will European IM times come down, or will less Europeans compete at Kona?

So Joe Doper wants to do Kona in 2010. He has already started his doping regimen aiming to qualify for Kona at IM Lake Placid in July, 2010. He can dope to his heart's content for nearly a year, knowing he will not be tested (he hasn't qualified for Kona/Clearwater and isn't in the OOC pool). He just has to be clean by July of 2010, and if he qualifies he has to be clean for another couple of months and he fulfills his dream of racing Kona. That sounds fair.

Say Joe qualifies, and is in the OOC pool for three months, and races Kona. Is he still in the OOC pool? At that moment, he no longer qualifies for a WTC WC race. Can he restart his doping regimen for IMLP 2011 and get in another 8 months of quality doping? At what point is he out of the OOC pool if not the day after Kona/Clearwater?

You did say to ask them here if we got 'em.

There are so many holes in this announcement that it is not even funny. I guarantee you that they have not thought this out for one minute, and have no idea of the ramifications of what they are trying to do. I applaude that they want to do it, but the folks in charge there have not one clue to the can of worms they have opened up there. They will very soon though, and my guess is that they will have to back peddle severly on this announcement for this year at least...

Let me start the questions, what policy do the AG'er have in regards to there constant whereabouts??Pros have to account for every week of the year, in and out of competition.

What is an elite AG'er?? Those that qualify for Kona, then we are talking about 1500 folds..

What are the banned drugs for AG'er, same as pros??? A ton of them use EPO, testerone, HGH, and many have prescriptions for them. Pros can get TUE's for some drugs, but not the biggies here. WIll AG'ers have a different list??

Do you bust AG'ers for pot?? We bust the pros for it..

THere are so many more questions that I will leave it to you all to fill in the blanks...Guaranteed that Ironman has not answered any of them, because they have not thought to ask them yet...

But they will now....(-;

What are the banned drugs for AG'er, same as pros??? A ton of them use EPO, testerone, HGH, and many have prescriptions for them. Pros can get TUE's for some drugs, but not the biggies here. WIll AG'ers have a different list??

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while the announcement is very vague, I have a UCI bike license that does say as a master cyclist I can be tested just like a pro. WADA outlines the banned substances and under the UCI rules at any race, at anytime, I can be tested.

Its nice to see them step up to the plate! Get prize money, get tested. Age groupers. Top 3 in each a/g AND those excepting a slot to Kona or Clearwater get tested! Why top 3? Because they may "win" but not take a slot. Not sure about the expense but an extra 10 bucks for the entry I feel would be reasonable.

will European IM times come down, or will less Europeans compete at Kona?

Let me start the questions, what policy do the AG'er have in regards to there constant whereabouts??Pros have to account for every week of the year, in and out of competition.[/quote]
In most sports, only the very top elite pros are in the whereabouts system, there's a level below which are still subject to regular testing and require TUE's before they use any drugs etc.

as you might guess, i have thought a LOT about AG drug testing. and we've batted it around a lot here (many of you have thought about it a lot too). paula newby-fraser called me right back and answered a bunch of questions i posed. i think i can answer quite a few of them now because of her kind gesture, and i published my own OPED about this that'll answer some of your questions, i think.

if you have any more questions, ask here, and i might be able to answer them.

i think the whole thing is GREAT. i really applaud what they're doing. but the OOC testing of AGers, this may prove to be the afghanistan of the operation. this has risk painted all over it, in my view. but what WTC has achieved is more than noteworthy, it's landmark. a panel to adjudicate its own TUEs, that's just so unheard of. no organization in sport has ever gotten through anything like that. and, not just for AGers, but for pros.

this, because there are so many orphaned pro athletes. if you're a german or an aussie living full time in the U.S., and you carry a USAT license but you're still a citizen of your the country from which you emigrated, and if you don't race ITU events, nobody is going to adjudicate your TUE, nobody is going to put you on its OOC pool. so, WTC got the right to operate several of the functions that an anti-doping org usually has reserved for it.

the press release that gets picked up by whatever media organizations get it will not understand how breakthrough this is.

but that AG program. that's going to be fun to watch ;-)