Overturning his 'wrong' anti-doping four-year ban would give Moray hammer thrower Mark Dry a shot at the Olympics and another Commonwealth Games medal
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MARK Dry is refusing to give up on a shot at next year’s Olympics or a third consecutive Commonwealth Games podium place.
The Moray hammer thrower is fighting a four-year ban from international athletics imposed by the United Kingdom Anti-Doping authority (UKAD).
Dry (32) was cleared of charges relating to alleged tampering of the anti-doping process when he failed to declare a visit to family in Burghead. He then told the authorities he went on a fishing trip, a lie he admitted was a panicked attempt to avoid picking up a filing failure, an offence which carries no penalty.
Last week's full story: Dry fights to defend 'what's right in sport'.
The UKAD overturned an appeals panel’s decision not to punish Dry, and hit him with the maximum ban, which he described as a “huge miscarriage of justice”.
The former Elgin AAC athlete competed at the last Olympics in Rio four years ago, and won bronze at each of the last two Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Gold Coast.
He is an ambassador for clean sport with a clean record and is determined to battle his ban so he can continue to compete at the highest level.
“I came back from surgery [major hip reconstruction]and I threw 74.50, I was about to compete when they pulled this on me again and flipped the appeal,” he said.
“I was in shape to make the Olympics and it’s been moved back so obviously if I can get this done, I reckon I can make the Olympics if I can get back training.
“I would have made a good run for Birmingham 2022 [Commonwealth Games], I desperately would have liked another medal, which I think was realistic.
“There’s no way I could come back if I was out for four years. My body won’t be ready. I can’t train for four years and come back.
“I would have to stop athletics and work full-time for a few years, to then come back at 36 and start training again to get myself to major championships level – that would be nearly impossible.
“This cannot be allowed to happen.
“I’ve always fought for people who wouldn’t stand up for themselves and I’ve always stood up for myself and I will continue to do so.
“I want to inspire people that you don’t have to be the silver spoon, the tallest, the fastest or the best. I want to show that a kid from a fishing village in the middle of nowhere can make an Olympic Games by ignoring people when they tell you that you’re not good enough.
“That’s wrong, and what has happened to me isn’t right. Everyone from the outside sees that.”
