Doping in XC skiing

[python]

...and she didn't double or triple or quadruple check like she always says she does...

here's what she said verbatim 16 days before testing positive. google if you need.

http://www.ostlendingen.no/therese-johaug/langrenn/sport/sjekker-ekstra-om-det-bare-er-salve-eller-te/s/5-69-306921

– Jeg tar aldri noe jeg får tilbudt eller kommer over uten å sjekke det først. Enten det er en salve eller en te, sier hun.
– Jeg sjekker både én, to og tre ganger, sier hun.

so, let's look at a logical probability of 2 seasoned professionals making concurrently - no, not a mistake anyone can - but a crucial blunder each knew well may end their career :Question:

such a probability in any forensic analysis smacks something much less that a random occurrence..often a cover for something...

 

[dukoff]

Re: Re:

On the press-conference they only talked about sunburnt lips. TerraCortril would be maybe a proper medication for HSV. Do you have a link to where either the doctor or Johaug said that indeed HSV was the problem?
I agree that you would presume that she was not untreated, but indeed (you said it yourself) if Herpes is a common problem for Therese, you would also assume that she doesn't travel without proper medication for this. But as I recall, the only problem mentioned in the press-conference was the sunburned lips.

I'm glad you recognize the missing day as a fair question.
However, there is a few more problems. The medic didn't go to the nearby pharmacy where they indeed are selling TerraCortil, he went to the next one, which is more of a health store. Secondly, one of the side-effects with Trofodermin is blisters around the mouth. Boggles me why the medic would give such a medication - not mentioning the doping warning and the text Clostebol - for HSV stroken lips.
Thirdly, Trofodermin according to several Italian medics and pharmacists, shouldn't be lubed on the lips.

They don't use the word hsv, but we know it from her history, and half of the media and commentaters use the term "munnsår"(=hsv). The doctor describes in the press conference that Therese has this as a recurring problem, which implies it's hsv, although they use the less revealing term sunburned lips. Which is a typical trigger-condition, so it's a reasonably accurate description, privacy taken into account.

While the three creams in question may not be primary for hsv, they may all be indicated for the healing-stage. Questioning a pharmacist on this issue, or anyone without taking the progression/stage or severity of symptoms into account doesn't really call for a nuanced response.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

...and she didn't double or triple or quadruple check like she always says she does...

here's what she said verbatim 16 days before testing positive. google if you need.

http://www.ostlendingen.no/therese-johaug/langrenn/sport/sjekker-ekstra-om-det-bare-er-salve-eller-te/s/5-69-306921

– Jeg tar aldri noe jeg får tilbudt eller kommer over uten å sjekke det først. Enten det er en salve eller en te, sier hun.
– Jeg sjekker både én, to og tre ganger, sier hun.

so, let's look at a logical probability of 2 seasoned professionals making concurrently - no, not a mistake anyone can - but a crucial blunder each knew well may end their career :Question:

such a probability in any forensic analysis smacks something much less that a random occurrence..often a cover for something...

My point exactly. I wrote all the things I wrote to show how horrible a mistake it was, if it indeed it was a mistake, but like you, I am not buying it. I can't believe that so many blunders would have been made. Surely there was another medical 'expert' there with the team prior to Bendiksen arriving, and that 'expert' could have gone to the pharmacy and saw what was available and relayed that to Bendiksen.

Again, someone as experienced as Bendiksen can't simply make that sort of mistake. It says DOPING on the freaking package. Being a doctor, he would have understood at least some of the medical terms on that package and the tube, even if he doesn't know a lick of Italian.

So yes, I agree with you.

 

[Oude Geuze]

So basically, we have a technicality over dose and TUE on asthma drug in an asthmatic athlete, and a lip balm, trofodermin, used on proper indication, with a story that checks out, but in a possibly severely negligent way to treat a known condition. It was even written on the list of medications prior to the positive test, which, for a doper would be somewhat akin to a terrorist truthfully checking "yes" to the questionaire from The Department of Homeland Security to the question "Are you a terrorist?" prior to landing in the US.

No doubt though, the Norwegians have been pushing the limits of legal medications and dosages in order to eek out any advantage they could within the rules, and if they have indeed treated healthy athletes, thats very serious, and medical misconduct which the doc's should be reprimanded or disbarred from. Any links to confirm?

Also, don't worry, they will dominate skiing come season, Norway is home to 50,000 cross country athletes, more than the rest of the world combined, anything less than domination would be curious

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

So basically, we have a technicality over dose and TUE on asthma drug in an asthmatic athlete, and a lip balm, trofodermin, used on proper indication, with a story that checks out, but in a possibly severely negligent way to treat a known condition. It was even written on the list of medications prior to the positive test, which, for a doper would be somewhat akin to a terrorist truthfully checking "yes" to the questionaire from The Department of Homeland Security to the question "Are you a terrorist?" prior to landing in the US.

No doubt though, the Norwegians have been pushing the limits of legal medications and dosages in order to eek out any advantage they could within the rules, and if they have indeed treated healthy athletes, thats very serious, and medical misconduct which the doc's should be reprimanded or disbarred from. Any links to confirm?

Also, don't worry, they will dominate skiing come season, Norway is home to 50,000 cross country athletes, more than the rest of the world combined, anything less than domination would be curious

Another Norwegian underplaying the seriousness of the two cases.

 

[Discgear]

Re: Re:

So basically, we have a technicality over dose and TUE on asthma drug in an asthmatic athlete, and a lip balm, trofodermin, used on proper indication, with a story that checks out, but in a possibly severely negligent way to treat a known condition. It was even written on the list of medications prior to the positive test, which, for a doper would be somewhat akin to a terrorist truthfully checking "yes" to the questionaire from The Department of Homeland Security to the question "Are you a terrorist?" prior to landing in the US.

No doubt though, the Norwegians have been pushing the limits of legal medications and dosages in order to eek out any advantage they could within the rules, and if they have indeed treated healthy athletes, thats very serious, and medical misconduct which the doc's should be reprimanded or disbarred from. Any links to confirm?

Also, don't worry, they will dominate skiing come season, Norway is home to 50,000 cross country athletes, more than the rest of the world combined, anything less than domination would be curious

Another Norwegian underplaying the seriousness of the two cases.

Yes

In this article from 23/9 (which have been mentioned before -
http://www.svt.se/sport/vintersport/wadas-expert-om-sundbydomen-kan-vara-prestationshojande/ -
prof Vibeka Backer, who was expert for WADA in Johnsrud Sundby CAS trial claims:

Vibeke Backer menar att nebulisatorn som har använts i Norge inte är tillåten enligt Wada.
– Det är förbjudet. Fullständigt, säger hon.
– Det har aldrig varit tanken, och det har aldrig varit en normal astmabehandling. Bara när man har en akut exacerbation och blir inlagd med mycket låg lungfunktion har man behov av en nebuliserad astmabehandling.

She clearly says that the Nebulistor is forbidden according to WADA regulations, completely.
We also heard after the CAS-verdict that Johnsrud Sundby didn't use the Nebulisator anymore. Moreover, NSF and it's team doctors stated in the CAS-verdict that they use a dose calculated on the premise that only 10% of the inserted medication do reach the lungs. Hence, doubling the dose 10 times.

Afterwards we have learnt quite a few things. Nebulisator was used the last season. It was used by both asthmatics and "healthy" skiers. It was used between the races within a sprint competion. The last years the second floor of the enormous Norwegian Ski Wax bus have been the place where they have been using several Nebulisators, both with salt fluid and with salbutamol, pulmicourt.

Despite this, Løfshus and the new team doctor as late as yesterday stated that they have no intention whatsoever to change the practice for the upcoming season.

Today even more was revealed. 80-year old former team doctor Thor-Øistein Endsjø explained that nebulisators have been in use in Norwegian XC-skiing, skating and biathlon since Albertville 1992. :surprised:
http://www.vg.no/sport/langrenn/langrenn/lege-i-lillehammer-ol-forstoeverapparat-er-gammelt-nytt/a/23827363/

 

[sida_mot]

Re:

So basically, we have a technicality over dose and TUE on asthma drug in an asthmatic athlete, and a lip balm, trofodermin, used on proper indication, with a story that checks out, but in a possibly severely negligent way to treat a known condition. It was even written on the list of medications prior to the positive test, which, for a doper would be somewhat akin to a terrorist truthfully checking "yes" to the questionaire from The Department of Homeland Security to the question "Are you a terrorist?" prior to landing in the US.

What we basically have is an over dosage by a factor of ten and a banned substance in an athletes blood.

 

[Lyon]

The cases themselves, however interesting, is not as interesting as the way the Norwegian Skiing Federation is handling them (at least to someone like me who doesn't actually watch skiing). It is a bit like with Sky - there comes a point when even plausible explanations are met with a shrug (or worse). At best what we are seeing is a kind of hubris brought on by staying in (or close) to power for too long. At worst it is highly organized cheating. Add to that that the sport of skiing (even in Norway) is so small that there is bound to be a sort of inbreeding at the top and you get the feeling that once the train started moving (and having finally reached full speed) there is no jumping off.

The big question to me is when did the train start moving and who made it move in the first place. How far back do we need to go?

 

[Discgear]

Re:

What we basically have is an over dosage by a factor of ten and a banned substance in an athletes blood.

Amen

The big question to me is when did the train start moving and who made it move in the first place. How far back do we need to go?

In 1988, when Norway was awarded Lillehammar Olympics. We've seen the same in China before Peking, in Greece before Athens, in Australia before Sydney and in England before London.

 

[Tubeless]

Here’s the real story:

For some time, Johaug has been under a special medical program to help her gain much needed muscle & power. The choice of drug has been the steroid Clostebol whose detection window was small, making it a relatively safe drug for off-season gains. The program’s success was evident in winter 2016 with Johaug making it to the sprint finals in several world cups for the first time. With Bjorgen returning this season, Johaug felt she needed to continue with the medication for another year to ensure continued dominance.

In late August, Johaug's Dr receives a routine 2-week heads-up from his source at ADN that Johaug is going to be tested while at the camp in Italy. (Other countries have long suspected that ADN’s mission is to protect the reputation of Norwegian “clean” sports.) The Dr and Johaug talk on the phone and agree there’s no cause for concern, that there’s enough time for the steroid to clear before the test. But the Dr should probably come visit the camp and purchase an ointment containing clostebol - just in case as a cover story. They agree to use Johaug’s recurring lip problem as the medical issue being treated.

The Dr flies down 4 days later and meets with Johaug. Then he goes and purchases a package of Trofodermin, for the very reason that it contains Clostebol. The Dr notices the “DOPING” sign but can’t find any comparable product without the marking and figures it’d be ok as the cover story may never be needed. The Dr hands the packaging to Johaug with instructions to squirt some every day so the tube looks used - but certainly not on the lips !!

On September 16, Johaug gets tested for the first time in over 4 months - and following the cover story plan, writes down Trofodermin on the form as one of the medications she had been taking. She’s calm as she had been tested a year earlier in a similar situation and the test game back negative. Unbeknownst to the good Dr, a more sensitive test for Clostebol had been developed and just became available in 2016 (source: http://www.ironmagazine.com/2016/clostebol-explained) that pushed the detection window from a few days up to 30 days. The test comes back as positive.

Johaug and the Dr panic and activate the cover story plan. The Dr agrees to be the fall guy. The problem is they were too confident that the cover story would ever be required - and several details weren’t fully thought through and coordinated between the Dr and the athlete.

This is (obviously) pure speculation, but fits the known facts better than the “official” story we’ve heard.

[ Edited for accuracy with the dates & location of doping test ]

 

[dukoff]

Re: Re:

prof Vibeka Backer, who was expert for WADA in Johnsrud Sundby CAS trial claims:

Vibeke Backer menar att nebulisatorn som har använts i Norge inte är tillåten enligt Wada.
– Det är förbjudet. Fullständigt, säger hon.
– Det har aldrig varit tanken, och det har aldrig varit en normal astmabehandling. Bara när man har en akut exacerbation och blir inlagd med mycket låg lungfunktion har man behov av en nebuliserad astmabehandling.

She clearly says that the Nebulistor is forbidden according to WADA regulations, completely.

This simply isn't true. There is no regulation forbidding administration with a nebulizer. But certainly the current rules limits the dose you can insert for some medication.

 

[Tubeless]

Re:

So basically, we have a technicality over dose and TUE on asthma drug in an asthmatic athlete, and a lip balm, trofodermin, used on proper indication, with a story that checks out, but in a possibly severely negligent way to treat a known condition. It was even written on the list of medications prior to the positive test, which, for a doper would be somewhat akin to a terrorist truthfully checking "yes" to the questionaire from The Department of Homeland Security to the question "Are you a terrorist?" prior to landing in the US.

Every professional doper has a cover story in case the test comes back positive. The list of medications is not looked at if the test comes back negative. But if it's positive, having declared medications on the form before the test will, in some cases, improve your chances to argue for a more lenient penalty. WADA code section 10.5.2 allows for up to 50% reduction in ineligibility penalty if the athlete can show the medication containing the doping substance was taken without "significant fault or negligence" by the athlete.

 

[dukoff]

Here’s the real story:

You forgot to fit in the timeline how they induced the lip-condition. Please complete the story.

 

[Discgear]

Re: Re:

prof Vibeka Backer, who was expert for WADA in Johnsrud Sundby CAS trial claims:

Vibeke Backer menar att nebulisatorn som har använts i Norge inte är tillåten enligt Wada.
– Det är förbjudet. Fullständigt, säger hon.
– Det har aldrig varit tanken, och det har aldrig varit en normal astmabehandling. Bara när man har en akut exacerbation och blir inlagd med mycket låg lungfunktion har man behov av en nebuliserad astmabehandling.

She clearly says that the Nebulistor is forbidden according to WADA regulations, completely.

This simply isn't true. There is no regulation forbidding administration with a nebulizer. But certainly the current rules limits the dose you can insert for some medication.

Just referring what WADAs own anti doping expert said about Nebulizers. Forbidden, completely. The comment from Swedes and Finns have been that they wouldn't consider using this kind of medical equipment.

Tubeless, I find "your" story more believable than the the official version which I truly find unbelievable.

Dukoff, if you do have HSV there is quite a few easy ways to provoke an outbreak.

 

[dukoff]

Re: Re:

Dukoff, if you do have HSV there is quite a few easy ways to provoke an outbreak.

So what do you suggest..? If this theory is serious, we need to nail down such important details with methods and dates.

 

[python]

Here’s the real story:

For some time, Johaug has been under a special medical program to help her gain much needed muscle & power. The choice of drug has been the steroid Clostebol whose detection window was small, making it a relatively safe drug for off-season gains. The program’s success was evident in winter 2016 with Johaug making it to the sprint finals in several world cups for the first time. With Bjorgen returning this season, Johaug felt she needed to continue with the medication for another year to ensure continued dominance.

In early September, the Dr receives a routine 2-week heads-up from his source at ADN that Johaug is going to be tested upon the team’s return from camp in Italy. (Other countries have long suspected that ADN’s mission is to protect the reputation of Norwegian “clean” sports.) The Dr and Johaug talk on the phone and agree there’s no cause for concern, that there’s enough time for the steroid to clear before the test. But the Dr should probably come visit the camp and purchase an ointment containing clostebol - just in case as a cover story. They agree to use Johaug’s recurring lip problem as the medical issue being treated.

The Dr flies down 4 days later and meets with Johaug. Then he goes and purchases a package of Trofodermin, for the very reason that it contains Clostebol. The Dr notices the “DOPING” sign but can’t find any comparable product without the marking and figures it’d be ok as the cover story may never be needed. The Dr hands the packaging to Johaug with instructions to squirt some every day so the tube looks used - but certainly not on the lips !!

Upon return to Norway, Johaug gets tested for the first time in over 4 months - and following the cover story plan, writes down Trofodermin on the form as one of the medications she had been taking. She’s calm as she had been tested a year earlier in a similar situation and the test game back negative. Unbeknownst to the good Dr, a more sensitive test for Clostebol had been developed and just became available in 2016 (source: http://www.ironmagazine.com/2016/clostebol-explained) that pushed the detection window from a few days up to 30 days. The test comes back as positive.

Johaug and the Dr panic and activate the cover story plan. The Dr agrees to be the fall guy. The problem is they were too confident that the cover story would ever be required - and several details weren’t fully thought through and coordinated between the Dr and the athlete.

This is (obviously) pure speculation, but fits the known facts better than the “official” story we’ve heard.

this is the 1st and relatively inclusive attempt at an alternative scenario. not altogether a bad try. my skepsis of the official story so far is well recorded, so, for the sake of correcting the version to the facts i consider firm, i am saying...:
1. the cream story as a cover up has its limitations in the sense that it serves a wonderful public relations role but little more. iow, it is a poor substantive tool. that is, fluffing a discovery of an outright banned steroid in ones urine is an automatic wada adrv. a trouble with the 4 y potential suspension. in addition to offering a convenient public story, the most it could serve substantively would be a reduction of a suspension. a desperate, last-minute tool, if it was employed indeed.
2. johaug gave the busted sample in italy, not norway. in livigno.
----
3. (this is my addition). the clostebol cream may have been the (one of the) doping agents all along, except it was applied to anything but lips for the effect. it was deemed safe b/c it was tested previously and multiply for not rising the t/e ratio (testosterone to epitestosterone) above 4. ( look up some well known cases like landis or the us sprinters). this is a CLASSIC screening test which all anabolic steroids have to pass thru. anything above 4 equals a fail and the sample gets 'some attention' for a more specific steroid scan using the gc-ms (or the improvements, like lc-ms/ms etc).

in one word, therese may have failed a test she was told she has to pass, b/c she did before given the tip off. it just did not have to be a direct test for clostebol but a t/e test. remarkably, we were never leaked the value (likely b/c it was consistent with doping), but told about the 'minimum concentration' which is meaningless.

 

[Tubeless]

Here’s the real story:

You forgot to fit in the timeline how they induced the lip-condition. Please complete the story.

Who says you can't be taking steroids while having burned lips from sun exposure? One does not cause the other. Unrelated. Except in the "official" story.

 

[sida_mot]

Re: Re:

Dukoff, if you do have HSV there is quite a few easy ways to provoke an outbreak.

So what do you suggest..? If this theory is serious, we need to nail down such important details with methods and dates.

No because the theory suggests the HSV or sun burn isn't significant at all.

Even if the theory would be true I really doubt they would induce the sores to create a more plausible cover story. It is way more likely that it just simply happened to flare up and was treated by medicines that are effective against it. The sores were then added to the cover story since they were well documented. Original plan would have been saddle burns or something

 

[Discgear]

Re: Re:

Dukoff, if you do have HSV there is quite a few easy ways to provoke an outbreak.

So what do you suggest..? If this theory is serious, we need to nail down such important details with methods and dates.

I think sida-mot already have given a valid answer why this is not needed for the theory to be considered serious. However, there's a few basic fundaments for an upcoming HSV outbreak like; fatigue - either lacking sleep or physical, heavy alcohol consumption, immune suppression due to medication with steroids.
In this case I would go for to obvious ones:
Physical stress/fatigue
Immune suppression/use of steroids

Secondly you could trigger it if you are oversensitive/allergic to any foods. For example, chew on an apple, carrot or walnut and lick with the tongue over your lips, especially if they are sore from sun and wind.
Or if you are over sensitive to nickel, put a piece of nickel to your lips.
Or simply irritate an area of your lips by continuously moving your fingers back an forth over the area.

Just a few examples.

But as sida-mot wrote, her sore lips were not needed for the cover up. There were other alternatives available.

But still it’s just a theory and as long there are so many doubts surrounding the official ones, I think NSF and Johaug - especially when she hasn't answered any questions whatsoever - have to live with alternative theories flourishing.

 

[Cloxxki]

Does the good doc routinely travel to training camps, or did he truly get triggered this time only by an athlete with (pre-existing) medical issues?
The mis-timing by one day or more (other could have come shopping) between his arrival and the receipt of the claimed offendding balm, makes me wonder. Does that impact the reliability of the (potentially post-dated or) obtained receipt? Maybe they asked for a receipt of a different day, but the pharmacist said "enough is enough, this is the date you'll get". Or, they were allowed/able to track down an actual patient who was described this. Quite an operation, and it would take multiple pharmacies to be bought to find such a patient, let alone one with a receipt. Or, is buying balms to blame stuff on a routine chore for the good doc? What else did he buy, on sepatate receipts? Previous camps?

Perhaps such receipts should be deposited within 48 hours after purchase to even be allowed as evidence in any proceeding. Because it would put ADA's on a trail of illegal substances to look for with extra care.

It's easy enough to test to which extent this balm can cause a positive test, but it would need to be done far away from the case in hand. And 2-4 seems very warrented anyway, all on the atthlete's responsibility.
Also Norwegian athletes will need to be asked how they can confide in a doctor who messed up this much with the #1 star of the country. Athletes are easy enough to take risks, which is why there are reputed doctors to keep an eye on things. If anyone works with this doc again, it means they are stupid beyond comprehension, or part of the game.

 

[python]

...meanwhile, bjoergen may be getting another olympic gold after 11 years..
https://www.nrk.no/sport/11-ar-gammel-dopingsak-kan-gi-bjorgen-ol-gull-1.13192720

i was always supportive of the retroactive testing, but this is getting a tad ridiculous. the little estniska could never make the case disappear the way norway could, if, like with sundby, bjoergen got blasted from the past. i mean almost.

does anyone have alternatives that would NOT be based on a johaug tip off ?

 

[dukoff]

So..,

- You've injected clostebol, it's now end of August, and you receive a tip-off of a test to happen in 2 weeks.
- A doctor towards the end of a fantastic successful career, having served in the military for 10 years, been a doctor at the Norwegian Antarctic expedition, has executive leader-courses from Harvard, been a leader of several national and international organizations and leader of Pfizer Norway, is an expert on sport injuries, is President of the IOC world conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport, finds it not that satisfying to be of the most respected doctors in the country, and decides to be the one to sacrifice his pride, reputation and career, by taking the full blame..
- You manage to induce a lip-hsv-outbreak, or it's a lucky coincidence.
- The doctor decides to buy a clostebol cream with a doping-warning on the package as a cover story.
- You're interviewed by the press, and explicitly elaborates on how you are extremely careful and check all products three times, including tea and specifically lip creams.
- It's a while since the injection, so levels should be very low, and if lucky, you could be outside detection.
- Yet you go ahead with the plan, and eliminate all possibilities of a lucky slip-away by filing the Trofodermin cream on the test-form, so the most sensitive analysis for clostebol is guaranteed to be selected.
- You script out the stories of the athlete and doctor to be matched, and practice it vigorously, making sure to remark that Therese received the full packaging with the doping warning sign, instead of just the tube which didn't have it, and that she didn't use the words "doping list" when asking the doctor if the cream was legal, but instead asked if it "is ok?".

This is all a calculated gain/loss, and well worth it all, because..

..it may change a max 2-year(realistically) suspension into a 1-year suspension.

makes perfect sense!

 

[kingjr]

Re:

...meanwhile,
the little estniska could never make the case disappear the way norway could

Doesn't matter, if you can't make it disappear, bad luck, should have competed clean.

 

[Tubeless]

Re:

So..,

- You've injected clostebol, it's now end of August, and you receive a tip-off of a test to happen in 2 weeks.
- A doctor towards the end of a fantastic successful career, having served in the military for 10 years, been a doctor at the Norwegian Antarctic expedition, has executive leader-courses from Harvard, been a leader of several national and international organizations and leader of Pfizer Norway, is an expert on sport injuries, is President of the IOC world conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport, finds it not that satisfying to be of the most respected doctors in the country, and decides to be the one to sacrifice his pride, reputation and career, by taking the full blame..
- You manage to induce a lip-hsv-outbreak, or it's a lucky coincidence.
- The doctor decides to buy a clostebol cream with a doping-warning on the package as a cover story.
- You're interviewed by the press, and explicitly elaborates on how you are extremely careful and check all products three times, including tea and specifically lip creams.
- It's a while since the injection, so levels should be very low, and if lucky, you could be outside detection.
- Yet you go ahead with the plan, and eliminate all possibilities of a lucky slip-away by filing the Trofodermin cream on the test-form, so the most sensitive analysis for clostebol is guaranteed to be selected.
- You script out the stories of the athlete and doctor to be matched, and practice it vigorously, making sure to remark that Therese received the full packaging with the doping warning sign, instead of just the tubes which didn't have it, and that she didn't use the words "doping list" when asking the doctor if the cream was legal, but instead asked if it "is ok?".

This is all a calculated gain/loss, and well worth it all, because..

..it may change a certain 2-year suspension into a 1-year suspension.

makes perfect sense!

That's called the "honorable doctor and truthful athlete" defense. In this case, either the doctor is dishonorable or incompetent. Your listing of his accomplishments suggest he is highly qualified. Did he leave his eye-glasses at home? Or is old age catching up with the good Dr?

Honorable-appearing people often do crazy things. There could have been a private arrangement between Johaug and the Dr where the good Dr gets financial compensation for his efforts after Johaug collects the prize money. The Dr could have gotten into a financial bind in his life and was forced to decide between staying financially afloat and risking getting caught and having (just) his reputation tarnished. As the risk was low & manageable, it may have been a risk worth taking. People even rob banks, risking jail time - just for the money !!

If you've ever followed other doping stories, there are always two versions - the "innocent" explanation and the real story. Unlike civil and criminal trials, lying to the doping authorities is not a punishable offense. You're listing the reported conversation between the doctor and the athlete as a fact - failing to recognize anything the defendants say should be treated with a high degree of suspicion.

Earlier you explained that Johaug's lip condition is a recurring condition - often triggered by sun exposure. Which means it would be easy to "induce" with a 2-week heads-up - just don't apply the zinc lip balm on a sunny day.

We may never know what exactly happened. But there's no credible case for arguing for a reduced penalty. Johaug is not allowed to use the "honorable doctor" defense. Johaug was significantly negligent in not checking the ingredients in the lip cream and not seeing the DOPING label. In cases where a reduced penalty has been accepted, the use of the "innocent" medicine containing the prohibited substance has been legit - here the Italian doctors and pharmacists report the cream was used off-label. CAS will look at that when considering the likely appeal.

 

[Discgear]

Re:

So..,

- You've injected clostebol, it's now end of August, and you receive a tip-off of a test to happen in 2 weeks.
- A doctor towards the end of a fantastic successful career, having served in the military for 10 years, been a doctor at the Norwegian Antarctic expedition, has executive leader-courses from Harvard, been a leader of several national and international organizations and leader of Pfizer Norway, is an expert on sport injuries, is President of the IOC world conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport, finds it not that satisfying to be of the most respected doctors in the country, and decides to be the one to sacrifice his pride, reputation and career, by taking the full blame..
- You manage to induce a lip-hsv-outbreak, or it's a lucky coincidence.
- The doctor decides to buy a clostebol cream with a doping-warning on the package as a cover story.
- You're interviewed by the press, and explicitly elaborates on how you are extremely careful and check all products three times, including tea and specifically lip creams.
- It's a while since the injection, so levels should be very low, and if lucky, you could be outside detection.
- Yet you go ahead with the plan, and eliminate all possibilities of a lucky slip-away by filing the Trofodermin cream on the test-form, so the most sensitive analysis for clostebol is guaranteed to be selected.
- You script out the stories of the athlete and doctor to be matched, and practice it vigorously, making sure to remark that Therese received the full packaging with the doping warning sign, instead of just the tube which didn't have it, and that she didn't use the words "doping list" when asking the doctor if the cream was legal, but instead asked if it "is ok?".

This is all a calculated gain/loss, and well worth it all, because..

..it may change a max 2-year(realistically) suspension into a 1-year suspension.

makes perfect sense!

As you've described the scenario, it certainly doesn't make sense. But with just a small adjustment it will. If the well-renowned medic was involved in Johaug’s hypothetical use of steroids, the scenario will dramatically change. I guess every alternative for the medic, even being accused of being blind, old, senile, and careless or a slob would sound as a better alternative than being directly or indirectly involved in doping. Maybe the deal from the beginning was that Johaug was going to take the blame by buying a balm from a pharmacy in Italy. Remember, the staff at the pharmacy/health store didn't remember the medic despite being dressed in the Norwegian team clothing. Maybe Johaug when getting the positive test threatened the doctor with her going public if he didn't take the blame?

It might be seen as a long shot that such a well-renowned medic would be involved in such bad business, but we have certainly seen many stunning things from on the surface trustworthy people during the years. For me personally every illusion disappeared when Myllylä got caught, a person that I did always find head and shoulders above the rest on a personal level and as an athlete.

Remember that the consensus in the Norwegian XC-skiing team seems to be that medication is okay as long it is about making everyone compete on an equal level. If you do have any problems whatsoever with breath or recovery, just medicate. Johaug’s problems with eating enough food and building muscles a few years back are well described in several interviews and articles. She could never be competitive in sprint, hence never be competitive in the tours or overall cup. Maybe it was all about giving her a fair chance to build muscles like everyone else.

Of course, me myself are puking on that kind of arguments but considering what's uncovered on a daily basis about the Norwegian team ..... nothing really surprises anymore