Andy Murray, Tennis Pro
It was a big day for professional tennis player, Andy Murray. Early int he morning, he was preparing to hop in a cab at 8:30 am to travel to meet Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. However, a slight hurdle was thrown in his path, when before he could get out the door, an unexpected visitor showed up at his door.
A recent article discusses how Andy Murray’s schedule was thrown by the issuing of a random drug test that same morning, just minutes before he was supposed to be on his way to his formal meeting with the Duke. Ever the good sport, Murray tweeted, “In the middle of a drug test hahaha I’m goin to be late!!!” according to the article.
Murray explained to reporters that he was completely unaware of the drug test being that day. While he has had to take them before, being a professional athlete, it was almost comical that the day for the random test had to be the day he had such big plans.
“It’s part of the job,” Murray said, “but when you have a day like today you are looking forward to, it’s the last thing you need.”
Murray hurriedly carried out the drug test and departed immediately for Buckingham Palace, where he was honored by Prince William with a medal declaring him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
It would seem that Andy Murray is not the only professional athlete to be faced with a random drug test while in the middle of an important or personal event. This same article noted that the professional skier Lindsey Vonn was confronted with a, “random,” drug test while she was at a formal gala. Similarly, Olympic hurdler and bobsledder, Lolo Jones, was approached for a drug test right in the middle of her own birthday party.
Looking at situations like these, its hard to wonder how, “random,” these situations really are. Then again, as a professional athlete, you’re always on the job, and for someone like them, random days may coincide with bigger events than the rest of us face in our day-to-day.