SportsShoes Blog

Unfortunately in the quest for stardom and riches I guess it’s inevitable that some athletes will reach for the medicine cupboard to improve their performance.

Now I must admit to having taken my fair share of Ibuprofen tablets as I staggered round Mont Blanc and a couple in the Fellsman last year but in general I hate cheating in all its forms - I think it destroys the whole meaning of sport which to me is to try as hard as you possibly can and when all’s done the best ‘man’ wins.

I’ve just finished reading a book titled ‘the Death of Marco Pantani’ - for anyone who doesn’t know, Pantani was hailed as one of the best cyclists in the world in the early to mid 90s - that was until his fondness for stuffing his body with r-EPO and Cocaine was revealed to the general public at which point he quickly sniffed his way to an early grave.

To me the actions of Pantani and countless other cyclists kill not only themselves but the sport they allegedly love. As a keen cyclist myself and a lover of all endurance sports I still wonder if I’m watching ‘real’ humans every July as they ‘whizz’ around France in Le Tour.

One thing’s for sure, when I’m old and grey(er) I will be able to look back on what I achieved and know that it was all done through hard work and determination.

I’ve now just started another book about an athlete whose body was also pumped full of drugs - but this time it’s someone I’m immensley proud of - Jane Tomlinson proved to us all what the human body could achieve in the face of massive adversity if only one is willing to apply a huge dollop of courage and determination.

In March it’s Bingley Harriers’ club dinner and we have Mike Tomlinson Jane’s husband coming to speak - I can’t wait and I’m sure it will be humbling, motivational and tear jerking all at the same time.

As for my cunning plan - things are progressing well - I’m nearly ready to go public with the idea and I’ve already selected my charity - Jane’s Appeal.

Hope you’re still getting these posts as I notice they’re not appearing the ‘Latest Blog Posts’ section…..

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Andy Nicoll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.