Australian swimmer Mack Horton's "brave" stance against drugs in sport has shone a spotlight on the lack of confidence in the anti-doping system, a sports integrity forum was told on Tuesday night.
Retired middle-distance runner Tamsyn Manou described as commendable Horton’s decision to protest Chinese swimmer Sun Yang’s gold medal win at the FINA World Championships in Korea on Sunday.
Tamsyn Manou, right, competing at the Ironbark Vineyards Women’s 400m event in 2012. Credit:Max Mason-Hubers
While O'Connell said she applauded Horton for respectfully "supporting a cause" and taking a stand against doping, she also highlighted the concerns Sun had about his blood sample not being tested "appropriately".
"Anyone who's ever had multi anti-doping testing knows that the process is a very important part of it," O'Connell said.
"I would be very terrified to think I would give urine [or] blood samples and they would be taken by a person who's not authorised, or taken to a place where you're not sure of the appropriateness.
"So for an athlete, if I was to take the other side, for Sun, he's facing some challenges … worrying about the rigorousness of that process – so you can perhaps see why they took those steps [smashing the vial]."
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