Rumor mill indicates a lot more testing this year.

Not to start junk, but for this and cycling why does it seem that central and S.A. seem to have a rampant problem with cheats involving the drugs that have been known tested for well over a decade now?

Remember the Costa Rican riders in that cycling race down there? Like, what was it.....a dozen guys popped for EPO and steroids?

Or is it that they just get caught more often?

This is good news - to know that the dragnet of drug testing is working to catch AG who are using PEDs. However, why is this news coming out almost a year later?

The first possible reason that comes to mind is, to possibly put the fear into those heading to Kona this year?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Wow!! So glad more testing is being done. We know it's happening especially with middle-aged athletes (middle-aged moms doping W.T.F!!!!!!!!)

Flavia Rocha (Brazil) – F45-49 – multiple anabolic steroids

While I'm so glad this woman got busted she will be back racing in 4 years and will still be benefitting from the PEDs. She will be back in my AG starting in 2022. I was planning on doing IM Brazil at one point. I will have to do it before she is allowed back in the field. It sucks that I (we) have to worry about this shit happening! She should be banned for 8 years or longer. I think it should be for life.


Flavia, I'm guessing you are a mother right? What would your children think of this? What will you tell them? "Mommy was a cheat"

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If it becomes well known that a person will be drug tested at registration, it would be interesting to see how many actually decide to not show up to race (if there was a way to count this). I've heard stories, for years, about a cycling race in NC where a fair percentage of the registered cyclists decided not to race that day when they heard the drug testers were on sight. Not sure if true or not but it sure makes for an interesting tale.

Rampant cheating is happening everywhere... even white people.

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I completely disagree. Testing at Kona is too late. These people do not give a shit if they are busted after the fact. They got to race our sports biggest race. They get their social media plugs. And 1 year later, something comes out? What a joke. Every person who uplifted gets tested on the spot, at their qualifying race. Then we can get rid of the cheaters and reward those who play fair

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I can't speak to causality on the doping in fractions in Central and South America, but from a perceptual perspective, it would appear that there is less domestic testing in those nations when compared to some of the north american or european nations... All of a sudden when athletes racing in a an environment where the lack of testing has made it a bit of the wild west in order to be competitive, then some of these athletes move to the world scale (look at the domestic/continental cycling teams from some of these nations that get invites to UCI races, and then a handful of riders get popped...) where testing is rigorous and in place, and surprise...

In the past you could argue some of the larger nations governing bodies were prone to sweeping cases under the rug (but it appears that since everything went down with Russia post-Sochi, that's no longer a politically viable option for most federations), which might lead to the appearance that some of these other nations were getting caught more often. Now it's likely a reflection of the above, that without the immediate deterrent of consistent domestic testing, people get the sense that they can get away with it... until they don't.

This is why there's a benefit to testing regularly, even if it's in lower numbers, but to make it visible at as many events as possible... same thing with tech fraud checks... walking into an ITU AG Worlds and seeing every so many people someone get randomized for a check, helps deter would be cheats... Obviously, not all of them, but it at least makes people aware of the risk of getting caught.

+1

Although maybe it deterred one of those riders from starting (just the article author's theory), he could have just as easily done the race and gotten the experience. This does nothing to allow the clean athletes a spot on the start line.

Also, it seems that Flavia was only very recently removed from the results as while she is a DQ on IM.com, she still appears on obstri.com who updates results weekly I think. So she would have still been in the results right up to 11 months after the race! Still has her finisher's medal, her finisherpix, her kona tattoo, and her whole experience up to the awards banquet.

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I guess my point was the central and S.A. stuff is often the "old school" drugs we would have thought people moved on from because they knew they'd be easily caught.

Sure, no doubt white folks cheat the same as anyone else.

I thought EPO was yesterday's news in modern times.

I was looking at it from a choice of their "cheating tech" more so than "Latinos or non-whites". Perhaps easier access in those countries to specific drugs.

I'm sure in the US access to certain things are easier than other places.

This is not a white vs brown people thing. Have you been to South or Central America? I have spent extensive amount of time there and PED's are cheap and easy to get.

I'm shocked more people from there don't use them and/or get caught. In the US PED's are a little bit harder to get and they cost significantly more. I hope they all get caught regardless who they are but the fact of ease and cheap cost makes it an attractive offer. This is the same reason grandma goes to Mexico to get her yearly supply of meds......easy to get and cost.

And now the website says there are 3 athletes busted. Two from South America and one from Central America... maybe you are correct.

I've never understood why AGs would ever dope. Why? I don't agree with Pro's doing it, but I can certainly see some guy on a pro cycling team going down some mental rabbit hole along the lines of....... "it's this or I'm working in a bike shop, etc." which appears to be a common refrain from the LA era, etc. A 40 something year old AG athlete using performance enhancing drugs? baffling. Then again, I'm amazed about the AG athletes that cut race courses that have been reported in mainstream press. That is another one. Sociopaths (both the AG dopers and course cutters). Place these mofos on a watch list.

Exactly. 11 months for this to come out is outrageous. While your first possible reason might be right, I believe the sport would have been better served to announce immediately. I would like to think that earlier awareness of testing and people getting popped would prevent at least some doping. More testing at qualifying events would help, too.

My first thought was much more nefarious than yours. 11 months gave people the chance to buy their way out of a problem. Hope I'm wrong about that.

My first thought was much more nefarious than yours. 11 months gave people the chance to buy their way out of a problem. Hope I'm wrong about that.

I do know that with positive tests, there is, or can be, depending on the actions taken by the athlete, a lengthy process after the positive test is determined - testing of the B-Samples, opportunity for the athlete to defend, explain themselves, then possible legal back-and-forth . . . etc . .

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

my guess is that cheaper PEDs are easier to detect, or to take in the wrong doses. on a top-shelf, doctor-monitored regime you can (apparently) zip along under the radar more or less indefinitely. recall how many of the all-time great cheaters never tested positive. i take it as read that in general lots of people are doping, and doping at roughly similar rates from country to country. so competitive athletes from middle-income countries probably have access to cheaper gear and therefore run a higher risk of being caught.

in other words, not more likely to dope, just more likely to be caught.

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I wish the testing was done after the qualifying races, so the AGers next in line to qualify could take those slots.

At a 40 slot races, they should collect samples on 10 of the 40 after the allocation process.

I can absolutely understand AGer's in Triathlon doping. Kona is such a draw - a world championship for anyone and everyone - you too could be a (Age group) world champion!

Not that many sports have that - and obviously your typical middle aged MAMIL with cash to splash likes nothing more that to boast about taking part in a world championship.

Forget the fact your doping cheats clean athletes out of their placings and slots. Its your right to go to the world championships - right?

Kudos to Ironman for testing and taking a stance. It would be so easy for them to look the other way and let these athletes race whilst counting their profits. I personally would agree to stump up extra cash for entry fees to see testing happening at more races.

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By this did you mean something other than what you’ve typed?

There have been more than a few suggestions on this board over the years, mine has always been that you increase the threat of collection.

For example at awards, you give a little speech about anti doping etc and then inform everyone that Kona etc qualifiers will be corralled separately and the group will be subject to random and or targeted testing.

This has a two fold effect of getting *some* of the dopers out of the race before the Q process, but also effectively adding zero dollars to AD efforts.

Maurice

You're right. Perhaps they kept it quiet for the right reasons and I'd like to believe that. I would have expected an announcement after the B sample was tested. I also would have expected an appeal to their country's governing and certainly CAS to be public. If 11 months is "normal", I think that's a problem that needs to be addressed.

I've always wondered the same thing. I mean, best case they don't get caught and just have to look themselves in the mirror everyday. But worst case, it's not financial punishment they get - it's social. Many of these people have their whole identity wrapped up with sports. I can't imagine suddenly having all your friends/family/community suddenly know that you're a cheater.

Any cheater that has two brain cells to rub together knows that some people are tested at packet pickup and they would get off the drugs far enough in advance so that they would not get busted there. The people caught here are just the people who for some inexplicable reason do not do this... Since it's catching people it is worth doing, but most dopers will not get caught by this.

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Will be interesting to see if there is an announcement from IM France from this year. I put someone in contact with the WTC's anti doping about a US citizen AGer who is using to see if they could get tested from that race.

USADA punted on even testing the individual even though clear proof was provided.

The bottom line is WTC, ITU, USAT, other NGB's, USADA and other NADA's need to step up their efforts around AG anti doping.

It's unfortunately much, much more prevalent than they are willing to admit to themselves. And it's also unfortunate that ITU, WTC, USAT & other NGB's aren't taking a more active role in this.

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