Huge congratulations to Rebecca Adlington.  Of course everyone remembers her for her two superb gold medals at last summer’s Beijing Olympics and is one of Britain’s great hopes for the London 2012 Games.  She is a true national asset and sporting icon.

Adlington is causing controversy because she has refused to wear a new performance-enhancing costume.  Adlington claims  that the new costumes are akin to ‘technological doping’. “I would never in a million years take a drug to help me, so why would I wear a suit just to improve my performance?” she said. “It’s just not who I am.”  Now that is integrity in the world of sports where micro seconds make the difference between winning and losing.

Adlington is exactly the fibre of person we want at the Palace of Westminster.  She would not have been an MP caught troughing at the swill of expenses. 

Adlington is opposed to these costumes as they artifically distort skill.  Apparently the new costumes work like wetsuits to compress muscle and add extra buoyancy in the water — by trapping air, which is against the rules according to critics.  The suits are manufactured from 100 per cent polyurethane, an impermeable material that reduces drag in the water and gives swimmers more forward propulsion.

Rebecca has shot up even further in my estimation after this stand. Some sportspeople stop at nothing to win as we have seen with the likes of Ben Johnson.  But for Rebecca.  If she is to win….she wins fair and square.  That is what Britain is about and she is a terrific advert for not only the UK but also for sport.