been asked about a new athletic event that’s been making waves, one that pushes the boundaries of sport and raises serious ethical questions. This competition, The Super Human Games, is essentially a free-for-all where athletes are allowed to use any substances—legal or illegal—without the limitations imposed by traditional sport governing bodies like the IAAF. The goal? To determine who the fastest, strongest, and most extraordinary athlete is, but without any of the usual rules or regulations.
My first thought is that this is wrong on so many levels! But then, there’s a part of me that feels a “natural” curiosity about how athletes will perform in this unrestrained environment. What kind of human potential can be unlocked when all the rules are removed? How fast could an athlete sprint the 100m? However, my initial reaction quickly turns to the athletes and the potential dangers of this approach. The risks of over-medication and the misuse of performance-enhancing substances are substantial. Athletes could easily fall into the trap of over-prescribing or abusing drugs to gain a competitive edge, with little regard for their long-term health.
My main concern lies in the physical and psychological toll this could take. The temptation to continually push the limits of human performance using increasingly powerful drugs could lead to a spike in drug addiction and abuse within the sport. The psychological impact—especially with issues like body dysmorphia—could be just as damaging. Athletes already face immense pressure, and in a competition like this, that pressure would be magnified to dangerous levels.
We could see a generation of athletes sacrificing their long-term health, both physically and mentally, for the sake of entertainment. The very essence of sport is meant to be about testing human limits within a framework of fairness, health, and integrity. The Super Human Games represents a contradiction to that. By allowing drugs—both legal and illegal—without any form of regulation, it risks creating a distorted and unhealthy version of athletic achievement.
While the event might capture attention and entertain viewers, we must ask ourselves: at what cost? The rise in over-medication and the normalization of drug abuse for the sake of competition could create a dangerous precedent in the world of sport. It’s a path that could lead to more athletes succumbing to addiction and other health issues, all for the sake of winning in a contest that disregards the very values that sport was built upon.
In the end, it’s essential to remember that true greatness doesn’t come from pushing the limits of what’s chemically possible. It comes from competing within a system that values fairness, health, and respect for the athlete's well-being—something that The Super Human Games, as they’re currently envisioned, may be in danger of forgetting.
Sometimes the breach of rules is clear, and despite somewhat comical appeals from the transgressor, the rules are firmly enforced. At other times, rules are bent slightly and excused as ‘sportsmanship’—such as a football player feigning injury to waste time at the end of a match. There are also darker moments when the line between competitive sportsmanship and cheating becomes blurred.
Performance-enhancing substances are, unfortunately, now a part of sport. It is a cancer that eats away at the very essence of what I love about competition. I believe we cannot ignore this reality, and we must prepare future athletes with the knowledge and moral compass to understand right from wrong and make the right decisions when faced with temptation or external pressures.
At BISS Puxi, I work with an exceptional group of sports educators who lead by example. I hope to contribute some of my real-world experience from my time in athletics to help students grow in this area.
React at the B of the Bang
"Go at the B of the Bang" is a phrase coined by Linford Christie, an athlete who paved the way for many like me toward Olympic gold. Christie pushed the boundaries of what was possible and achieved significant breakthroughs in British athletics.
There is a rule that has caught both me and Christie out—the "Anticipation of the Gun" rule. This rule states that an athlete cannot react faster than 0.1 seconds after the sound of the starting gun. If an athlete reacts faster than 0.1 seconds, they are considered to be gaining an unfair advantage by anticipating the start, effectively jumping the gun.
The start is critical. You can win or lose a race in the first milliseconds. Any advantage is crucial in elite performance. Both Christie and I have been disqualified for reacting too quickly off the blocks—Christie at a World Championship and myself at a Diamond League Grand Prix.
There is a fine line between breaking the rule and competing aggressively at an elite level. Even top athletes can get caught up in the myriad of regulations. You have to study the rules, know them, and be accountable to them.
Micro-doping is different—it’s very clear that it’s illegal. To be clear, the majority of athletes are clean and are great ambassadors for their sport. They work hard to compete on a level playing field and truly love the sport. However, micro-doping has become a growing issue in sport. Some may regard it as a grey area, but for me, it's clearly wrong.
Our genetics provide a map of who we are. We all have unique levels of hormones that define us. Testosterone, for example, significantly impacts an athlete’s performance, aiding in muscle growth, increasing strength, and accelerating recovery. This allows athletes to push through intense lactic acid build-ups that would normally take days to recover from.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has set limits on the levels of certain substances, including testosterone, based on the natural maximums found in the human body. Micro-doping involves synthetically increasing these levels—via injections—just within the legal limits allowed by the IAAF.
Is this breaking the rules, or is it simply leveling the playing field? Is it right or wrong? For me, the answer is clear: this is illegal and a clear violation of the rules. Elite performance is about competing with the body you were born with, improving through training, hard work, and a natural diet. Some might argue that caffeine is a stimulant and is socially accepted, but it also enhances performance. Technically, any health supplement can enhance performance in various ways—so where does the line get drawn? This is where the line becomes blurred.
The lack of transparency in micro-doping undermines the spirit of clean sport and erodes trust among athletes, spectators, and sponsors who believe that the athletes they watch are competing fairly.
I have faced the temptations that come with sport. I’ve navigated the grey areas of regulations and chosen to follow the clean path. I’ve heard voices trying to lead me down the wrong road. For an ambitious young athlete, it’s not an easy decision. But in the end, you must follow your own moral compass and choose to do things the right way.
The IAAF is fighting back against those exploiting micro-doping through the Athlete Biological Passport. This is a blood test that measures the natural levels of substances in an athlete’s body. If an athlete’s levels rise suspiciously, it triggers an investigation. If proven guilty, the athlete faces a ban.
Drugs & Drug Testing
There is no excuse for drugs in sports. They undermine the very essence of competition and threaten everything that professional athletes stand for. Governing bodies are continuously developing more sophisticated methods to monitor athletes and ensure they are clean.
I have never, at any point, taken performance-enhancing drugs. This allows me to enjoy the victories of the past and work with young athletes today with a clear conscience, sending a message that you can win gold—and you can win it clean.
Professional athletes are tested randomly. I was required to provide the authorities with my whereabouts for one hour of every day. This was documented via a website, and most athletes set their “whereabouts” for early morning when they are typically at home in bed, to avoid missing a test. So, if I had a knock on my door at 6 a.m., I would often find a WADA anti-doping officer there, and I would gladly welcome the test.
This system works well—except when you’re in competition. In 2006, during a busy training and competition period, I had booked an early (and very cheap!) flight to an event. I usually pride myself on being organised, ensuring that I have everything—sponsored items, event passes, and all the essentials. But that morning, I forgot to update my whereabouts on the drug testing website.
As I sat waiting for my flight to depart, my phone buzzed. My heart sank. The drug testing team had arrived at my apartment for a random test, but I wasn’t there.
It was my fault. As an athlete, despite the support from Team GB, you are 100% responsible for your actions regarding drug testing. It was an honest mistake, but a silly one, and I learned from it quickly. From that point on, updating my whereabouts became an integral part of my routine. At the time, missing three tests could result in a three-month ban, which would be disastrous for both training and competition. I was lucky, but it’s a mistake I never made again.
The Future of Athletics
I believe that tackling the misinterpretation of rules and drugs in sport begins with education. The future of the sport lies in schools, colleges, and training clubs around the world. At BISS Puxi, we take a firm stance: cheating is unacceptable at any level of sport.
We go a step further by discussing values in sport. This helps students develop a moral compass that enables them to make the right decisions outside of school.
Those who cheat, in any area of life, will never truly learn the valuable lessons that come from success.
It’s easy to tell people to always follow the rules, but having competed at the highest level, I understand the strength of the competition and the temptation to win at any cost. Only with a solid moral compass can young people make the right decisions, ensuring they follow the right path and propel themselves—and the sport they love—toward even greater heights.
The Contradiction
I’ve been asked about a new athletic event that’s been making waves, one that pushes the boundaries of sport and raises serious ethical questions. This competition, The Super Human Games, is essentially a free-for-all where athletes are allowed to use any substances—legal or illegal—without the limitations imposed by traditional sport governing bodies like the IAAF. The goal? To determine who the fastest, strongest, and most extraordinary athlete is, but without any of the usual rules or regulations.
My first thought is that this is wrong on so many levels! But then, there’s a part of me that feels a “natural” curiosity about how athletes will perform in this unrestrained environment. What kind of human potential can be unlocked when all the rules are removed? How fast could an athlete sprint the 100m? However, my initial reaction quickly turns to the athletes and the potential dangers of this approach. The risks of over-medication and the misuse of performance-enhancing substances are substantial. Athletes could easily fall into the trap of over-prescribing or abusing drugs to gain a competitive edge, with little regard for their long-term health.
My main concern lies in the physical and psychological toll this could take. The temptation to continually push the limits of human performance using increasingly powerful drugs could lead to a spike in drug addiction and abuse within the sport. The psychological impact—especially with issues like body dysmorphia—could be just as damaging. Athletes already face immense pressure, and in a competition like this, that pressure would be magnified to dangerous levels.
We could see a generation of athletes sacrificing their long-term health, both physically and mentally, for the sake of entertainment. The very essence of sport is meant to be about testing human limits within a framework of fairness, health, and integrity. The Super Human Games represents a contradiction to that. By allowing drugs—both legal and illegal—without any form of regulation, it risks creating a distorted and unhealthy version of athletic achievement.
While the event might capture attention and entertain viewers, we must ask ourselves: at what cost? The rise in over-medication and the normalization of drug abuse for the sake of competition could create a dangerous precedent in the world of sport. It’s a path that could lead to more athletes succumbing to addiction and other health issues, all for the sake of winning in a contest that disregards the very values that sport was built upon.
In the end, it’s essential to remember that true greatness doesn’t come from pushing the limits of what’s chemically possible. It comes from competing within a system that values fairness, health, and respect for the athlete's well-being—something that The Super Human Games, as they’re currently envisioned, may be in danger of forgetting.
