Michelle Smith Medals

I was discussing this with a friend earlier. They kept saying that Katie was first Olympic gold since Carruth (1992) and they did not say 'in boxing'.

I studied the story when it broke in the 1990s and I was utterly convinced that Michelle Smith was doping before and after 1996. She probably should have retired but the fact she never won a World Championship medal kept her going.

I think she should now do 1 of the following;

a) Admit she took drugs and move on
or
b) Defend her name. If she feels her medals are being unfairly airbrushed from history, take legal proceedings (I believe she did law since). Why is she so quiet about it all?
 
why should she have to defend her name ....if she is being accused of cheating when she won her medals, the surely the onus is on her accusers to prove she did in fact cheat!
 
Birroc said:
I was discussing this with a friend earlier. They kept saying that Katie was first Olympic gold since Carruth (1992) and they did not say 'in boxing'.
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Isn't there something deeply wrong with this? We can hold and alter opinions to suit ourselves, we can't make up our own facts.

Even using the phrase first 'untarnished' medal since 1992 would suffice.
 
Birroc said:
If she feels her medals are being unfairly airbrushed from history, take legal proceedings
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Sorry, how can she take legal proceedings against a journalist or reporter who would presumably just turn around and say 'oops, I forgot about Michelle, sorry about that"?
 
T McGibney said:
Sorry, how can she take legal proceedings against a journalist or reporter who would presumably just turn around and say 'oops, I forgot about Michelle, sorry about that"?
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I am talking about TV commentators, they continually ignore the Michelle Smith medals. One legal proceeding would sort out the awkwardness once and for all. Most people realise they are tarnished but she still has them so they should be recognised.
 
It was also mentioned on the introduction to the Vincent Browne show on TV3 that Taylor was our first female gold medalist.
 
Birroc said:
One legal proceeding would sort out the awkwardness once and for all.
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Prosecution: Did you take performance enhancing drugs ?

Defence: I did not

Prosecution: Did too

Defence: Did not

Prosecution: Did too

et cetera ad infinitum

 
Birroc said:
I am talking about TV commentators, they continually ignore the Michelle Smith medals. One legal proceeding would sort out the awkwardness once and for all. Most people realise they are tarnished but she still has them so they should be recognised.
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You can't sue a TV commentator for ignoring something. Any attempted legal proceedings mounted on such a basis would be dismissed as frivolous once the laughter had died down.
 
T McGibney said:
You can't sue a TV commentator for ignoring something. Any attempted legal proceedings mounted on such a basis would be dismissed as frivolous once the laughter had died down.
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I am sure Smith is glad you are not her legal counsel. I am also sure you could make a case against RTE outlining where every single one of their commentators chose to dismiss her 3 gold medals (how do you forget an Irish athlete with 3 Golds?) with constant incorrect statements e.g. "first Irish woman to get gold", "first gold since 1992". Surely they were instructed to do so. I am sure the thorny issue came up at a senior level and instructions were given.

I am not sure why I am defending Smith because I am convinced she was doping but the silence and awkwardness is annoying and two-faced.
 
RTE setting their stall out early here anyway

[broken link removed]

"Cadbury, proud sponsor of Team Ireland, and RTÉ Sport want you to vote for your favourite Irish Olympic moment."

Choose between

A. Ronnie Delaney, Melbourne 1956 (gold medal)
B. John Treacy, Los Angeles 1984 (silver medal)
C. Michael Carruth, Barcelona 1992 (gold medal)
D. Sonia O'Sullivan, Sydney 2000 (silver medal)

At least in the blurb about Sonia it states "She became only the second Irish woman to win an Olympic medal, after Michelle Smith"
 
The biggest victim............

Her Dad.....have heard him on several occasions being emphatic about her innocence.......this man (like lots of others) brought her to training @ 5am morning after morning for years....only to end up spending his life protesting her innocence, I really pity that man.

Roy
 
i guess the man is only doing what any farther would do for his daughter, considering the fact that there was never any wrong doing proven against her, hence she still retains all her medals.
 
blueband said:
i guess the man is only doing what any farther would do for his daughter, considering the fact that there was never any wrong doing proven against her, hence she still retains all her medals.
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There was wrong doing proven against her - namely the tampering with a urine sample. This occurred after the 1996 Olympics. Hence she retained her medals.
 
I think gianni makes his point very clear blueband ... I don't get your confusion??

and your point about the thread title? gianni does reference the medals.
 
PaddyBloggit said:
I think gianni makes his point very clear blueband ... I don't get your confusion??

and your point about the thread title? gianni does reference the medals.
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i dont think im confusied at all! there was no wrong doing ever proven against the girl when she won her medals, what happend or didnt happen after that is irrelevant, if gianni has factual proof that she did indeed cheat during the 1996 olympics ,then let him/her put it out on the table so we all can see it! otherwise they are simply engaged in gossip and heresay.
 

You are right. And Sonia O' Sullivan should cop herself on as well if she thinks she was robbed by those three Chineese athletes in the 1993 world championships. And that world record in the womens 1500m that the Chinesse woman set that still stands today was an amazing achievement by an amazing athelete.

I seem to remember the Irish kicking up a fuss about drug cheats at that time despite nothing being proved. Of course, when they are Irish medals at stake it's different.
 

The comparison to 1993 is a reasonable one. We don't say Sonia won gold on that occasion no matter how hard done she was by probable cheats. It's a historic fact that the chinese won the medals and that has never changed.
 
DerKaiser said:
The comparison to 1993 is a reasonable one. We don't say Sonia won gold on that occasion no matter how hard done she was by probable cheats. It's a historic fact that the chinese won the medals and that has never changed.
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Of course we don't say Sonia won gold. Even Sonia wouldn't say she won gold. No athlete would claim glory under those circumstances just like no other swimmer is trying to claim a gold medal off Michelle Smith from 1996. But I do not recognise that world record or those medals. And I don't recognise Michelle Smiths medals or records either. And I don't care what the record books state.
 
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