Tennis champion Sinner is unlikely to ever be a Saint

Once a cheat always a cheat.It’s one of many sayings that suggest people can’t change and, for some, that’s why if they have a bad opinion of someone or something, you won’t alter it.For that reason, Jannik Sinner’s future successes, and perhaps his most recent ones, will always be shrouded in doubt because he’s failed two drugs tests.The ins and outs of those results and the punishments that have been followed will be debated forever. Plenty will make a racket about what side they’re on.But this case isn’t going to court, it’s already been a case of game, set and match for the sentencing.It was announced at the weekend that the world No.1 had reached an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over a pair of positive drugs tests in March last year. The organisation had originally pressed for a two-year ban.However, they accepted that the Italian “did not intend to cheat” and was inadvertently contaminated by a banned substance. That ruling doesn’t follow the trend set by some previous bans, nor does it even begin to explain the timing of his forced absence from the game. The three-time Grand Slam champion, who won the Australian Open last month, will be immediately banned for three months. It will allow him to return in time for the year’s next big tournament, the French Open.It’s the equivalent of slapping Erling Haaland with a football ban over the summer when he’s not playing. Hardly a sentence that fits the crime is it?The great and good of tennis have had their say with some notable opinions coming from Novak Djokovic. In widely reported comments, the 24-time Grand Slam winner said: “There’s a majority of the players that I’ve talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also in the last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled.”A majority of the players don’t feel that it’s fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favouritism happening. It seems like, it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers. “Jannik will have a three-month suspension due to some mistakes and negligence of some members of his team, who are working on the tour. This is also something that I personally and many other players find strange.”It’s beyond frustrating when different people, or organisations, are treated differently in the same walk of life. Those, like Brit Tara Moore, had to miss two years on the court for a doping ban which was later overturned.Sinner’s lawyer has naturally cited the findings that suggested he wasn’t guilty.Yet it still leaves a sour taste and is the type of incident that will have people feeling bitter about an outstanding talent for years to come.As a former journalist on the press beat, I remain fascinated by quotes that surface from interviews. It makes me wonder what’s been asked and, at times, what agenda is being pushed by those who are talking into the mic.Sometimes you have to read between the lines about what people are saying or suggesting, while others just tell it as it is.Rob Lyon, the boss of King’s Lynn Stars, never shies away from doing just that.There was never much said off the record that wouldn’t be repeated on it.While talking about his side’s 2025 line-up, Lyon was explaining why it was great to have Jan Kvech and Niels-Kristian Iversen keeping their place in the team from last season. “When riders want to be here you’re not forcing them to get a deal over the line, so that was a fairly easy task,” he told the club’s media team.A happy camp is what can really help the Stars shine this year.And that quote alone from the team boss suggests Kvech and Iversen will certainly play a big part in that happening.Two excellent and popular riders want to be lining up at Saddlebow Road. They won’t need time to settle or warm to the surroundings at the Adrian Flux Arena and they’re part of the furniture, especially in Iversen’s case.With them being joined by a long-time Lynn rider in Nicolai Klindt, there should be plenty of smiling faces in the pits next term.Those grins will only widen if Lyon’s troops can hit the ground running and start this term when it gets underway next month.There’s records being broken, then there’s records being absolutely obliterated. And that’s exactly what happened to the men’s half marathon best at the weekend when Jacob Kiplimo clocked 56 minutes and 42 seconds in Barcelona.The Ugandan took 48 seconds off the previous world record and became the first man in history to break the 57-minute mark for 13.1 miles. It was the largest improvement on the men’s best time across the distance in history.Many will point at the super shoes he wore or the perfect conditions for the race.Others will pour doubts on his achievements by suggesting doping was involved while many will just marvel at his superhuman time. Us runners know that he was born with more talent in his little finger than most of us possess in our body.But we will, at least, understand all of the hard work and training that will have gone into getting him to this ridiculous level. Progress and these sorts of times do not just happen overnight.The world is already at his feet, aged 24, when he’s beating world-class rivals by over two minutes in a flagship half marathon race in the iconic city.The way the sporting world keeps evolving means someone else will come knocking at that time soon enough, probably Kiplimo in truth given he has already held the world record previously.Advances in technology, sports science and the human desire to go faster, is tearing these records to pieces. But we shouldn’t be bitter about that. We should celebrate it.Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei was the first woman across the line in an outstanding time of 64:13, which doubled as a new course record to cap a memorable day.