Confessions of a whistle-blower

Quote

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  Attributed to Edmund Burke.

News

On Monday Tyler Hamilton, a gold medal winner in cycling at the Athens Olympics, won this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.  ‘The Secret Race’ is a detailed exposé of the culture of doping in world class cycling. 

Hamilton explained what made him a whistle-blower: “Last summer, I received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury. Until the moment I walked into the courtroom, I hadn't told a soul. My testimony went on for six hours… I told the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And I felt a sense of relief I'd never felt before -- all the secrets, all the weight I'd been carrying around for years suddenly lifted.”  As a part of coming clean, he gave back his Olympic medal.

Although Hamilton’s confession has helped turn the tide in cleaning up cycling, many are waiting for Lance Armstrong to own up as well – the seven times Tour de France winner who has recently been stripped of all his trophies since 1998, for persistent drug abuse. 

The appeal of watching great athletes is sharing in the sense of joy and triumph that someone essentially like us has achieved great feats of strength, perseverance and skill.  This makes them heroes, people we can emulate.  But when it transpires that an athlete’s triumph was partly due to taking illegal drugs, all that good starts to unravel.

Sanctions and punishments for drug offences can only go so far to restore the sport’s reputation.  The loss of trust between athletes and the media, the disillusionment of sponsors and sense of betrayal by cycling fans cannot be repaired easily – nor the bitter hostility between the whistle-blowers and those they expose.    

Repairing the relational damage caused by years of systematic cheating and lying takes relational courage and honesty, of the kind that Hamilton has demonstrated.  May his example help others speak out the truth also, and rebuild the trust which every sport depends on.

Read on...

A recent report in the Financial Times describes the emergence of a ‘Whistle-blowers Club’ of people who have had the determination to tell the truth about some wrongdoing they had witnessed at work, and the consequences of their actions.  Read the fascinating article here.  

Walk the talk

Is your conscience uneasy about some practice at work or at home which has become normalised? IF so, what would it take for you to stand against it?

The last word

From the Bible, Psalm 32, verses 3, 5: ‘When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”  And you forgave the guilt of my sin.’