General Doping Thread.

[Rob5091]

Just as you thought the Chinese swimmers scandal was over ...
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/a...winter-olympics-as-french-alps-get-2030-games

What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics on Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah officials to end an FBI investigation into a suspected doping coverup. ....Regarding the Salt Lake City bid, the IOC is angry about an ongoing US federal investigation of suspected doping by Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games despite positive drug tests. The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accepted Chinese explanations for the tests, and US officials are now investigating that decision under an anti-conspiracy law passed after the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Games. ....The IOC president, Thomas Bach, wants to make sure Wada is the sole authority on Olympic doping cases, especially with the Summer Olympics headed to Los Angeles in 2028. The IOC added a clause to Salt Lake’s host contract, demanding that local organizers – including Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox – push to shut down the federal investigation or risk losing the Olympics.

Salt Lake City first hosted the Winter Games in 2002. That bid was hit with a bribery scandal, which led to anti-corruption reforms at the IOC.

 

[snipeheem]

Just as you thought the Chinese swimmers scandal was over ...
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/a...winter-olympics-as-french-alps-get-2030-games

This Chinese thing is disgusting..

 

[Rob5091]

So the IOC is basically blackmailing the Salt Lake City's organizers and Utah's Governor. I think the FBI should be called in.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/a...winter-olympics-as-french-alps-get-2030-games
"The IOC added a clause to Salt Lake’s host contract, demanding that local organizers – including Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox – push to shut down the federal investigation or risk losing the Olympics.
Even in the world Olympic diplomacy, it was a stunning power move to force government officials to publicly agree to lobby on the IOC’s behalf."

Edit -add - https://www.ksl.com/article/51077310/its-a-historic-day-salt-lake-city-to-host-2034-winter-olympics

IOC leaders didn't bring up any concerns about Utah's event logistics, but something out of the state's control created some tension Wednesday. The rowdy crowd quieted as the governing body brought up concerns about differences that have emerged between the U.S. and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Members of Utah's committee appeared nervous as the debate dragged the meeting out longer than anticipated. And one person in the Salt Lake crowd whispered aloud, "What if we don't get it?" as the conversation played out in front of them. Utah's committee along with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee committed to abiding by the World Anti-Doping Code during the meeting, which was included in an agreement amendment discussed during the meeting.

It really is sick that the IOC has made this into a arguement about the US not following WADA's guidelines. The whole issue is WADA not following it's own guidelines!

 

[repoman]

The Olympics are so rotten.

 

[yaco]

I take a different view. Why does the USA feel it has to begin an investigation about an affair that happened in China and is under the auspices of WADA. I am sick of the USA trying to undermine the sovereignty of other countries or organisations. If the USA was serious they would investigate some of the ridiculous decisions made by USADA to allow American athletes to avoid doping violations.

 

[Sciatic]

I take a different view. Why does the USA feel it has to begin an investigation about an affair that happened in China and is under the auspices of WADA. I am sick of the USA trying to undermine the sovereignty of other countries or organisations. If the USA was serious they would investigate some of the ridiculous decisions made by USADA to allow American athletes to avoid doping violations.

Because there’s a law supporting such investigations. But I agree with you re; the US should investigate it’s own dirty laundry.

 

[Monoxidator]

Because there’s a law supporting such investigations. But I agree with you re; the US should investigate it’s own dirty laundry.

It's not dirty laundry if you're a political organization that's trying to cheat your way to more gold medals. The USA is dominant in sport due to our superior doping doctors and cutting edge pharmaceuticals.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

There is now a stickied directory thread for the Clinic: hopefully will avoid forked discussions and will make finding discussions easier.

Still a work in progress, but I think any thread that has been comment in in the last three years is there.

 

[repoman]

The vice president of WADA is a retired Chinese speed skater...

 

[search]

On German TV, Seppelt just said that WADA told him they would only consider to investigate the Chinese swimming case any further if the whistleblower talks to them directly. But he declined to do so.

 

[BullsFan22]

On German TV, Seppelt just said that WADA told him they would only consider to investigate the Chinese swimming case any further if the whistleblower talks to them directly. But he declined to do so.

Seppelt is a joke

 

[ivanic]

Maybe we haven't realized what carbon monoxide inhalation is.

Tell me if there's a difference between carbon monoxide inhalation and cigarette smoking. Tell me.

Will we get to the point where we see professional cyclists smoking? Do we realize what that means?
The exact opposite of what sports should represent for young people.

 

[Sciatic]

Maybe we haven't realized what carbon monoxide inhalation is.

Tell me if there's a difference between carbon monoxide inhalation and cigarette smoking. Tell me.

Will we get to the point where we see professional cyclists smoking? Do we realize what that means?
The exact opposite of what sports should represent for young people.

We saw plenty of professional cyclist smoking (including on their bikes) in the early 1900s. . . Guess they were onto something.

 

[Sciatic]

Maybe we haven't realized what carbon monoxide inhalation is.

Tell me if there's a difference between carbon monoxide inhalation and cigarette smoking. Tell me.

Will we get to the point where we see professional cyclists smoking? Do we realize what that means?
The exact opposite of what sports should represent for young people.

Interesting re:cig smoking. Research on diseases obviously does not easily equate to effects for healthy athletes, this result is still intriguing. Study of 3 groups of folks with same illness, the group that contained all smokers had a significantly higher natural EPO levels.

Comparison of serum erythropoietin levels in smokers and nonsmokers with periodontitis: A biochemical study

This study was carried out to compare serum erythropoietin (Epo) levels in smokers and nonsmokers with periodontitis.Fifty-one subjects of both sexes (age range: 30–65 years) with chronic periodontitis (CP) participated in this study. Seventeen ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Rob5091]

Hitting 'em where it hurts ... ouch!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gygj1d28o

Wada said in its statement on Tuesday that it had been caught in "the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers but has no mandate to participate in that".

"Certain individuals [in the US] are attempting to score political points purely on the basis that the athletes in question are Chinese," Wada head of media relations James Fitzgerald told the BBC. "The result is that it has created distrust and division within the anti-doping system." ...Last week, Wada had said it was considering legal action against its US counterpart, Usada, over "defamatory" accusations. ...

US lawmakers, too, have accused Wada of failing to investigate doping allegations against Chinese swimmers properly. And on Tuesday they introduced a bill that would give the White House power to cut funding to the agency.

https://www.streetinsider.com/Reute...ts+to+Olympic+anti-doping+funds/23525903.html

Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate introduced the "Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act of 2024," which would give the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) permanent authority to reduce or revoke U.S. funding for WADA.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, cosponsor of the bill, said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and WADA had tried to "strong arm" the U.S. into dropping an FBI investigation into the matter by threatening Salt Lake City's bid to host the Winter Games in 2034.

"We will not be silenced for trying to promote fair play. This legislation would allow the U.S. to withhold funding to WADA if they do not ensure fair representation on its governing bodies," Blackburn told reporters. ...The U.S. contributed about $3.4 million to WADA's nearly $50 million budget in 2023 and the body has budgeted for a similar amount for 2024.

 

[Rob5091]

On German TV, Seppelt just said that WADA told him they would only consider to investigate the Chinese swimming case any further if the whistleblower talks to them directly. But he declined to do so.

As I posted earlier, there is someone who told ITA & USADA about funny going ons, and WADA said we've investigated that and there's nothing to see. Only when the same whistleblower (seemingly) went to the media did things hot up.
Now that USADA have taken it up again, WADA have threatened USADA with ... https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/c978r4z9826o

Wada will take Usada to the Independent Compliance Review Committee next month.[August]

If the Independent Compliance Review Court's (CRC) review goes against the United States, the country would have to forfeit participating in and hosting the Olympics.

 

[Rob5091]

WADA statement 30 July 2024 Chinese sports people caught with metandienone ...

two swimmers, one shooter and one BMX rider... all of whom tested positive for trace amounts of a prohibited substance, metandienone, in late 2022 and early 2023,

Food contamination says WADA & CHINADA after testing of meat samples, and there being trace amounts and no other abnormalities when the 4 were tested around the same time.
The interesting bit is the last paragraph,

The politicization of anti-doping continues with this latest attempt by the media in the United States to imply wrongdoing on the part of WADA and the broader anti-doping community. As we have seen over recent months, WADA has been unfairly caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers but has no mandate to participate in that.

Then of course they wheel out the PR Tzar, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gygj1d28o

"Certain individuals [in the US] are attempting to score political points purely on the basis that the athletes in question are Chinese," Wada head of media relations James Fitzgerald told the BBC. "The result is that it has created distrust and division within the anti-doping system."

I think the distrust of WADA has been around for a while.

 

[Sciatic]

I am sorry that the U.S. has gotten involved because WADA has become extremely defensive, so there’s less chance WADA would admit to problems. And they can use “politicization” Ada smoke screen to avoid having to respond about the doping

 

[BullsFan22]

I am sorry that the U.S. has gotten involved because WADA has become extremely defensive, so there’s less chance WADA would admit to problems. And they can use “politicization” Ada smoke screen to avoid having to respond about the doping

Why does the US have to involve itself in everything? Did anyone invite the US government to ‘intervene?’ Let’s see how many US athletes are doped and how many have taken TUE’s for ‘medical reasons.’

No different from what they’ve been doing to Russia the last 10-11 years.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Why does the US have to involve itself in everything? Did anyone invite the US government to ‘intervene?’ Let’s see how many US athletes are doped and how many have taken TUE’s for ‘medical reasons.’

No different from what they’ve been doing to Russia the last 10-11 years.

So much this.

USADA has a long and relatively well-known history of turning a blind eye to the practices of its own athletes, so their shouting loudly about others agreeing flimsy TUEs and gaming the system is greeted with a cheery "Sir/Madam, that is projection!"

The thing is, why can't it be both? It almost certainly is both - the Chinese highly likely are using shady practices and abuse of grey areas to further their athletic achievements in the pool, but the US almost certainly are trying to score political points (as well as further their own medal count) by intervening.

As I said about Pan's world record last night, achieving this in the wake of the controversies and metaphorically flipping the bird to USADA may in future years be as hilarious as Pat McQuaid giving himself credit for having supposedly removed doping from cycling ahead of the 2012 Games, and then having to personally hang the gold medal around Vino's neck.

 

[BullsFan22]

So much this.

USADA has a long and relatively well-known history of turning a blind eye to the practices of its own athletes, so their shouting loudly about others agreeing flimsy TUEs and gaming the system is greeted with a cheery "Sir/Madam, that is projection!"

The thing is, why can't it be both? It almost certainly is both - the Chinese highly likely are using shady practices and abuse of grey areas to further their athletic achievements in the pool, but the US almost certainly are trying to score political points (as well as further their own medal count) by intervening.

As I said about Pan's world record last night, achieving this in the wake of the controversies and metaphorically flipping the bird to USADA may in future years be as hilarious as Pat McQuaid giving himself credit for having supposedly removed doping from cycling ahead of the 2012 Games, and then having to personally hang the gold medal around Vino's neck.

I’ll add this. There’s no doubt the American swimmers are on the juice. Also, the French are punching above their weight. It may still be early, but looks like home town cooking is really serving something delicious. Marchand absolutely crushing it. He’s as suspect as any of the Chinese.

 

[Rob5091]

Yep, funny how "home nations" always seem to do so well.

From what has been made public, somewhere there is a very scared, probably Chinese person who's been desperately trying to blow the whistle since 2022.

Edit add- now if like me, you appreciate a good read of legislation, then you're in for a real treat, as the Bill for change of funding to WADA is out. Enjoy at Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act of 2024

 

[Nomad]

We saw plenty of professional cyclist smoking (including on their bikes) in the early 1900s. . . Guess they were onto something.

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/k9R7vnbFtN4

 

[Sciatic]

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/k9R7vnbFtN4

Nice find!

 

[Sciatic]

Why does the US have to involve itself in everything? Did anyone invite the US government to ‘intervene?’ Let’s see how many US athletes are doped and how many have taken TUE’s for ‘medical reasons.’

No different from what they’ve been doing to Russia the last 10-11 years.

Couldn’t agree more.