Accusations that the IAAF have been covering up 100s of abnormal test results including 3 reigning Olympic champions. Anybody surprised?! Guess it makes a change from it being cyclists…
Wow. Never surprised when I see this stuff, but still disappointing.
Further analysis of the documents shows that many more of the best-known names in the sport provided suspicious blood samples which may not have been acted upon, with the list including: 225 athletes from 39 countries; three Britons, as well as a staggering 58 Russians and 25 Kenyans; three London 2012 champions and scores of gold medallists from other Olympics and major championships, current and former world record holders, and winners of marathons around the world; competitors over distances from 400 metres upwards on track, road and cross-country, as well as multi-event athletes; and several athletes banned for doping.
Analysis of the list has identified three London 2012 champions, and double figures of gold, silver and bronze medallists from other Games. There are approximately 100 gold medal-winning performances at other major championships, with around 150 leading to silvers and bronzes. Approximately 30 of those athletes named in the documents have been either banned or have failed a drugs test at some stage.
The fact that more than a quarter of the athletes named in the documents are Russian may be viewed by some as adding weight to WDR’s claims that the country was guilty of operating an “East German-style” doping regime.
The number of Kenyan competitors might be interpreted as supporting allegations of drug-taking in the east African country.
not surprising at all…
no-one wants a scandal on their watch, so they cover up, creating an even bigger scandal.
Inhaling xenon gas? Seriously, who even thinks up this shit?
The head of “Atom-Med-Zentrum” in Russia has denied to WDR the effects of xenon on the release of EPO and more generally that the method even is doping: “It’s doping when traces of biochemical reactions are left behind. If that doesn’t happen - how can it be considered a doping agent?” When it was put to them, the National Olympic Committee of Russia refused to comment on the allegation.
John
Inhaling xenon gas? Seriously, who even thinks up this shit?
The head of “Atom-Med-Zentrum” in Russia has denied to WDR the effects of xenon on the release of EPO and more generally that the method even is doping: “It’s doping when traces of biochemical reactions are left behind. If that doesn’t happen - how can it be considered a doping agent?” When it was put to them, the National Olympic Committee of Russia refused to comment on the allegation.
John
Good question.
It isn’t entirely clear to me that there is any scandal here.
Here is some more reading:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/12/iaaf-spokesman-nick-davies-writes-letsrun-com-reports-iaaf-not-follow-retesting-150-suspicious-samples-2006-2008/
**Seriously, who even thinks up this shit? **
It’s the game of the athletes, trying to stay far enough ahead of the officials. There was a time there, where I got the sense that the ground was being closed down. That the officials and the testing was, getting closer and closer. Things such as the Biological Passport, really meant that over time, you had to be, and stay legal, and that if you were using something, anything that it would show up!
However we have to keep in mind that at the micro and macro level the stakes are high here, and there are always those who want to push beyond the rules, game the system and even cheat. Hence - the out-of-the-box thinking that leads to some of the cutting edge PED use.
Think about it for a second. An athlete is told that, they can use a PED, that for now, can not, 100% be detected - what do you think the chances are that they will use it?
The thing is, success means world recognition and all that goes with it…money, fame, glory, etc.
Get caught? “Oops, my bad! I’m sorry!” and then their supporters turn that shame in a story about perseverance…and then that athlete is back at it a year or two later.
Integrity in sports is dead.
It isn’t entirely clear to me that there is any scandal here.
x2. In many interviews with people who involved in testing it’s explained that there are many suspicious values that don’t become official “adverse findings.” Because suspicion isn’t a high enough bar. And it’s not the first time these kinds of lists have been leaked, e.g. 2010 UCI list of “suspicious riders.” It is more evidence that many more athletes dope than are caught, but that’s not news.
Think about it for a second. An athlete is told that, they can use a PED, that for now, can not, 100% be detected - what do you think the chances are that they will use it?
Depends on the athlete.
My sceptical take on that would be “well he would say that wouldn’t he?”.
Be interesting to see if this goes anywhere. Totally agree that 1 abnormal reading isn’t necessarily proof of anything. The fact that the geographical distribution of the abnormal readings correlates so closely to countries who are strongly associated with doping is quite telling to me though.
. The fact that the geographical distribution of the abnormal readings correlates so closely to countries who are strongly associated with doping is quite telling to me though.
Wouldn’t you expect that? Again, per my above, the people who see the raw test results know very well that they’re only catching a small fraction. Because the false positive rate has to be essentially zero the bar is set very high. If we allowed a 5% false positive rate, we might nail 10x as many athletes. But we’ve decided that false positives are completely unacceptable.
**Depends on the athlete. **
Agreed.
It was suggested to me by some shady guy in a gym a long time ago that I would be the perfect candidate for micro-dosing of steroids to help me recover from workouts faster. Endurance sports athletes of the time where using steroids in this manner through heavy cycles of training - then stopping usage far enough in advance of racing to have their system cleared!
I wrote about this experience 2 years ago - http://stevefleck.blogspot.ca/2012/09/what-week.html
It was suggested to me by some shady guy in a gym a long time ago that I would be the perfect candidate for micro-dosing of steroids to help me recover from workouts faster.
I have similar experiences all the time. I work out in a bodybuilding gym where basically everyone dopes. They mostly don’t compete It’s just amateur stuff. But seemingly 50% of the conversation is T clinics, stacks, dosages, etc. I’ve been solicited many times, and not in a shady way. They have no concept that it’d be wrong for me Just trying to help! (and in that gym I definitely look like I need help).
Inhaling xenon gas? Seriously, who even thinks up this shit?
this guy: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=5213760#5213760
Curves? Haha j/k!!
. The fact that the geographical distribution of the abnormal readings correlates so closely to countries who are strongly associated with doping is quite telling to me though.
Wouldn’t you expect that? Again, per my above, the people who see the raw test results know very well that they’re only catching a small fraction. Because the false positive rate has to be essentially zero the bar is set very high. If we allowed a 5% false positive rate, we might nail 10x as many athletes. But we’ve decided that false positives are completely unacceptable.
I would expect it, yes. My point was more in response to what the IAAF guy was saying e.g.:
Athletes with a “red flag” reading may well be guilty of doping, but equally (and we can prove it in the majority of names on this list) they may be innocent
My interpretation of it is pretty much the opposite - given the correlation between red markers and countries known or strongly suspected to have doping regimes, I’d reckon a lot of those athletes are doping but there isn’t enough evidence to prove it. Will be interesting to see whether any athlete names get leaked - haven’t been able to find any yet.
There’s a common theme among cheats and non-cheats that they want to squeeze every bit of performance out of themselves as possible. Look at things like beet juice. Many people have tried it as a way to enhance their performance. It is not illegal, so why not? This brings us to the question of legal versus not legal. In the simplest form, everything that is not banned is legal. So were athletes that were trying xenon gas (I think it’s just a form of O2 deprivation, correct?) when it was not banned cheating?
Then there’s the ‘moral high ground’. In it’s most basic sense, everyone who tries to enhance their performance by something other than training more/harder is cheating. Where do you draw the line here? People try to eat or avoid certain foods to enhance performance. People train or live at high altitude. Some sleep in ‘altitude tents’ (O2 deprivation).
At what point does ‘trying to squeeze every bit of performance possible’ cross the line to cheating? Obviously when using a banned substance. What about a substance that SHOULD be banned e.g. pharmaceuticals? What about a secret plant extract that hasn’t been publicized (that actually does something…)? What about eating a whole bunch of something that tastes really bad and makes your pee turn red? OK, in that case the fact that your doing it is punishment enough.
Curves? Haha j/k!!
Is that where all the track sprinters go? 
Tiger tiger
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