Jobie Dajka, the South Australian cyclist thrown off the Australian Olympic team after he was found to have misled the Anderson enquiry into the Mark French doping allegations, is one of six riders named yesterday to the Australian team for the Manchester world cup, January 7-9.
Dajka's place in Athens was taken by Ben Kersten, who will also ride in Manchester, along with Shane Kelly, Katherine Bates, Kerrie Meares and Alexis Rhodes.
Along with four other riders accused by French of using his room to inject themselves, Dajka was cleared of using banned drugs by the Anderson report, but his denials that he had ever been in French's room were disproven by DNA evidence. Now Dajka says he has learned his lesson and just wants to get back to racing.
"I'm just glad it's all over and I can now get on with my life as a bike rider," Dajka told The Australian. "The last six months have been tough training alone. Being recalled to the team has certainly been the best news I've had in a long while.
"I'm doubly keen to get on with my career. I'm still young enough to have a shot at making the team for Beijing and getting a recall for the World Cup track meet has certainly lifted my spirits."
"I've learned my lesson. I was dumb and stupid," he said. "I want to go out on that track in Manchester this weekend with a point to prove. I'm fit enough, but I'm looking at it like an AFL footballer coming back after a long lay-off.
"It has been a difficult time for me, but I had family and friends around me who still believed in me. I'm also grateful to coach Martin Barras and the selectors for giving me another chance."
While Barras and team management are prepared to give Dajka another chance, his return to the fold of Australian track cycling is not complete.
"He won't get an [Australian Institute of Sport] scholarship in the short term - we'll see how he handles himself in the next year," team coach Martin Barras told AAP. Dajka is receiving support from the South Australian Institute of Sport.
"There is a matter of time now, where he has to rebuild some trust within the national team, the AIS and SASI," said Barras. "We made our message clear to him - 'do the right thing by us, we will do the right thing by you'."
