Deja vu? (the Pechstein affaire)

[fatandfast]

Really a shame. A horrible end to a great career of a great racer. Looks like an American civil court. @10 out o 20 bar codes are screwed up on her samples. Tested her for every substance know to man and she came up negative but "abnormal". Reported that her abnormal values really were,they came up drastically different at 3 labs,2 from CAS and one she had done privately. Throw the athlete out not the flawed system.

 

[Cobblestones]

The CAS today upheld her suspension. They have not yet released their written decision so I don't yet know their reasoning.

Susan

This is interesting, in particular in relation to cycling. Will you (or someone) at CN do an analysis of the decision? Or at least give a link, if it's online? German would be ok. Mein Deutsch ist dafür gut genug.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

My storyon it will be going up soon. Basically the court said there was no explanation for her irregular values other than manipulation. Let me go find the CAS link, it is a 63 page decision (in english, thank goodness).

Susan

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

http://www.tas-cas.org/d2wfiles/document/3802/5048/0/FINAL AWARD PECHSTEIN.pdf

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

I rather liked this statment from the decision:

The appellants' multifarious explanations imply that all of a sudden a perfectly fit athlete incurred all sorts of unlikely situations and misfortunes that in some way affected her blood values; it appears to the Panel too astonishing a coincidence to be reasonably credible.

Susan

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Here you go:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-upholds-first-suspension-based-on-blood-profiling

Susan

 

[Kennf1]

I rather liked this statment from the decision:

The appellants' multifarious explanations imply that all of a sudden a perfectly fit athlete incurred all sorts of unlikely situations and misfortunes that in some way affected her blood values; it appears to the Panel too astonishing a coincidence to be reasonably credible.

Susan

Sounds familiar.
I would like to see a chart of her hematocrit/retic/off-score values over the course of year, like we have seen of Armstrong and Wiggins.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Sounds familiar.
I would like to see a chart of her hematocrit/retic/off-score values over the course of year, like we have seen of Armstrong and Wiggins.

There's a whole bunch of numbers in the CAS ruling, if you feel like mushing your way through all 63 pages.

Susan

 

[Mellow Velo]

So, the bell tolls for Pietro Caucchioli et al?
CAS have given a set of teeth to BP scheme.
Lets hope the UCI don't make them false ones.

 

[Cobblestones]

Here you go:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-upholds-first-suspension-based-on-blood-profiling

Susan

Thanks for the good story.

I looked at the report, and they cite reticulocytes (Susan, check the spelling in your article) of 3.54% in Hamar in 2009, which apparently went down to 1.37% just 11 days later which makes me wonder how long the window of discovery is. In that sense, her % was much higher than for LA or Wiggins. However, speed skating is different from cycling in that it is mainly a one day event, and it's shorter (comparable to, say, a single ITT). The body might respond differently to a similar doping regime under the constant stress of the TdF.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Thanks for the good story.

I looked at the report, and they cite reticulocytes (Susan, check the spelling in your article) ...

Thanks. I have often said I didn't know I needed a medical degree and/or a law degre to become a sports journalist, although my legal background has all too often been a big help.

Susan

 

[Race Radio]

Really a shame. A horrible end to a great career of a great racer. Looks like an American civil court. @10 out o 20 bar codes are screwed up on her samples. Tested her for every substance know to man and she came up negative but "abnormal". Reported that her abnormal values really were,they came up drastically different at 3 labs,2 from CAS and one she had done privately. Throw the athlete out not the flawed system.

A great end to the career of a doping lier. It is good to see that when her smoke and mirrors defense was exposed to reality it folded as fast as Landis'

Good job on the story Susan

 

[Bala Verde]

Susan, can you interview some cyclists and/or others in the scene to find out what they think of this decision, if they even have followed it and if anyone thinks it's going to impact cycling (precedent wise)?

Interesting quotes from cas, good story!

 

[Cobblestones]

Susan, can you interview some cyclists and/or others in the scene to find out what they think of this decision, if they even have followed it and if anyone thinks it's going to impact cycling (precedent wise)?

Interesting quotes from cas, good story!

I just noticed that they referred to the Landis case at one point.

 

[B.Rasmussen]

It's a good day.

Well done on the story as always, Susan.

 

[RTMcFadden]

The Real Fight

And now we're going to see the real fight begins.

From Schumacher's Attorney:

This case will give the CAS "the opportunity to prove its objectivity which was recently put into question by the decision in the case of the speed skater Claudia Pechstein and to restore the lost credibility that it observes the legal rights of athletes".

The CAS is expected to rule on Schumacher's case the middle of December. Lehner said that if the ruling goes against his client, it would be appealed in the Swiss courts and the European court.

 

[Race Radio]

And now we're going to see the real fight begins.

From Schumacher's Attorney:

This case will give the CAS "the opportunity to prove its objectivity which was recently put into question by the decision in the case of the speed skater Claudia Pechstein and to restore the lost credibility that it observes the legal rights of athletes".

The CAS is expected to rule on Schumacher's case the middle of December. Lehner said that if the ruling goes against his client, it would be appealed in the Swiss courts and the European court.

That is comical, Schumacher talking about lost credibility

 

[frenchfry]

After scanning through the 63 pages of the CAS ruling, I come away with the impression that the anti-doping process is very professional with countless procedures and built-in controls. Either the CAS and the anti-doping establishment is bluffing non-scientists like myself by putting together a document that is pure fabrication, or the process is actually quite dependable and can withstand challenges from athletes that are obviously doping but trying to get off on technical arguments.

Pechstein didn't have any better luck than Landis, and Schumacher will undoubtedly be subjected to the same fate. The cries of injustice and human rights are just PR ploys in the face of a system, though probably not perfect, appears to be quite advanced technically.

I find unrepentant dopers like Schumacher and Rebellin quite tiresome as they present themselves as victims much as Landis did and luckily the CAS sees right through their little game.

 

[ak-zaaf]

Pechstein won the civil lawsuit against the ISU and is allowed to skate again.

Bad news?

 

[RTMcFadden]

Source?

Pechstein won the civil lawsuit against the ISU and is allowed to skate again.

Bad news?

Very interesting. I found the CAS decision to be well reasoned and fairly comprehensive. Do you have a source that you can post? I haven't seen anything on this subject.

 

[ak-zaaf]

Very interesting. I found the CAS decision to be well reasoned and fairly comprehensive. Do you have a source that you can post? I haven't seen anything on this subject.

Telegraaf.nl

www.bild.de

Wow, I managed to pick two very trustworthy newspapers

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Pechstein won the civil lawsuit against the ISU and is allowed to skate again.

Bad news?

I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. I think it is just that she is allowed to start this coming weekend in the skating events in Salt Lake City, to allow her to qualify for the Winter Olympics, if the court rules on the main case before the Olympics.

I am pretty sure it is not a ruling on the case itself, it just allows her to keep this option open.

Susan

 

[frenchfry]

I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. I think it is just that she is allowed to start this coming weekend in the skating events in Salt Lake City, to allow her to qualify for the Winter Olympics, if the court rules on the main case before the Olympics.

I am pretty sure it is not a ruling on the case itself, it just allows her to keep this option open.

Susan

Hopefully you are right.

It does though allow a confirmed and suspended doper to compete with presumedly clean skaters - not a healthy situation.

It will be interesting to see how her competitors react. My guess is they will carry on as if nothing happened - or maybe I have been influenced by pro cycling where dopers are generally welcomed back with open arms and it is those who prone clean sport that are rejected.

 

[fatandfast]

Hopefully you are right.

It does though allow a confirmed and suspended doper to compete with presumedly clean skaters - not a healthy situation.

It will be interesting to see how her competitors react. My guess is they will carry on as if nothing happened - or maybe I have been influenced by pro cycling where dopers are generally welcomed back with open arms and it is those who prone clean sport that are rejected.

she is a confirmed "abnormal tester" not yet a confirmed "doper"

 

[RTMcFadden]

Wow, I managed to pick two very trustworthy newspapers

Thanks. To me, this highlights the problem with CAS, in that it's not the final arbiter.