Doping in other sports?

[Samu Cuenca]

Pretty big news in Hollywood as it seems after 30 years The Rock, like Batista before is now off the roids!

I think he looks a wee bit like Michael Foucault myself, maybe he's playing him in a film soon?

He could also play Egghead from the Marvel universe or, if he borrowed some of RedheadDane's hair, Bill from Guess Who?.

 

[Tim Cahill]

He could also play Egghead from the Marvel universe or, if he borrowed some of RedheadDane's hair, Bill from Guess Who?.

Bill was a death sentence unfortunately, the most recognisable character in guess who, an instant loss if you picked him. Sort of like rocky if you have him as your box office draw in 2025

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Not sure what to make of these Enhanced Games yet, whether getting things out in the open is a good thing or just asking for an inevitable dangerous incident, but can't help finding it amusing to see athletes talking openly of getting "juiced to the gills".

Ben Proud becomes first British athlete to sign up to Enhanced Games
The 30-year-old, who won silver in 50m freestyle at Paris Olympics, has joined controversial event that allows competitors to take performance-enhancing substances

The Olympic silver medal-winning swimmer Ben Proud has become the first British athlete to sign up for the Enhanced Games.

The controversial event, in which athletes are permitted to take performance-enhancing substances, is scheduled for May next year and is set to be the subject of a documentary by Rob McElhenney, the Hollywood actor and Wrexham co-owner.

However, in more than two years since it was launched, only a handful of athletes have publicly committed to the Enhanced Games — and none from Britain. Now Proud, a world and European 50m freestyle champion who won silver at the Olympics in Paris last year, has put his name forward.

“My ambition has always been to be the fastest man on the planet,” Proud, 30, said. “I’ve spent years striving for that within traditional sport, but my motivations have shifted.

“Now, I want to focus on performance at its highest level and challenge myself in new ways. The Enhanced Games gives me that chance — to test the limits of human potential with the tools and possibilities of our time.”

Proud is set to race against Kristian Gkolomeev from Greece, who swam the 50m in an unofficial world-record time in February, and James Magnussen, the three-times Olympic medallist from Australia who has declared his intention to “juice to the gills” in pursuit of victory.

Asked if he thinks the Enhanced Games undermines clean sport, Proud told BBC Sport: “No. I think it opens up the potential avenue to excel in a very different way.

“Speaking for myself, I think realistically I’ve achieved everything I can, and now the Enhanced [Games] is giving me a new opportunity. I definitely don’t think that’s undermining a clean sport. I really respect the sport I’ve been part of, and I would never step back in knowing I’ve done something which isn’t in the rules.”

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Not sure what to make of these Enhanced Games yet, whether getting things out in the open is a good thing or just asking for an inevitable dangerous incident, but can't help finding it amusing to see athletes talking openly of getting "juiced to the gills".

Proud will probably just continue on whatever medical concoction he has been on all the time....

 

[Sciatic]

Not sure what to make of these Enhanced Games yet, whether getting things out in the open is a good thing or just asking for an inevitable dangerous incident, but can't help finding it amusing to see athletes talking openly of getting "juiced to the gills".

One way to look at this silly endeavor is that it could make more valid the claims of many here (including me) that the elite levels of most pro sports are rife with doping. Because I think it’s likely some of these “juiced to the gills” folks won’t beat the times of elite pros on the world stage.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Netherlandish cricketer busted for Benzoylecgonine. (coke) Banned for three months. Reduced to one month if he does an online course. Ban backdated to Aug 18th...

 

[Oldman]

I don't think so because he was so popular and such a media darling (heh, sounds like Pog), and much like in cycling track and field is not really interested in popping its biggest stars, current and probably even past.

They've gotten some of his American challengers and I think a few Caribbean sprinters; both male and female in the last several years. I think he's far enough removed to be hard to prosecute and many new, questionable record holders in almost every track discipline suddenly very hot.
It'd be like taking Indurain to task for current GT winners. The UCI doesn't seem interested what with blaming the host country for citizens and non-citizens alike protesting international affairs. Another thing they can't/won't do anything about except pass blame.

 

[Invicituz]

The doping authorities have scored a 180, as darts thrower is suspended over a failed doping test:

Darts star banned for failing drugs test with investigation underway

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez has been provisionally suspended from all darts events after failing a doping test.

www.express.co.uk

 

[Oldman]

The doping authorities have scored a 180, as darts thrower is suspended over a failed doping test:

Darts star banned for failing drugs test with investigation underway

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez has been provisionally suspended from all darts events after failing a doping test.

www.express.co.uk

Typical loser wannabee; ranked 138. What was it? Ritalin and banned trans-fats in his donut training "supplement"?
"Honest! I thought the donuts where gluten free!"

 

[RedheadDane]

Not drugs, and a bit old, but... DAMN!

Cheating scandal rocks world stone skimming championships

Several competitors on the Scottish island of Easdale used stones that were ground down to be perfectly circular.

www.bbc.com

BTW, love the headline!

 

[Unchained]

I think that screaming fanatics that tossed beer on golf wives and families should get tested. Golf obviously has a drug problem, it just might not be the players

 

[Rob5091]

If, I wondered, a man seems to have no problems with doping people, then how about when the same man gets involved with horses? It started with Milan Erzen and Bahrain but I think UAE can be included ...
https://www.delo.si/polet/milan-erzen-selitev-v-bahrain-2-del (from 2018)

My friend Khalid Boulami from Morocco, who won a bronze medal in the 5000 metres at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, lives in Bahrain. We have remained on good terms ever since, and it was he who invited me to Bahrain in 2012, when I was still the sports director at Adria Mobil.

What were your first projects in Bahrain?

First, we started building a training center for racehorses, with high-altitude sleeping rooms, treadmills, with a 100m swimming pool for training the cardiovascular system, where horses do not strain muscles and tendons. In horses, the biggest problem is injuries.

https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/doping-scandal-rocks-middle-east-endurance/ (from 2013)

Prominent European federations are pressuring the Fédération Equestre Internationale to “clean up” endurance riding in the Middle East, citing the high incidence of doping and equine fractures in the area.

It has now emerged that more than 20 endurance horses trained in Dubai at barns owned by members of the Maktoum family have been involved in doping cases since 2005. The Tribunal has banned several horses for welfare reasons, one of them Lienka, an older mare at Al Aasfa. In imposing her 24-month suspension the Tribunal cited Bin Shafya’s failure to “unequivocally explain the occurrence of the 2009 and 2010 anti-doping cases of horses in their care.”

Sheikh Mohammed’s brother Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid owns the Seeh Al Salaam endurance barn in Dubai. Its main trainer Ali Mohammed Al Muhairi is currently serving four years, equestrian sport’s longest ban, for his second doping offense. The length was influenced by his disrespect for an existing suspension, according to Tribunal reports, during which he entered the field of play. He was snapped in a press photo, standing on a winner’s podium onto which Al Muhairi claimed he had been invited by the general secretary of the UAE Equestrian Federation. Al Muhairi was first banned for 10 months when the horse Sudan tested positive to etorphine, an opioid analgesic. At that time, the FEI Tribunal viewed “with abhorrence” the riding of a horse for 100 miles on this substance.

Top endurance rider Christine Yeoman told Horse & Hound magazine: “You’re always going to be one step behind them; they have the most amazing facilities. But at least if you knew they weren’t using drugs you could compete. They [the Middle East] will compromise their horses; we won’t.”

From 2015,
https://apnews.com/bahrains-sheikha...ping-offense-cf0e089692db49a9aa66c2e4ae4dada7

A member of Bahrain’s royal family, Sheikha Najla Bint Salman Al Khalifa, has been given a two-year ban by equestrian sport’s ruling body after her horse Salahdin Du Lauragais failed a doping test Italy in last year.

From 2023, https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/bahrain-lose-world-team-endurance-gold-medal-doping-case-827985

Bahrain has been stripped of its world endurance team gold medal after one of its horses tested positive for an anabolic steroid at the re-scheduled championships in Butheeb, UAE, (20–26 February).

and so it goes on and on .... The quote about "they have the most amazing facilities" (i.e. money) could be used about cycling and if the same attitiude to cyclists is common then it would explain a lot.
Edit - add- of course the wonder drug SGF 1000 came from horse racing originally and Piccolo was apparently carrying into Italy when he got busted.

 

[Rob5091]

Just to follow up on the my post above this one - why the heck would a guy with nearly unlimited money get a ex-cyclist and 3rd tier team coach, to train him for triathlons and train his race horses?

Also Erzen's buddy from Morocco, Khalid Boulami, had an interesting sideline after hanging up his spikes in 2017, namely, enticing young athletes away to other countries. Presumably to Bahrain where he lives.
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/20...yal-athletics-federation-frma-khalid-boulami/

The Royal Moroccan Federation of Athletics (FRMA) on Wednesday accused a “well-known” former Moroccan athlete of encouraging Moroccan athletes to represent foreign institutions for his own financial gain.

The statement issued on June 28 says that the athlete in question “has made it his business and operates with his accomplices around these establishments and during national competitions, to entice the young athletes and make them an offer of a better sporting career.” ... Le360 have alleged that the athlete in question is Olympic medallist Khalid Boulami, whose initials “K. B.” were given in a report by Al Massae on Wednesday.

 

[Invicituz]

Conor McGregor given 18-month ban for breaking UFC’s anti-doping rules:

Conor McGregor given 18-month ban for breaking UFC’s anti-doping rules

The former two-division champion Conor McGregor missed three sample collections last year, Combat Sports Anti-Doping announced

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sciatic]

If, I wondered, a man seems to have no problems with doping people, then how about when the same man gets involved with horses? It started with Milan Erzen and Bahrain but I think UAE can be included ...
https://www.delo.si/polet/milan-erzen-selitev-v-bahrain-2-del (from 2018)


https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/doping-scandal-rocks-middle-east-endurance/ (from 2013)



From 2015,
https://apnews.com/bahrains-sheikha...ping-offense-cf0e089692db49a9aa66c2e4ae4dada7

From 2023, https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/bahrain-lose-world-team-endurance-gold-medal-doping-case-827985

and so it goes on and on .... The quote about "they have the most amazing facilities" (i.e. money) could be used about cycling and if the same attitiude to cyclists is common then it would explain a lot.

The horse: “I’m tranquillo”

 

[TheKidsCallMeBoss]

Chepngetich banned for three years - https://www.reuters.com/sports/wome...ngetich-banned-three-years-by-aiu-2025-10-23/

The thing I find weird about corrupt sports like athletics is that Nike or Adidas never get in trouble for stuff like this. They are undoubtedly involved in doping and are profiting from selling €500 shoes to fools thanks to performances like Chepngetich's WR.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Chepngetich banned for three years - https://www.reuters.com/sports/wome...ngetich-banned-three-years-by-aiu-2025-10-23/

The thing I find weird about corrupt sports like athletics is that Nike or Adidas never get in trouble for stuff like this. They are undoubtedly involved in doping and are profiting from selling €500 shoes to fools thanks to performances like Chepngetich's WR.

Nike has supported and sponsored so many top athletes throughout the years, but once an athlete is popped they're like, nope, can't be associated with that. So they act all shocked and surprised and they withdraw their support and sponsorship.. heh, I think they know full well the athletes are doped up to their eyeballs, but as long as they are winning and aren't caught doping they simply don't care.

 

[TheKidsCallMeBoss]

Nike has supported and sponsored so many top athletes throughout the years, but once an athlete is popped they're like, nope, can't be associated with that. So they act all shocked and surprised and they withdraw their support and sponsorship.. heh, I think they know full well the athletes are doped up to their eyeballs, but as long as they are winning and aren't caught doping they simply don't care.

Often Nike doesn't even care about optics. They sponsored the serial doper Gatlin. I guess it helps them that the president of the athletics federation was on their payroll for almost four decades. They probably still pay him under the table.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Often Nike doesn't even care about optics. They sponsored the serial doper Gatlin. I guess it helps them that the president of the athletics federation was on their payroll for almost four decades. They probably still pay him under the table.

Gatlin became such a joke, but he still kept on coming back after his bans...

I'm trying to remember the coaches and athletes Nike was going to name buildings after but changed or renamed the buildings after scandals came about: Alberto Salazar, Lance Armstrong, and worst of all, Joe Paterno. Do you know of any more?

 

[TheKidsCallMeBoss]

Gatlin became such a joke, but he still kept on coming back after his bans...

I'm trying to remember the coaches and athletes Nike was going to name buildings after but changed or renamed the buildings after scandals came about: Alberto Salazar, Lance Armstrong, and worst of all, Joe Paterno. Do you know of any more?

So far, I think only these three buildings have been renamed. But it was quite insane that the childcare building was named after Paterno.

 

[Sciatic]

So far, I think only these three buildings have been renamed. But he was quite insane that the childcare building was named after Paterno.

I root against Penn State every time they have a game on TV. It’s not just what Paterno allowed to happen but the defiance of that whole community in defending him to the teeth—and building a statue to him. I find their “white out” games highly ironic as a manifestation of their holier-than-thou attitude.

 

[Rob5091]

Astro-turfing takes on a new meaning.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ial-pitch-causes-footballer-to-fail-drug-test

The Norwegian club Vålerenga have called for anti-doping regulations to be strengthened after an extraordinary case in which a player from their women’s team was found to have ingested a banned stimulant from rubber crumb in an artificial pitch.

It determined, after testing water samples and substances from multiple sites within the hall, that the shredded tyre granulate – known popularly as rubber crumb – on the pitch had contained the DMBA, which had been transferred to the players during the game. DMBA is a synthetic substance that stimulates the central nervous system and is sometimes used in dietary supplements, although it is banned in Norway and the European Union. It was known, through peer-reviewed scientific studies, to be a product that can occur through breakdown of the rubber-type granulate and there is a degree of frustration that this was not picked up on during the investigation.

 

[Sciatic]

Astro-turfing takes on a new meaning.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ial-pitch-causes-footballer-to-fail-drug-test

As usual (from my perspective) what's missing is the other piece of the science: the peer reviewed study showing that after ingesting a crumb of the rubber, it is metabolized in a way that the product will show up in a urine/blood test at a high enough level to register as a violation. Extraordinary claims require extra ordinary proofs.

 

[Rob5091]

As usual (from my perspective) what's missing is the other piece of the science: the peer reviewed study showing that after ingesting a crumb of the rubber, it is metabolized in a way that the product will show up in a urine/blood test at a high enough level to register as a violation. Extraordinary claims require extra ordinary proofs.

You want science? We got science! From 2024, and you'll never let your kids play on astroturf again! (6PPD seems to be the one in question in Norway)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724028213

This research aims to develop an analytical methodology able to determine 11 compounds of environmental and health concern, including antiozonants such as N-1,3-dimethylbutyl-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) or N, N´-diphenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (DPPD), and vulcanization and crosslinking agents, such as N-cyclohexylbenzothiazole-2-sulfenamide (CBS), 1,3-di-o-tolylguanidine (DTG) or hexamethoxymethylmelamine (HMMM) from tire rubber.

and from 2024
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524024342

Due to its size, below 5 mm, it is a microplastic (Frias and Nash, 2019) and it can be intentionally, or unintentionality ingested by the users of these surfaces, mainly children, which are highly exposed to RTCR (Llompart et al., 2013). ... Regarding other tire compounds, it is worth mentioning that vulcanizer agents, including DPG and 1,3 Di-o-tolylguanidine (DTG), were found in urines of children and adults from New York, in 73 % and 20 % of the samples, respectively (Li and Kannan, 2023).

 

[Sciatic]

You want science? We got science! From 2024, and you'll never let your kids play on astroturf again! (6PPD seems to be the one in question in Norway)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724028213

and from 2024
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524024342

Anyone who has ever had microwave popcorn or hot-waxed their skies have loads of PFAS/PFOS chemicals in their bloodstream. There’s no question we get all kinds of contaminants from the plastics and chemicals in our world. Nothing new.
That still doesn’t show how many rubber crumbs from playfields would be required to be metabolized in a way that this particular banned substance (not just any chemical) would show up at a high enough level to be a positive test.