WATCH: Moray hammer thrower Mark Dry returns from doping ban 'miscarriage of justice' to throw Commonwealth Games qualifying distance
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IT wasn't the furthest that Olympian Mark Dry has ever thrown a hammer, but Sunday's 70-metre effort must have felt like one of his sweetest.
Banned for four years from athletics for nothing more than falsely reporting his whereabouts to the United Kingdom Anti-Doping authority (UKAD), the 34-year-old has fought tirelessly to clear his name.
It was the latest major obstacle in a career which has also seen Dry dumped from a British Athletics world class funding programme, then crippled by serious injury leading to reconstructive hip surgery.
The athlete overcame all previous setbacks to compete at the Olympics in Rio in 2016 as well as the last three Commonwealth Games, winning bronze medals at two of them.
Even when his highly controversial ban was reduced to 28 months last year, any hopes of Dry competing at his fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer looked lost.
He was only able to return to his sport last month, having not competed for three-and-a-half years for his alleged tampering of the anti-doping process.
The former Elgin Amateur Athletics Club athlete made his comeback in a January winter throws event in Hull.
Denied suitable training facilities during his forced sabbatical and being a long way off competitive fitness, his modest best throw of 64.89 metres on his first event back was entirely understandable.
Two weeks later he entered the Winter Throws Invitation meeting in Woodford, Essex without any high expectations.
But against all odds he produced a winning throw of 70.03 metres which sparked a roar of delight from Dry, who was brought up in Burghead, where his family still lives.
He expressed his delight on Facebook at reaching a distance which is within the Commonwealth Games qualifying criteria for this summer's Birmingham Games.
And while selection for the Scotland team remains firmly in the balance, his performance was a significant step on the road back towards international standard.
"Not a pretty throw and way slower than it feels, but today I got more comfortable and combatted the nerves better and threw 70.03 which in normal circumstances compared to my PB isn't very exciting," he said.
"But given I have a metal hip and the last 4 years......it is very exciting, in my own little world anyway.
"Honestly what a day! I got to do what I used to love doing again and was a little better prepared this time!
"I warmed up well and executed better through the nerves. I threw 69m something first round and had a small emotional meltdown.
"I went 70.03 in the second, then just went after it as the rain came down to get some feeling back under pressure to just attack, so honestly couldn't have asked for a better day and start to what is a very unknown season.
"Never been so happy throwing metal around in the rain with friends."
Dry would need to throw over 70 metres in competition a second time to come into consideration with the Scotland selectors for the Commonwealths, and he is realistic about his chances.
"Just to clarify for some, this doesn't mean I'm going or have been selected for Birmingham. That decision comes down the line, but I have now thrown the qualifying distance and managed to make it start with a 7 which is a lovely mental barrier to break down.
"Now to just enjoy the journey as I've already over achieved this season and cannot wait to move forward and catch up with you all."
It was a trip north to see his parents in Burghead which led to Dry being banned, a punishment which sparked an outcry of sympathy from across the entire sporting world.
Initially told by the UKAD he would face no consequences for failing to declare his visit to Moray while doping control officers were calling at his English home to check on his whereabouts as part of the anti-doping system.
Even when he was charged, his case was taken to a National Anti-Doping Panel who ruled that no breach had taken place and cleared him.
However, the UKAD successfully appealed that decision late in 2019, and Dry was banned from athletics for four years.
“This isn’t a case of me just disagreeing with the decision, this is a miscarriage of justice and the law hasn’t been applied correctly,” Dry said at the time. “There’s clearly a problem with the ruling.
“How can two panels who are supposed to come to the same conclusion come to completely polar opposite decisions? That clearly highlights that there is a discrepancy in the rule, which means they have to be analysed by a third party.
“They are just desperate for me to drop this, thinking ‘he’ll get tired and he’ll give it up’ - and I absolutely will not. This isn’t about me any more, it’s about defending what’s right in sport.”
“I’ve got the cleanest track record, equal to anyone in Britain and they have thrown the book at me.”
Dry had initially failed to log his location with the authorities, a filing failure offence which carries no more punishment than a strike against his name. Even three strikes in a year would have simply led to him being referred from the domestic testing pool (DTP) he was part of, to a registered testing pool (RTP) carrying the same three-strikes which, if breached could mean a maximum two-year ban.
The athlete, keen to avoid a first strike and any kind of blemish to his clean sporting record, admits he made an innocent mistake by telling the authorities that he went fishing on the day of the officers’ check of his home.
Recovering from his hip surgery, he made the decision to visit his parents in Burghead, who he hadn’t seen in months. The timing of the trip was in order to travel with his girlfriend, who works as a teacher and was on half-term holiday.
At the same time, anti-doping personnel called at his home address, got no answer and spoke to a neighbour who mentioned how Dry had mentioned a trip north.
“They’ve asked me why I was not home and I’ve just said I was out fishing. When they asked me about Scotland I said no, a natural reaction not to get in trouble. I didn’t think it was serious because they had sent me a letter saying there were no consequences for a filing failure.”
When told an investigation would be launched, Dry admitted he had lied about his fishing trip and then gave the authorities a signed statement, apologising and saying he was keen to avoid a strike against his fully-clean record in athletics.
But that lie led to events spiralling from “no consequences” to a charge under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, which accused him of “conduct which subverts the doping control process”. His alleged crime was tampering with the system by “providing fraudulent information”. However , World Athletics anti-doping regulations label tampering as “engaging in any fraudulent conduct to alter results or to prevent normal procedures from occurring”.
“You can’t have a conversation with anyone who says what I did was tampering,” Dry claimed. “I’m not a fraud or a cheat. I’m not deceitful.
“What I did was stupid and it was a lie. A throwaway thing in the spur of the moment, a human error and one which I admitted and I stand by is incorrect.”
No stranger to making incredible sporting comebacks, Dry is back on the competitive field and clearly determined to make up for lost time.
