Dubin, Broke Drug “Code Of Omerta,” Dead At 87
29/10/2008 04:59
Charles Dubin, who was best known for heading an inquiry into steroid use by athletes, has died.
A spokesman at the Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that the one-time chief justice of Ontario died Monday at age 87.
Dubin's assistant at Torys LLP, the Toronto law firm where he worked, says the former judge died of pneumonia and was in hospital for the last week.
Dubin was well known in the legal world for his keen intellect and a no-nonsense manner.
He had vast legal experience, but also happened to be a "huge sports fan," said longtime friend, Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Robert Armstrong.
"Basically, his approach was to leave no stone unturned — to go out and get the evidence and then put it before him," he said.
Dubin was perhaps best known to the public for a high-profile commission he headed in 1989.
Known as the Dubin inquiry, the commission was formed after sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics because a banned drug was detected in his urine samples.
In a groundbreaking report, Dubin exposed doping secrets that had been unknown outside the secretive world of track and field, and he recommended a broad range of anti-doping measures.
The inquiry also broke the "code of omerta" about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports, said Canadian Olympic official Dick Pound, who served as president of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
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SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
What sports fan will ever forget the “Dubin Inquiry” into steroid use in sports, formed after sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his100-metre gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, because a banned drug was detected in his urine samples?