Shame on World Athletics Authorities

[Stat Brother]

I'm no expert, but I guess medicines have more than one ingredient. If you were seriously trying to avoid illegal substances, you would check everything.

The only excuse an athlete could have, IMO, is that their food/drink was laced. Even then, you could take reasonable steps to avoid this.

A professional athlete will have a list of allowed medication, whether it be over the counter or prescribed.
I'll hazard a guess all prescribed medicine goes through the team doctor first. (not literally)
The same applies to supplements and energy products like gels.

The days of buying a Vic's nasal spray in Canada and getting popped because the ingredients are different, are a long time ago.

 

[Murray 17]

A professional athlete will have a list of allowed medication, whether it be over the counter or prescribed.
I'll hazard a guess all prescribed medicine goes through the team doctor first. (not literally)
The same applies to supplements and energy products like gels.

The days of buying a Vic's nasal spray in Canada and getting popped because the ingredients are different, are a long time ago.

Being a bit slow here, so are you agreeing that there is no excuse for taking any banned substance?

 

[Stat Brother]

Being a bit slow here, so are you agreeing that there is no excuse for taking any banned substance?

Not by accident no, there's no excuse.
It should all be taken out of the athletes hands.
Again I'm only guessing here, but I'd think no athlete would take a medication that required them the read the ingredients first.

 

[Questions]

They should have been, but, his case is a bit different, as he was only banned by Jamaican athletics, as there was some argument about the make up of the substance he took, ( I think, it's a bit late, and , if Old Speckled Hen is a banned substance, id probably be in for a lifetime ban myself,tonigjt)

The Jamaican testing procedure has been a joke for years. If it wasn't for Bolt they probably would have had a similar ban for their athletes similar to that or the Russians. Who are the current Olympic men's discuss, shot and discuss champs? The 100m is the blue ribbon event in not just athletics but all the Olympic events.
In June 2009, five Jamaican athletes were found positive for banned substances. At least two and most probably three of the athletes belong to the Racers Track Club and were coached by Mills - who is Bolts coach. The athletes were later revealed to be Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Allodin Fothergill, Lansford Spence and Sheri-Ann Brooks, who all tested positive for the stimulant Methylhexanamine, a compound similar to Tuaminoheptane, and were subsequently banned for three months by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission.
Three months, what a joke.

Up to Rio of the 30 fastest 100m times ever, only nine were achieved by a clean athlete - and all were run by Usain Bolt.
At last the chemists and scientists who work with Bolt can now breath easily. Make of that what you want.

 

[knocky1]

The Jamaican testing procedure has been a joke for years. If it wasn't for Bolt they probably would have had a similar ban for their athletes similar to that or the Russians. Who are the current Olympic men's discuss, shot and discuss champs? The 100m is the blue ribbon event in not just athletics but all the Olympic events.
In June 2009, five Jamaican athletes were found positive for banned substances. At least two and most probably three of the athletes belong to the Racers Track Club and were coached by Mills - who is Bolts coach. The athletes were later revealed to be Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Allodin Fothergill, Lansford Spence and Sheri-Ann Brooks, who all tested positive for the stimulant Methylhexanamine, a compound similar to Tuaminoheptane, and were subsequently banned for three months by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission.
Three months, what a joke.

Up to Rio of the 30 fastest 100m times ever, only nine were achieved by a clean athlete - and all were run by Usain Bolt.
At last the chemists and scientists who work with Bolt can now breath easily. Make of that what you want.

Exactly Bolt was caught last night and he may be caught over the next 10 years. Mo and Usain have been allowed to run free so far. Seb Coe is a ******. Christine, Miss drug tests, Ohuruogo was awarded a medal yesterday for some previous race she'd lost.

Gattlin is being punished for beating Bolt. Wake up everyone. I still liked Mo's race even if Salazaar is his coach and he trains in East Africa.

 

[Stat Brother]

Sara Errani banned for two months over cancer drug positive test

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/07/sara-errani-ban-two-months-tennis

The former world No5 Sara Errani has been banned for two months after failing a doping test. The 30-year-old Italian, a French Open finalist in 2012, tested positive for the cancer treatment drug letrozole, which can increase body mass, in February.

An independent tribunal set up by the International Tennis Federation accepted Errani’s explanation she must have accidentally ingested drugs being used by her mother to treat breast cancer through contaminated food.

Cycling fought tooth and nail against a bullshit excuse like this.
It certainly didn't set up an independent tribunal to valid the excuse.

 

[Albion in the north]

https://twitter.com/distking/status/581533869301571584/photo/1

Mo's mate

That photos 2 1/2 years old

 

[Albion in the north]

There is no excuse for missing or failing drugs tests in this day and age. ZERO TOLERANCE NEEDED

 

[Yoda]

Not by accident no, there's no excuse.
It should all be taken out of the athletes hands.
Again I'm only guessing here, but I'd think no athlete would take a medication that required them the read the ingredients first.

It is taken out of the Athletes hands, what happened with Gatlin first time around at the Junior Champs.

He declared his medication was advised that it contained a banned ingredient (amphetamines) and told to stop taking it a few days before competition (as per then and current guidelines) yet when tested on both days of competition there were still traces of the drug in his sample. The second days sample had less (and only just over allowed limits) indicating that he had stopped taking his medication before competition as agreed.

USADA & USCAA decided not to ban him as although there were traces of amphetamines it showed that the decreasing amounts were in line with stopping his medication before the competition, it just hadn't all been flushed out. (Basically the Doctors underestimated how long he would need to be off his medication to give a clean reading)

Gatlin did not compete for the next year anyway. During this time the IAAF decided to play hard ball and ban him for two years as with any drug cheat. Gatlin & the USCAA appealed on the medical grounds (as above) and he was re-instated immediately.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

That photos 2 1/2 years old

Yes it is. For me, It's Just one example of the hypocrisy of it all. Steve Cram fawns over Mo but treats Gatlin as the devil incarnate. The truth is somewhere in between.

Carefully sticking to factual information, Mo has missed 2 drug tests (with the classic missed the door bell excuse. Testers are instructed to stay there for an hour and ring repeatedly every 10 minutes), refuses to do media promotion for the world championships unless it's to the lightest of lightest touch interviewers, improved his performance dramatically at the age of 26 when coached by Salazar who is linked to drugs after previously struggling to qualify for a world final, used prescription drugs without medical need and had 83 times the recommended dose of Vit D in his system (USADA report).

Whilst I am not condoning Gatlin, it amuses me the warning signs around Mo's performance are ignored and washed over and Gatlin gets the full pantomime treatment.

 

[Triggaaar]

she must have accidentally ingested drugs being used by her mother to treat breast cancer through contaminated food.

WTF? So people being treated for breast cancer just cover their food in drugs do they?

Cycling fought tooth and nail against a bullshit excuse like this.
It certainly didn't set up an independent tribunal to valid the excuse.

Exactly. ****ing jokers.

 

[Albion in the north]

Yes it is. For me, It's Just one example of the hypocrisy of it all. Steve Cram fawns over Mo but treats Gatlin as the devil incarnate. The truth is somewhere in between.

Carefully sticking to factual information, Mo has missed 2 drug tests (with the classic missed the door bell excuse. Testers are instructed to stay there for an hour and ring repeatedly every 10 minutes), refuses to do media promotion for the world championships unless it's to the lightest of lightest touch interviewers, improved his performance dramatically at the age of 26 when coached by Salazar who is linked to drugs after previously struggling to qualify for a world final, used prescription drugs without medical need and had 83 times the recommended dose of Vit D in his system (USADA report).

Whilst I am not condoning Gatlin, it amuses me the warning signs around Mo's performance are ignored and washed over and Gatlin gets the full pantomime treatment.

Agree with everything you say there. Athletics is a tainted sport and one that I can't watch without wondering how this athlete or that suddenly became so good. Perversely, the Tour de France is one of my favourite sporting events of the year. I love the tactics involved. And they can't all be cheats, can they?

 

[Triggaaar]

Perversely, the Tour de France is one of my favourite sporting events of the year. I love the tactics involved. And they can't all be cheats, can they? ��

I think your joke is over my head. If they're cheating on the TDF now, I think it's relatively moderate cheating, as they're not the machines of previous years.

 

[Albion in the north]

I think your joke is over my head. If they're cheating on the TDF now, I think it's relatively moderate cheating, as they're not the machines of previous years.

More tongue in cheek than a joke. I'm sure you are right but there is still a number of cyclist each year who are caught drug taking but not on the tdf. I don't recall if there was anybody this year. Although it does feel like a sport that is recovering from the worst of it. It's a pity that it's so difficult to be excited about sporting achievements without the doubt in the back of your mind. But I'm just a bit of a cynic.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Yes it is. For me, It's Just one example of the hypocrisy of it all. Steve Cram fawns over Mo but treats Gatlin as the devil incarnate. The truth is somewhere in between.

Carefully sticking to factual information, Mo has missed 2 drug tests (with the classic missed the door bell excuse. Testers are instructed to stay there for an hour and ring repeatedly every 10 minutes), refuses to do media promotion for the world championships unless it's to the lightest of lightest touch interviewers, improved his performance dramatically at the age of 26 when coached by Salazar who is linked to drugs after previously struggling to qualify for a world final, used prescription drugs without medical need and had 83 times the recommended dose of Vit D in his system (USADA report).

Whilst I am not condoning Gatlin, it amuses me the warning signs around Mo's performance are ignored and washed over and Gatlin gets the full pantomime treatment.

Lets be honest....whilst Mo is lauded as a national hero and fawned over by the media, there are many of us who are not comfortable with his dramatic improvement in performance. The trouble is, we have seen it all before. Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Flo-Jo, East German athletes ( en bloc ) Chinese Women ( en bloc ). The world record shattering and medal winning level of performances that were just not there before. It is simply not believable.
Many years later, the top women sprinters, even with all the advances in sports science, are still getting nowhere near Flo Jo's 100m/200m world records. She was drugged to the eyeballs and died young as a result. What a price to pay. Sadly, too many believed it was worth the risk and they have dragged athletics through the mud and are continuing to do so.
If you ran a business and caught an employee stealing, would you give them a second chance? Or would you take time out to think..." how long have they been doing this and how much have they got away with? "
Why does athletics give second chances to drug takers? Everyone knows the rules from day one. The sport of athletics places them in a position of trust. If you choose to break those rules you forfeit the right to participate in that sport just as you would expect to lose your employment in any other business. Until zero tolerance is introduced, the problem will never go away.

 

[Stat Brother]

From #33.

Inside the doping hotspot of Ethiopia: dodgy testing and EPO over the counter

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ot-ethiopia-drug-testing-epo?CMP=share_btn_tw

Doesn't do Mo any favours, with a nod and a wink.


As said, cyclists can no longer disappear to the arse end of nowhere, they've been there and done that.
Anyone deciding a seriously remote location, at the end of a one track lane, wouldn't be able to move for drug testers.

As it is the testers can usually be found staying in the same winter training hotel as the riders.

 

[Yoda]

Lets be honest....whilst Mo is lauded as a national hero and fawned over by the media, there are many of us who are not comfortable with his dramatic improvement in performance. The trouble is, we have seen it all before. Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Flo-Jo, East German athletes ( en bloc ) Chinese Women ( en bloc ). The world record shattering and medal winning level of performances that were just not there before. It is simply not believable.
Many years later, the top women sprinters, even with all the advances in sports science, are still getting nowhere near Flo Jo's 100m/200m world records. She was drugged to the eyeballs and died young as a result. What a price to pay. Sadly, too many believed it was worth the risk and they have dragged athletics through the mud and are continuing to do so.
If you ran a business and caught an employee stealing, would you give them a second chance? Or would you take time out to think..." how long have they been doing this and how much have they got away with? "
Why does athletics give second chances to drug takers? Everyone knows the rules from day one. The sport of athletics places them in a position of trust. If you choose to break those rules you forfeit the right to participate in that sport just as you would expect to lose your employment in any other business. Until zero tolerance is introduced, the problem will never go away.

I understand where you are coming from, but as someone involved in the sport since 1990 (competing, coaching & team manager) it's not as easy as you make out.

Using your example, you lose your employment but would have a good chance of gaining very similar employment with another company. With athletics, there isn't that option. You can't just walk straight into another sport.

There needs to be some kind of middle ground, and IMO it should be a minimum of four years (not back dated from when the test was taken but from when it was announced), repaying back of all appearance fees, sponsorship fees etc backdated to when the test was taken. Regular random tests (under taken or supervised by WADA not their countries Anti Doping Association) all the time they are banned (so they do not gain benefit whilst banned from competition if they carry on training for when their suspension is over. Then and only then, a lifetime ban if caught a second time, but there needs to be a bit of leeway for if it is part of prescribed medication that has not fully left the system (ala Justin Gatlin's first ban).

 

[Bry Nylon]

Yes it is. For me, It's Just one example of the hypocrisy of it all. Steve Cram fawns over Mo but treats Gatlin as the devil incarnate. The truth is somewhere in between.

Carefully sticking to factual information, Mo has missed 2 drug tests (with the classic missed the door bell excuse. Testers are instructed to stay there for an hour and ring repeatedly every 10 minutes), refuses to do media promotion for the world championships unless it's to the lightest of lightest touch interviewers, improved his performance dramatically at the age of 26 when coached by Salazar who is linked to drugs after previously struggling to qualify for a world final, used prescription drugs without medical need and had 83 times the recommended dose of Vit D in his system (USADA report).

Whilst I am not condoning Gatlin, it amuses me the warning signs around Mo's performance are ignored and washed over and Gatlin gets the full pantomime treatment.

Spot on.

Farah and his broken doorbell, malfunctioning mobile phone and off-the-scale vitamin dosages is quietly swept under the carpet as it doesn't fit the narrative. Hopefully the pundits will now feel free to discuss and debate all these aspects that surround an athlete's performance.

 

[Hamilton]

Cycling was awash with dopers (and no doubt there are still some cheating), but as a model for testing now, it should be what other sports aim to replicate. As for our footballers, who knows what they may or may not be taking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk