Ohuruogu offers Murray testing advice

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:19

Legislation introduced from January 1 means players must report where they are for one hour of every day for the whole year so testers can call unannounced.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the Olympic 400 metres champion said: “I learned a painful lesson and my advice to Andy Murray is to lock his nominated hour into his daily training regime as far as possible, instead of chopping and changing his times every day.”

Anyone who misses three tests in an 18-month period could be suspended for up to two years.

Murray has labelled the new rules as “draconian” but Ohuruogu, who served a one-year ban for missing three tests, believes it is “only right” that all sports should be subject to the same rules.

Ohuruogu added: “I am not for one moment suggesting that there should not be an out-of-competition drug-testing system.

“It is a price we have to pay for the privilege of competing in sport at the highest level.

“But what I do hope comes out of the debate is a public recognition of how hard it is and the burden it places on athletes to stay within the rules.

“We are athletes but we are also human, with human fallibilities. Sometimes things don’t always go to plan, which is why I ended up missing tests.

“I try to stick to between 7 and 8am and I’m pretty paranoid about it. I’ve fallen foul of the system once and I don’t want to fall foul again.”

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