But look at it another way. This is a small community. Few outside of racing care. But if my name suddenly pops up as a cheater during a google search (think of all the searching that goes on from friends checking friends to job searches). This could be a nasty mark.

Yes, Axel Merckx is just one that comes to mind.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

It is a small community and people within the community do care though. Especially those particularly active in endurance sports such as coaches, shop owners, FOP AGers and Pros. Look at these ST forums. There are tons of threads on doping, dopers, hating doping, what can we do to stop doping, etc.

As a FOP AGer, I don't want to race dopers. While I am not being paid to race directly, it does impact my income. I am a coach and trainer. The better I show in races, the more people want to work with me. But income aside. I work my butt off to race well. To get beat by someone who is doping is just a kick in the teeth.

A doper winning a race, placing in front of someone, etc. whether being AGer or Pro getting paid or not, has stolen an experience from someone not doping who worked their tail off to get to that point. Look at Natascha Badmann. I think it was 2005 when she came in second. The woman who came in first was later found to have doped and the Kona crown was restored to Natascha. But she took away Natascha's experience of getting the crown, victory speech, etc.

Maybe with lists like this it will make people think twice before doping making endurance sports a little cleaner.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis

It could negatively impact you within your social group in the triathlon community, and potentially at work. (It would definitely impact me at work as I undergo extensive background checks periodically). You certainly wouldn't be as welcome her on ST if you tested positive.



I don't know why in every doping thread people are so eager to bring up professional ball sports. The doping practices of ball sports or the relative concern of their fans seems pretty irrelevant to me in how we should police our own sport.


Edit: And like the above. I don't like it when I'm racing against dopers. And I have. I don't like it when clean professionals lose to dopers. I think it's incredibly corrosive to sport. It's, for lack of a better term, "cheating."

The point I was making is that if you think that shaming people is a powerful motivator, you have to first accept that said person would feel ashamed. People just don't care outside of this community. A job just doesn't care if you were busted (as unlikely as it is) for some things that are on the USADA list. For example, if you were busted for albuterol abuse or EPO. If you have a valid prescription, that is as far as people outside of the community care about. I know a few former bodybuilders who are fairly open about their steroid use and some people might not like it, but they certainly don't seem ashamed. If they were on a list, their attitude would be somewhere between "Well, I did so..." and "Who gives a sh!t, how many single mode fiber strands would you link in this conduit?".

There is no "conviction" for doping, this is not a court of law. If you want to stop doping you have to take away the incentive(s) to dope - making a little list is just another thing to make you feel better, it will do nothing to take care of the actual problem. If I am feeding my family with my winnings, the risk of being caught for doping and getting put on this list is outweighed by the fact I have to make a living. If I am an age grouper, I am just wasting my money and potentially playing with fire.

I am not defending dopers, I simply ask whether what we collectively seem to think is a good idea will actually do anything at all.

And my point is that I don't think it really matters what people think outside this community. It's about this community.

And social shaming isn't so much about punishing those who are caught, but providing a disincentive to those who might consider it. If there are no negative consequences, there is little disincentive. I, personally, think social pressures are incredibly powerful. Winning races is done almost entirely for the social benefit. People love us just a little bit more when we win.

Yes, but is it really a disincentive? I don't think so. We already have social pressures and they aren't terribly effective. All we are talking about is a searchable database; for information that is already pretty easy to obtain. Social pressures is nothing compared to money and ego. Guess what, dopers who win think they won. That is the motivation they need. Do you think a "doper registry" is going to disrupt that process?