Ross Tucker has a good thread on it and will be going into more detail later - https://twitter.com/...s/956407455788957696

The whole thing stinks. From the “never failed a test” to the lack of transparency and communication regarding the emails. He still hasn’t come out and said that he never took the drug.

---

https://twitter.com/mungub

So essentially they are saying HS was catfished by the Russians?

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

they could have said this in one sentence as you did it would have been nice and clear.
so i dont think thats what they are saying,

Right, so it sounds like all they are saying, is nothing wrong was done here. HS even says he's never tested positive or applied/needed an TUE (as part of the itu investigation). So again was this simply a lie by Fancy Bears? A source that also noted the Wiggins case, which in fact was true? Just that the UCI legalized the use of the TUE.

So if nothing wrong was done here, my point was, Fancy Bears simply catfished him?


OR

Are they saying that maybe a positive occurred but because of an TUE or whatever process they allow, it wasn't really a positive. Because post dated TUE's are allowed to deal with these type of issues. And in those cases, "nothing to see here" is the outcome. But if that's the outcome that counters to what people have said even this week, post investigation.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

From a sporting stand point, cases like this to me showcase the potential for flaws in the system. I mean if they are saying nothing wrong was done here cool. But if the emails show that an post dated TUE was needed in order for there to be "nothing to see here", that's the protocols that I have an issue with. That's the things I want to see or know were are weren't part of the process. Because those things to me can be improved upon. So just saying "nothing wrong was done here", is like an half truth. Ok great....the athlete is free. But what about the process? Are there things in the process that can be improved. I've never understood why authorities allow for post dated TUE's; unless you are going to DIE, i dont think you should be able to use a post dated TUE. Like so what if you can't race, or you can't race to your potential. That's a far fairer process, than to be take a substance and then apply a TUE after the fact, and then be cleared. What's wrong with making athletes have said TUE at time of testing?

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I dodnt think they say either

there was no tue required they say and henri says. ( if you see what ross writes it could have been as simple as there was a spelling mistake of the drug that caused confusion .one needs tue , the other dosnt and maybe athlete made a slight mistake with the date he took it and filling in the form, but why not explain that ?
at the same time this is most likely why fancy bear does not present more emails as they might have clarryfyed the issue further on and in wasnt in the interest of spuitnik to publish that

IOC says they want to prosecute the hackers that made private data public ( that means at the very least some data fancy bears released is valid )

Here's novel idea... No Post-dated TUEs in Competition... out of competition, sure allow post-dated TUEs (you get diagnosed with a new condition, doc prescribes new drug, requiring a TUE, two days later, the vampires show up... sure the TUE wouldn't have been secured yet, but should have been filed for... but at least there, being out of competition, it's less bothersome because there's less obvious intent to improve performance).... but if it's so bad that you need a substance on short notice requiring a TUE that you can't get on time for the event, you shouldn't be racing (because then there's the possible intent to improve performance, or the oh shit, i got tested, better file for a TUE dodgyness...)... just my 2 cents...

interesting to actually see his medical declaration - too many things to fit in the provided space properly! also a note that there was more stuff declared in a supplementary form... not a healthy guy!
first line looks to be various mineral supplements, all fine
cefuroxime is an antibiotic
prednisone has been well discussed
"Foxair is a combination of fluticasone and salmeterol. It is an inhalant preparation that is used for maintenance treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with chronic bronchitis"
then some sports supplements


someone else chimed in on twitter saying
"The combination of Prednisone 10mg (oral systemic corticosteroid) + Foxair=Fluticasone 500/Salmeterol 50 (highest dose of inhaled corticosteroid+long acting B2 agonist) is used in the 6th step (highest & last step) for the treatment of SEVERE Asthma. So what is SEVERE ASTHMA? ... SEVERE Asthma: Symptoms throughout the day, often nighttime awakenings, several times/day use of short-acting B2agonist, extremely limited for normal activities, lung function FEV1<60% predicted, FEV1/FVC<75% and high risk of exacerbations requiring oral systemic corticosteroids."


SEVERE ASTHMA = olympic medal?
though there is then discussion that it may have been an infection rather than asthma at all but then i would assume similar symptoms to be taking the same drugs so similarly not indicative of someone likely to win an olympic medal.

just a shame there's been no clarity so we're left with nothing but suspicions

Just piping in to note that this "Foxair" appears to be the same drug known as "Advair" in the US. The Advair Diskus comes in three doses - 100/50, 250/50, and 500/50. Looks like he's on the highest one.

I do want to be clear - you can have fairly bad asthma and still be functional. When my persistent asthma is not controlled, I meet or come close to many of these criteria (nighttime awakenings, puffing on my rescue inhaler regularly, 35% drop in FEV1) but I'm not bedridden at that point. I can still make it to the grocery store, take the trash out, and appear otherwise OK at first glance.

Having moderate or severe persistent asthma is different from having an asthma attack.

Making it to the grocery store is not the same thing as winning an olympic medal in triathlon.

---

-------------
Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Every victory is individual. I've taken some dumps I'm really proud of.

True, but I was responding to an implicit assumption that I noted that anyone who was on that drug would be incapable of functioning in a normal way, let alone winning an Olympic medal.

To me, it's believable that someone could have asthma that, when uncontrolled, required Advair 500/50 but who was also capable of competing at a very high level when their asthma was properly controlled. And I wouldn't perceive the use of Advair as doping. That stuff has negative consequences too. I'd never take it if I didn't need it - I'd perform better without it.


That being said, the prednisone/prednisolone/whatever looks really suspicious. As someone who occasionally has to go on oral pred to control asthma flares, I don't believe TUEs should be allowed for oral pred. That stuff works miracles. If you're flaring and need oral pred, you need to sit out your race.

This brings up the other grey area, it is known to be a PED but allowed out of comp, could he take shit loads in the months prior to Rio with the purpose of takinh his training to the 'next level', stopped just before race but still had too much in his system and triggered the positive.

J Brownlee would never have collapsed if Schoeman hadn't been running with him for the entire race.

No - pred doesn't work that way.

First of all, coming off of pred sucks - like a bad hangover. Fatigue, aches. Basically the inverse of how great you felt while on it. Imagine going cold turkey on coffee, starting a few days before your race, only 10 times as bad. I would NEVER want to train on pred, and then stop taking it right before the race.

And the "gains" you observed while training on it are phantom gains. I've had to take several five day bursts of pred over the years, and I've learned that I have to be very careful about controlling my workouts during that time. It's very easy to overdo stuff because I feel like a superhero, and then it catches up with me and I'm in a hole or injured when I come off the pred.

Pred also has all sorts of nasty side effects - weight gain, bone density loss, immunosuppression. And I'm told that the boost that you see from it when you use for a few days fades if you're on it long term. [if you're on it long term, you also have to taper down on it rather than quit it cold turkey.]

Honestly, I only take pred during training as a last resort, and that's not just because I'm ethical. Every time I do a burst of it, I feel like I'm risking my training, not aiding it. I really can't see any benefit from training on it, and then coming off of it to race.

The only way to see performance benefit from pred, IMHO, is to train without it and then start taking it a day or two before your race.

Regarding TUEs and pred - as I think about it, I could see a case for a TUE for someone who is on a long term maintenance dose of pred for Chrohns, allergies, etc. In that case, I don't see any benefit to them from continuing their maintenance dose, and there would be significant health risk to them if they stopped.

But absolutely no TUEs for someone who experiences an autoimmune or asthma or allergy flare a few days before their race, and wants to go on pred. Tough luck, but you need to sit it out.

Im pretty sure Jonny had already dropped Schoeman aswel as Aliaster who was with HS, there was maybe 10secs between them when Jonny started dancing round the circuit.

No, Jonny and Alistair ran with Schoeman for ages in various batches for the majority of the 10km. If he'd dropped off early then it would have just been a Brownlee 1-2 procession. Jonny's body would never had gone as deep as it did.

Rewatch the highlights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Awns29sZEs

Quote from Barrie Shepley - "Schoeman looked absolutely fantastic and as he stayed on Jonny Brownlee's backside for the most of the run".

The "dancing round the circuit", as you describe, was a cumulative effect from the effort of the run - which was massively increased by 1) having Schoeman stick to JB for most of it, and then 2) by JB having to put in a massive effort to drop Schoeman.

There is a clip in those highlights and it does appear Ali is looking at Schoeman like....What the f@@@ are you still doing here!

Poor Jonny whether Schoeman was juiced up or not (He's still innocent until having this win and his Bronze taken off him in my eyes) if he'd have taken his foot of the gas just a little bit when dropping HS and Ali he'd have been ok.

Two tactical errors in the last 200m of grand finals have cost him being a tripple World champion.