I was in no hurry to board my return flight to the northern hemisphere at the weekend. I didn’t want to leave the gorgeous Australian spring behind and return to the British winter. The shocking news from Paris and depressing reports of misconduct in Russian athletics only made the prospect even less enticing.
The majority of my trips abroad are work related but this was purely a holiday so I only managed to keep half an eye on the news. Now I am back in the UK it is still impossible to comprehend the true devastation and implications of the terror attacks in France - my thoughts are with the French.
Sport has also had a difficult week. Before the shocking events in Paris the Russian doping scandal was dominating the headlines and sending shock waves through the world of sport. There have been rumours building for the best part of a year although that is all they had ever been. The results of this investigation have surprised even the most cynical and the question is - what now? There will be numerous athletes waiting to be rewarded with medals retrospectively, not that that can ever repair the damage that has been done by the Russian athletes.
This leaves a huge question mark over the future of sport. It was only last year that wide spread doping in cycling was finally admitted. Football and the world governing body FIFA are under ongoing investigations into corruption and now one of the dominating nations in athletics has added to the black cloud hanging over sport. The Olympics, the largest international sporting event, is only nine months away. Athletes have a lot of hard work to do between now and Rio but nothing in comparison to those who govern the sports. I hope that by next summer all the athletes standing on the podium will be there purely as a result of their talent and determination.
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