Cayman track star to sit on anti-doping committee

| 28/12/2010

(CNS): Our Commonwealth gold medallist has made Cayman history again, this time off the track. Cydonie Mothersill is the first Caymanian athlete selected to serve on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Committee. Established in 2005, the committee gives athletes worldwide a voice and protects their rights, while providing agency officials with insight and oversight into athletes’ roles and responsibilities as they relate to anti-doping. Her tenure as international athlete representative starts in January. She will serve a three-year term. “I am honoured to serve as a representative to all sportsmen and women,” Mothersill said.

“I believe it is important that WADA officials understand the unique challenges athletes face as we push ourselves dailyto reach the top," she continued. "In speaking up for this branch of the sporting fraternity, I hope to support WADA in developing sensible and effective drug detection and prevention strategies.”

As a member of this committee, Cydonie will also assist in raising awareness about anti-doping and will act as liaison between WADA and international and regional sport organisations as well as governments on the subject of anti-doping initiatives.

Sports Minister Mark Scotland extended his congratulations, describing it as another milestone for both Mothersill and the Cayman Islands. “Once more we have proof that our athletes are world-class, both on and off the track,” he said. “We believe Cydonie will serve the world’s athletes well but she will especially provide a reasoned voice as she represents our region. We wish her all the best with her appointment and with the work that lies ahead.”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Re African genes why are you afraid to admit that the lady is a Jamaican. Is it s hard for Caymanians to accept the truth that she is a Jamaican? What harm will the truth do?,

    Sanya Richards the great 400m runner from the USA  proudly describes herself as a Jamaican- American and no one in the uSA is flustered by her admission of being a Jamaican who migrated and gained USA citizenship.

    Get with the programme on truth.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Re are youserious. I see your Track knowledege very limited. The top three decided not to compete. I think you mean the top three from the commonwealth region. , At the real meets these persons would not have declined to compete you have also forgotten that at the real meets the top athletes from the rest of the world will be present making that the top six athletes over that distance. If you know anything about sports you would also know that the winning time  posted at the commonwelth games is rather slow in the real world of competition.

    On closing i would like to say that i admire Ms Mothersill ,however facts are facts. And by the way she is not a Caymanian with Caymanian genes.

     

     

  3. JEB says:

    Congratulations Cydonie…………………. Ignore the haters

    Wishing you success for the future

     

  4. Anonymous says:

     Can’t we just say, Congratulations" without taking it all away from her and bringing up her husband’s problems?  It’s his failing not her’s.

    We were singing praises when she won the medal.  What happened now?

    @ Thu, 12/30/2010 – 08:29.  Your comment really takes the cake.  She beat people younger than her and she’s not old.  There are people older than her running marathons.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      I do congratulate her, but at the same time her statements cannot be ignored. All she had to say was "Thanks, I will do my best….". Instead, she chose to made a statement that cannot be ignored. The more cynical will immediately make the comparison of Marion Jones and CJ Hunter.

      In 2000 CJ Hunter, then the husband of Marion Jones tested positive for steriods. Most of the world came to the defense of the "golden girl" who could not possibly be taking drugs, while the cynics wondered how he could be on drugs without her knowing about it. Seven years later Marion Jones admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs from BALCO back in 2000 at the same time as her husband.

      People will want to know how her husband could inject himself with these difficult to obtain steroids without her knowledge, and what does she really mean when she says “I believe it is important that WADA officials understand the unique challenges athletes face as we push ourselves daily to reach the top,"

      Cydonie needs to make a statement, and the sooner the better.

    • Anonymous says:

      Well said! plus they are people older than her running Track. 

  5. Anonymous says:

    Cydonie days as an athlete are near th eend. Remember when she got the gold medal at the Commonwealth games the top 6 female athletes in the world over the distance were not present. It will be very difficult to beat them in the real meets such as olympics & world championships. 

    • Anonymous says:

      are you serious???? so its her fault that those runners decided not to compete at the games? not to mention you need to know your information before you write stuff. The top 3 runners decided not to compete. Would you like me to name them? this is just stupid. Stop being so negative. And you must be Jesus himself to know that she wont or cant beat them. She has made so many finals and Commonwealth is a REAL meet. Get over yourself and stop hating. You probably have not done anything for your country and just critical about what she has done for hers. 

      Cant just realize the importance of this appointment????? probably not, cause you are small minded.

  6. Anonymous says:

    lets be honest…….. isnt she really jamaican?

  7. Anonymous says:

    she needs to retire and train the furture track stars of the Cayman Islands…….she cant represent Cayman forever on the track.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Ato Stephens (born Ato Modibo; 19 June, 1979) is a sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago who specialises in the 400 metres. He won a bronze medal at the 2003 CAC Championships, and took the silver at the 2005 edition. He is married to Cydonie Mothersille, a sprinter for the Cayman Islands.

    He has competed at the Summer Olympics three times, but did not progress beyond the heats at the 2000, 2004 or 2008 editions. Stephens ran at the World Championships in Athletics in 2001, 2005 and 2007. He has also represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 4×400 metres relay. His best performances in major competitions include a third place finish in the semifinals at the 2007 World Championships and fourth in the semifinals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

    He failed a drugs test at an international competition in May 2009, testing positive for Oxandrolone, Stanozolol and Tamoxifen.[1] He was banned from competition for two years for the infraction.[2]

  9. Anonymous says:

    great post, great article…. sad to hear ambiguous comments from cydonie and where is the statement about her husbands drug taking?

    • Anonymous says:

      This sounds so familiar on another athlete that came here, Cayman put her on a pedestal and her and her husband had tested positive.  The worst part of it, she kept denying it!!!!

      REMEMBER??????

  10. John Evans says:

    Sad fact of life that using performance enhancing drugs is symptomatic of the vast amounts of money professional athletes can make.

    The days when the problem was limited to Eastern European countries who regarded domination in sports as a projection of their superiority are long gone and now the motivation seems to be pure greed.
     
    Maybe the time has come to create linkage between the amounts of money earned by cheating athletes (like asset seizure in crime) and the penalties imposed when they are caught, rather than the current system of simply taking away medals and banning them from competition. Properly implemented it could create a ‘win, win’ situation with the cheats’ actions actually being made to benefit the sports involved.
    I suspect (as suggested by a previous comment) it is also time for the sporting community to put an end to the notion that drug-taking adult athletes are innocent victims of outside pressures. However charitable this may be, it sends out the wrong message to both the sporting community and the watching public.

    If you really want to remove the ‘outside pressures’ the regulating bodies need to go back to the old days (which I remember well) with strict limits in place to halt the ridiculous amounts ofmoney currently being poured into international competition and personal sponsorship.

  11. Anonymous says:

     

    With respect to the previous poster, it may be hard for Cydonie to be too vocal on doping in track as her husband Ato Modibo is a drug-cheat. Modibo is a disgraced Trinidadian 400m athlete  currently under a 2 year ban for doping violations.

    http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Antidoping/SanctionedAthletes/04/80/92/20090918104212_httppostedfile_090909CurrentlyBanned_16674.xls

    Cydonie husbands suspension is scheduled to be lifted May 2011 – this is a fantastic and prestigious appointment for her and Cayman – well deserved and hopefully her husband does not ruin it for her.

    much love Cyd

    • BJ says:

       Really her husband a disgrace trinidad, far from the truth . So SAF is didn’t disgrace JA. Ppl get your fact together. Her husband stands with her and will be back without breaking a stride. Tell me how he would ruin it for her. THe sad thing is just like all SAF, Gatlin, Chris Williams, no one will know thetrue reason nor purpose. Ato cant wait to see oyu back on  the track. Remember" bad mind worst that aids"

  12. Anonymous says:

    Cydonie is a great athlete and a wonderful person, but this statement disappoints me:

    Mothersill said. “I believe it is important that WADA officials understand the unique challenges athletes face as we push ourselves daily to reach the top. In speaking up for this branch of the sporting fraternity, I hope to support WADA in developing sensible and effective drug detection and prevention strategies.”
     

    The WADA list of banned substances is quite clear. If it is on the list, you do not take it. Period. There is nothing unique in that.

    Whilst nobody that I know believes that Cydonie has ever taken a banned substance to boost performance, it will be a blemish on her legacy if she does not condemn those who do. No excuses. Period.

    http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2009/10/05/Cydonie-s-hubby-took-three-banned-drugs/

    • BJ says:

       Her statement disappoints you????????? I’m lost.  she sates "sensible and effective drug detection…" I 100% agree with that statement. There are many banned substances that are unfair to athletes and DO NOT give the athlete an edge or a gain. For example, having vicks inhaler on the ban list, come on. Yes if its on the list don’t take it but what i think she is getting at is putting the RIGHT things on the list and having the correct substances on the list to catch the drug cheats because they are still at large. 

      your comment about putting a blemish on her record if she does not condemn those who do is WAY off base too. Cydonie has played by the rules and that has showed over the years. End of story. 

      Congrats on your appointment, i’m sure you will do us proud.

      Class of 94

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Take the blinders off your eyes BJ. Cydonie herself is a victim of one of the biggest drug cheats in the world, Marion Jones.

        In 2001 at the IAAF World Championships Cydonie should have stood on the podium with the Cayman flag raised and a world-wide audience watching on TV as she received her bronze medal. Instead, she was adjudged to have come fourth in the 200M race and it was delivered to her in Cayman almost nine years later, and long after the cheat had been exposed.

        Despite what you may be trying to imply, Oxandrolone, Stanozolol, and Tamoxifen are NOT found in over-the-counter cold medicines. Ato is a cheat, and a disgrace, and that is a blemish on someone who has played fair all her life.

         

        • nina lucas says:

          And Marion Jones is still lying about her drug use to this day and making a lot of money doing it.  Sickening!