Opinion | Left field: Wong makes us all look like dopes
Disgraced cyclist's drugs case exposes more than just a positivetest as cycling authorities shy away from the truth
What is with all these cyclists? It seems that those who ride professionally cannot get on their bikes without a jab of a performance-enhancing substance.
Hong Kong had its own "Lance Armstrong" case this past week when it emerged that Asian Games gold medallist Steven Wong had tested positive for drugs and had been banned for two years by the international governing body of cycling.
In the wake of the Armstrong saga, the news that a Hong Kong athlete, too, had been tested positive didn't really come as a huge surprise. Perhaps it is because we have become blasé about it all, resulting in the perception that cycling goes hand in hand with doping just like two star-crossed lovers.
But what was surprising was the how long it took for all this to come out into the public view. Wong, who won the gold medal in the BMX event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou three years ago, tested positive last April. Two months later, in June, after he didn't appeal, the International Cycling Union (UCI) slapped the ban on him.
If you count it back, it is nine months since he was tested positive and seven months since the two-year suspension was meted out on Wong. Why is it that the public only gets to know what happened now?
Why didn't the Hong Kong Cycling Association inform everyone that one of its athletes had tested positive? Why didn't the Hong Kong Sports Institute come out and say one of its former elite athletes had been banned for two years? Why didn't the Hong Kong Olympic Committee own up about their gold medallist?
It would be naïve to think that the authorities hoped to cover up this embarrassment and thought that they could get away with it. Hong Kong is too small a place for them to get away with something like this. So was this an oversight on the part of officialdom?
