BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - GLOBAL sprint icon and former 100 metres World Champion Kim Collins is urging fellow athletes to take responsibility for themselves in the backdrop of the recent failed drugs tests by a number top sprinters.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of this weekend Olympic Anniversary Games to be held in London, Collins said once athletes step onto the track they become under scrutiny based on mistakes by their counterparts in the past.
“The sad thing about especially sprinting, there are so many persons over the years have done things. Every athlete, in my opinion, is under scrutiny. Once we step on the track there is somebody who will say I don’t trust him or I don’t trust her, and it is just part of life.”
He added that they could not control what other athletes partake in, but urged others to take a responsible approach.
“We cannot control what happens when other persons do things, but we should try to be responsible for ourselves so that we don’t fail drug test and that we are clean, and that is what we got to be concerned about. We can’t control what other persons do!”
Collins also used himself as an example for being successful as an athlete who does not use performance enhancing drugs.
“I don’t think other sports test as much as track and field why you would find so many things coming out. I think one of the things some people believe is that you have to do it, and persons like myself and others have proven you don’t have to.
“If you take care of your body and rest properly you would be surprised you can do it year after year and have the same or better performance.”
He further stated that when athletes used drugs it would be seen as a disappointment to young athletes who see them as their role models.
“You come you watch the sport and you have so many kids that look up to us as athletes, and you find out that this person wasn’t really who they say they were. To me, when it happens, it breaks the hearts of the kids because they are the one who are going to come into the sport later on and do other things because they are the future.
“They are the ones who are most impacted on in all of this. We are adults and sometime we see and know this, but when the kids are hurt, to me, that is the sad thing about it.”
Tyson Gay of the USA as well as five Jamaicans, including former World Champion Asafa Powell and Olympic medallist Sherone Simpson, were tested positive for banned substances during the last month.
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