Par Avion

Run its course

London Kenneth Stern: The abject failure of the International Olympic Committee to take action against a nation that has del­iberately refused to observe the rules against the misuse of enhancing drugs in sport should be the final nail in the coffin of a movement that has long outlived its purpose. Baron de Coubertin began an international sporting contest for the world’s youth, all of them unpaid amateurs and competing as individuals, not as representatives of countries. Individualism has long ceased. Amateurism also fell by the wayside after WWII and just about every competitor in every sport is now a highly paid professional. The entire ethos of the Olympic movement has disappeared. It's high time that this immensely costly farce is ended.