British judo squad faced expulsion
The British judo team today faced the threat of being pulled out of the Olympic tournament following persistent protests over yesterday’s disqualification of Debbie Allan for failing to make her fighting weight.
Allan failed to make the 52kg limit by just 50 grams, and the British team called for an extension to the weigh-in deadline. But they were refused and the Camberley competitor, said to be "inconsolable", had to suffer the ultimate sporting anguish.
The protests continued but the British management were forced to accept the fact the Allan would not be allowed to fight in the competition after years of toil and sacrifice to reach her dream.
The BOA decided against lodging an official protest when Allan became dehydrated during her bid to make the weight and was medically advised to take on a litre of fluid, which meant she would not have made the required limit even with a time extension.
Allan’s weight, when she got on the practice scales at 5.10am, was on the mark but the reading was flickering. But it was later discovered that the three sets of official scales, which should have been under overnight security guard, had been tampered with. Pieces of tissue had been inserted to make it weigh light.
When the tissue was removed the 25-year-old Allan was still just beyond 52kg. She even cut her hair in a desperate attempt to check-in on the right mark but, having earlier believed there to be no problem, lost vital time to shed the excess.
And last night, the European gold, silver and bronze medallist Allan was given permission to spend 24 hours away from the Olympic Village to recover. She said: "I’m very sorry, I feel as if I have let everybody down."
The Times
Official protest over sabotage
Britain is to send an official letter of protest to the International Olympic Committee over the sabotage of three sets of scales at the judo tournament, which led to medal prospect Debbie Allan being disqualified for failing to make the weight.
There were allegations yesterday that the International Judo Federation (IJF) had threatened to bar the entire British team from the tournament if they did not stop trying to get featherweight Allan more time to lose the 50 grams, the weight of a small chocolate bar, to get below the category limit of 52 kilograms. However, British officials later retracted this statement, saying that the threat was only that Allan would be expelled from the competition.
Allan, 24, the 1999 European champion from Surrey, whose preparation for these Games over the last four years has cost about £150,000 in public money, was still distraught by the experience yesterday, and remained in hiding.
She told officials that, on Saturday night, she weighed in on a set of official practice scales at 52.1kg, giving her all night to lose 100g. However, at 5.10am the next morning she noticed that the scales were uneven and, when they were examined by officials, small slips of tissue paper were found in the machinery. Similar slips were also found in both another set of practice scales and also the set for the hour-long official weigh-in, which was scheduled to begin at 7am.
When all three scales had been recalibrated by an engineer about 6am, Allan found she was actually 52.4kg, giving her less than two hours to make the weight.
At 7.58am, just two minutes before the end of the official weighing-in session, Allan stood naked on the scales as Diane Bell, the women’s team manager, sheared off Allan’s long hair in a desperate attempt to lose the few remaining grams. But the efforts were in vain and Allan was barred from competing.
Lesley-Anne Alexander, the chairman of the British Judo Association, said yesterday: "In my 30 years in the sport, I have never known a competitor so upset. This team has been brilliantly well prepared and something like this rips the heart out of them. I can tell you who did not tamper with the scales, and that's Debbie."
Alexander is now drawing up a letter of complaint with the British Olympic Association to send to the IOC about both the breach of security that allowed the scales to be tampered with and about the unpleasant attitude of the IJF officials.
The experience may have damaged the medal chances of lightweight Cheryle Peel, who yesterday was overwhelmed by the Japanese Kei Kusakabe in her first fight. Peel said: "I just could not get myself together. Debbie’s experience was a big upset and shocked everyone."
John Goodbody in Sydney
The Times
