It’s been a tough few months for Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes, the 2016 Olympian who has been given a 12-month ban due to having missed 3 random drug tests over a 12-month period. Officially cut-off from the Dolphins national team both financially and training-wise, Fraser-Holmes now swims alone awaiting a possible appeal.
In this candid interview posted on his social media accounts, the 25-year-old IM specialist accepts responsiblity for having missed the tests. “I’m not making excuses for this,” he clearly states in the retelling of how he missed 2 drug tests in September 2016 and a 3rd about a month later.
“I messed up,” Fraser-Holmes tells the interviewer, while also asserting that he is absolutely ‘all for’ whereabouts tracking and random drug testing.
Getting emotional, ‘TFH’ acknowledges he let people down and the thought of quitting has ‘momentarily passed into his mind.’ However, for the Gold Coaster, his ‘passion for the sport’ is greater than anyone’s telling him he can’t be on the team or train with his squadmates.
Take a listen from the Aussie himself, as he is entering 3rd month of his 12-month ban.
VIKTRE Exclusive: Tom Fraser-Holmes breaks his silence. Check out the link to his video now 🇦🇺➡️ https://t.co/JB89PBtTWw pic.twitter.com/H3P0Fzi46W
— VIKTRE (@VIKTRESocial) August 5, 2017
But he was making excuses, by blaming his mother’s nice dinner.
Hope this stays just on social media . I went back & had a laugh at comments in the Tele from June when it became public . My compatriots are truly terrible ppl but omg – so funny .
Exspecially considering how severe his sentence is while actual dopers manage to get away with much less or even nothing at all, I really respect him for this. He has just said that he simply messed up, no “my door bell wasn’t working” (the refrence is to when track star Mo Farah was jn his house but then missed a test and claimed his doorbell didn’t work… suspicious much?” or whatever.
I absolutely agree that Fraser-Holmes and athletes that made the same mistake as him should be punished. That is without question. However, the punishments for doping and violations like this need to he standardized. I appreciate Australian swimming taking a hardcore stance against doping, something that alot of… Read more »
Totally agree. I don’t think this is a guy setting out to cheat. And he really isn’t making excuses – he’s just saying what happened. This is a tough watch – I feel for him in light of the inequality between his ban and the ban of those who have set out to cheat.
Missing a scheduled drug test because of dinner at mum’s is not an adult excuse. Sorry…it’s just not. ?
He’s not saying it is. He’s using the interview as a platform to say what happened and make that point that it grates to have a longer ban than someone who’s returned a positive test. I’m assuming he was tested on multiple other occasions over the last year, and there’s no suggestion he has anything to hide.
Some PED’s need only a short uptake term, so missing even one test cycle can enable a drug cheat. Sanctions should therefore apply to ONE missed test, not three.
If there is a genuine reason for missing that one test, this is what the CAS is for – to seek redress for extenuating circumstances or error.
TFH missing three tests is so bizarrely inept that it shows he had become extraordinarily demotivated and complacent, which is understandable given the workload, expectations and low rewards Australian swimmers deal with.
His breaking down during that interview clearly shows this stress. His obvious contrition should not exonerate him, but cause him to urgently review whether he needs swimming in his… Read more »