Furious Matt Shirvington shocks viewers with a passionate rant
Matt Shirvington has shocked Sunrise viewers after launching into a passionate rant about a cause close to his heart.
The Sunrise host, who has only recently taken over from Kochie, spoke directly to the audience about Aussie Olympic sprinter Peter Bol and his recent exoneration from a false positive drug test.
Bol was provisionally suspended in January after news broke he had returned a positive A sample for synthetic EPO during an out-of-competition drug test.
During the eight-month ordeal as Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) retested the samples, Bol continuously maintained his innocence.
This week, SIA announced Bol's case had been closed after a subsequent independent analysis of his B Sample returned a false positive.
Bol announced the good news with a message on social media on Tuesday.
"I have been exonerated. It was a false positive like I have said all along! The news from Sport Integrity Australia today was a dream come true," he tweeted.
After hearing the new of the exoneration, Matt Shirvington, who competed in the 2000 Olympics as a sprinter himself, shared his thoughts on Bol's unfortunate situation.
On Wednesday morning, Shirvo took aim at the entire system that failed Peter Bol.
"Peter's name has been dragged through the mud and we all know mud sticks. Now there are plenty of questions that need to be answered," he said.
"Why did he test positive in the first place? Do testing protocols need to change? And the big one, who leaked the result of his A-sample before his B-sample had been revealed? And why?"
"Peter Bol deserved better. He was let down at every level and a mere apology isn't going to cut it. The damage is done. Damage to his reputation, his mental health, his family, friends and fans. Damage to the sport that I and millions of fans love."
"In the race to remove the stain from his reputation, Peter is left to play catch up due to a flawed system and an organisation that have let him and Australian sport down."
Many viewers were left shocked by his passionate tirade, and praised him for sticking up for the Aussie athlete.
One person said, "Well said Matt - straight from the heart," while another wrote online "So well said, Matt! Australia's still behind ya, Peter. So sorry you had to go through this."
Image credits: Sunrise