Illustrative image.

It didn’t take long. The Olympics are meant to be the ideal, the best of the best but humans are flawed. We have had Charlotte Dujardin going home after a video apparently showing animal cruelty emerged and a convicted child rapist is still competing.

Previously the main form of cheating was the use of drugs, although another example that deserves a mention is taking a ride in a car during the 1904 marathon but now cheating has gone high tech.

A Canadian soccer team staff member used a drone to spy on the New Zealand training session, presumably to see if they had some new strategies. It probably won’t be the last ‘cheating’ incident we will hear about.

The IOC must ensure the events are clean and fair. The 2026 Commonwealth Games have been abandoned, with little hope of revival, as they were too expensive and interest was waning. Let’s see the best of the people.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne, Australia