Madam, - While Cathal Lombard's recent admission has caused dismay in sporting circles, we should not lose sight of the bigger picture. When was the last time that anyone else - in any area impinging on Irish public life - admitted guilt so unambiguously as Lombard?
In particular, our political representatives have much to learn from him. Like him, some of them have been guilty of serious misdemeanours. But instead of taking it on the chin, they have sheltered in subterfuge.
Cathal Lombard has accepted personal responsibility for his actions in a manner that would please the ghost of Jean-Paul Sartre. Perhaps one day his admission will be seen as one of the swallows that heralded a summer of greater honesty in all areas of Irish public life. - Yours, etc.,
JIM McCARTHY, Serpentine Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4.
Madam, - In the 1904 Olympics in St Louis, the marathon was won by Tom Hicks, who was dosed with brandy and strychnine to ease his pain 10 miles before the finish. This had the effect of nearly killing him. In the same race Fred Lorz actually crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for availing of the comfort and efficiency of the newly invented automobile and taking a lift for 11 miles.
At the same games Zoltan Halmay, a Hungarian swimmer, was the victim of a home-town decision as the American judge awarded Scott Leary the race though he had lost by a foot. After a brawl it was re-raced and Halmay won.
So, 100 years on, has that much really changed? In top-level sport the desire to win is so great that people will always cheat if they think they can get away with it. Patriotism gives rise to bias, cover-ups and conspiracies by officials and judges. Is it really that strange that two Greek runners were allowed to spend the weekend in a hospital avoiding their drug tests? I wonder: did they have motorbikes back in 1904? - Yours, etc.,
EMMET RYAN, Glenwood, Carrigaline, Co Cork.