Christine Ohuruogu can't run away from her past

By John Bagratuni Aug 30, 2007, 6:11 GMT

Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain celebrates after winning the 400m final at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan, 29 August 2007. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

Osaka, Japan - Although Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown was one of the first to congratulate Christine Ohuruogu for the nation's first gold in the women's 400 metres at the Osaka world championships, the controversial athlete is still under close scrutiny.

Ohuruogu won the world title on Wednesday night, just three weeks after the completion of a 1-year ban for missing three doping tests.

'She can run, but this golden girl can never hide from disasters of her past,' sports writer Simon Barnes wrote in the British daily The Times on Thursday.

The missed tests issue has become prominent with more and more athletes seeming to try dodging testers. The ruling body IAAF rates it one of the key issues in its future fight against doping.

In the case of Ohuruogu, the British ruling said that 'forgetfulness' was behind her missed tests.

But she can't run away from the suspicion in general, and the temporary threat by the sprinter of Nigerian heritage to run for another country did not help her case in the media. Add to it the fact that she is managed by Linford Christie, whose career ended over a drugs ban, has not gone unnoticed.

Now, some may also wonder how she managed to win the Osaka gold in a personal best 49.61 seconds in what was only the fifth race since her return.

The questioning is in an environment when leading athletes such as Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin have failed doping tests, and others like Kostas Kederis and Ekatherina Thanou infamously sped away from testers on a motorbike on the eve of their Athens home Olympics.

'The trouble with drugs in sport is they get everywhere, into every nook and cranny of what used to be an uncomplicated reaction to the kind of triumph Christine Ohuruogu delivered for Britain,' said columnist James Lawton in Britain's The Independent on Thursday.

Ohoruogu's coach Lloyd Cowan insisted ahead of Osaka that she had already been tested eight times in 2007 and all returned negative.

The athlete herself at the post-race news conference lashed out at those in the media critical of her return.

'I'd like to say that just because people write things, it doesn't necessarily mean that they know what they're talking about. They don't see you working every day. They don't see what you put yourself through. So as far as I'm concerned people can write what they like.

'I think all the negativity has done nothing but just spur me on. I'm very pleased and I'm very proud that despite everything I managed to get my head down and still keep working.'

Ohuruogu's talent, which she first proved with a Commonwealth Games gold in March 2006, helped her on to the British team for Osaka. But the move also showed that UK Athletics is ready to give her another chance.

But as much as Ohuruogu delighted about the gold, her fight is not over yet as she is appealing a life ban from the Olympics which the British Olympic committee imposes on all athletes who are punished over anti-doping violations.

'I am hoping it (the appeal) will swing my way now. There are precedents for it, I'm hoping that's the case. I'm number one in the world now and it would be a shame if I wasn't in the Olympics next year. You can put it that way. I want to be there,' Ohuruogu said.

Ohuruogu's chances appear not bad because world triathlon champion Tim Don was allowed to compete in the Olympics despite a similar offence.

However, this door is expected to be closed in the future for other athletes as the International Olympic Committee plans to ban those who serve doping-related bans from the next Olympics.