General Doping Thread.

[Robert5091]

https://www.dw.com/en/europe-record-steroid-bust-leads-to-hundreds-of-arrests/a-49517655

A massive police operation that involved Europe's police agency (Europol), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and Italian and Greek police led to the seizure of 24 tons of steroid powder, 234 arrests, the closure of nine underground labs, and the dismantling of 17 organized crime groups, Europol said Monday.

"This is the sort of multi-party collaboration that produces real results and can make a significant impact on the availability of counterfeit and illegal drugs used by some athletes globally," said Gunther Younger, intelligence director at WADA.

The operation stemmed from urine and blood tests carried out by WADA officials at various sports events, though the body did not specify when and where the tests were conducted.

Officials said some 1,000 individuals have since been reported for the production, use, and sale of performance-enhancing drugs, and 839 criminal cases have now been opened.

WADA was influential in uncovering the complex trafficking system used to distribute the contraband drugs.

WADA said dealers used social media platforms to advertise their products. Non-professional athletes then used rechargeable credit cards and cryptocurrencies to purchase small amounts of the illicit drugs, which were distributed through gyms and online pharmacies.

The police operation, codenamed Viribus, was coordinated by Europol, led by Italy's Carabinieri and Greek police, and involved agents from Interpol, the Joint Research Center, and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

Some 23 EU nations and 10 non-EU countries, including Colombia, Switzerland, and the United States, also participated in the operation that netted 3.8 million illegal medicines.

 

[buckle]

Nice shot from the Open on Saturday of Justin Rose arriving at the course in a courtesy car with his nutritionist. Of all the people he could invite he brings his "nutritionist". At least Lowry arrived with his two year old kid and wife. Judging by his physique and relative lack of length off the tee Lowry may well have won clean today. How the feck does a skinny little runt like Fleetwood drive longer than a big unit like Lowry?

 

[Singer01]

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

 

[buckle]

https://twitter.com/AlyssaOrange/status/877332119663632384?s=09

Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler!

Gotta like Lowry though. The guy's got a John Daly gut and is not that long. Fleetwood, McIlroy and Rose on the other hand are ridiculous.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I would respect them if they themselves weren't doping.

 

[yaco]

Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I actually think it's poor sportsmanship by Horton who should be censured.

 

[Cookster15]

Re: Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I actually think it's poor sportsmanship by Horton who should be censured.

No, Horton should be applauded read up on the case. He's not alone British and others have done the same. What Sun is accused of is blatant if he is found guilty he will get a life ban. His arrogance on the medal dias over the top. FINA a joke for delaying the court case until after the worlds so Sun could compete obviously petrified of China. Then of course Horten has endured a social media hate campaign by Chinese trolls. Very very ugly.

 

[Singer01]

Wrestler from 2012 who had already lost 2008 gold, stripped again for doping. But allowed to keep 2004 medal. Seems legit.

 

[buckle]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/swimming/49137969

My interpretation is that the Australians are being told to STFU or else they risk exposure for the Anglo-Saxon hypocrites they really are. A measure of the power of the Chinese economy and its importance to the continuation of contemporary bread and circuses.

 

[Singer01]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/swimming/49137969

My interpretation is that the Australians are being told to STFU or else they risk exposure for the Anglo-Saxon hypocrites they really are. A measure of the power of the Chinese economy and its importance to the continuation of contemporary bread and circuses.

Seems likely, or she just doped and nobody needs to put on a tin hat?

 

[buckle]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/swimming/49137969

My interpretation is that the Australians are being told to STFU or else they risk exposure for the Anglo-Saxon hypocrites they really are. A measure of the power of the Chinese economy and its importance to the continuation of contemporary bread and circuses.

Seems likely, or she just doped and nobody needs to put on a tin hat?

I don't doubt she doped.

 

[AustCyclingFan]

Re: Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I would respect them if they themselves weren't doping.

100% there is a new PED on the market. Those swimmers have been breaking Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps seal-suit times.

 

[AustCyclingFan]

Re: Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I actually think it's poor sportsmanship by Horton who should be censured.

IF he is clean it is a great action. More please.

How sad that Australia swimming new it had just days earlier sent a girl home after a failed test, and didn't tell any of the swimmers.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/swimming/shayna-jack-s-positive-drugs-test-bitterly-disappointing-and-embarrassing-says-swimming-australia-20190728-p52bgn.html

 

[Cookster15]

Re: Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I actually think it's poor sportsmanship by Horton who should be censured.

IF he is clean it is a great action. More please.

How sad that Australia swimming new it had just days earlier sent a girl home after a failed test, and didn't tell any of the swimmers.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/swimming/shayna-jack-s-positive-drugs-test-bitterly-disappointing-and-embarrassing-says-swimming-australia-20190728-p52bgn.html

Not really.

The difference is Shayna Jack was immediately suspended. The system works and at least Australian swimming deals with its problems. But Sun Yang smashes his own blood vial, bullies fellow swimmers in and out of the pool and gets to continue swimming and winning world titles while his case is delayed. If you think about it Jack's case makes Sun Yang look even more shameful. It stinks.

 

[Cookster15]

Re: Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I would respect them if they themselves weren't doping.

100% there is a new PED on the market. Those swimmers have been breaking Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps seal-suit times.

Which records - short course?

Not sure about Phelps but the world long course 400m freestyle record (3:40:07) is held by Germany's Paul Biedermann in 2009 in a now banned supersuit.

Ian Thorpe's best of 3:40:08 in 2002 was set in a textile suit with some tests showing can even be slower than skin which is why most chose not to wear similar at that time.

Thorpe remains the best middle distance swimmer of all time bar none. No swimmer before or since has his stroke. Every elite swimmer at that time including the Americans and British were in awe.

 

[Sciatic]

Had to slip this in somewhere
https://rouleur.cc/shop/emporium/in-praise-of-mapei.html?utm_source=Rouleur+Main+List&utm_campaign=d02812bfb9-Fri+19_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3766b38a52-d02812bfb9-160004089&mc_cid=d02812bfb9&mc_eid=7ba7b57ff5

 

[nevele neves]

Re: Re:

Nice to see a couple of the swimmers refusing to share podium with Sun. If his reaction today was anything to go by its clearly getting to him.

I would respect them if they themselves weren't doping.

Maybe they are doping or should I say probably they are doping. But they have not taken a hammer to blood vials to stop the testing.
Sun Y. makes a joke out of the process. He should not be allowed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His fans and the other people who went after Horton are shameful.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Janez Brajkovic suspended for 10 months

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brajkovic-suspended-for-10-months/

Brajkovič's blog post about his eating disorder, eating disorders within the professional peloton, and how his positive for Methylhexaneamine was caused by a supplement is interesting for its insight into mental health issues within professional cycling, a subject that I suspect future generations will consider more important than doping unless we start dealing with it soon.

But, on the doping angle: here's another positive caused by a supplement. A few months ago we had Samuel Sánchez getting two years on the naughty step for what the UCI accepts was probably a contaminated supplement. A few days ago we had an Aussie pro with a conti squad leaping aboard the Shayna Jack bandwagon with his story of how a contaminated supplement sent him to the naughty step. In pro cycling, stories of contaminated supplements causing positives abound.

I'm pretty sure than 90% of Clinicians will hear someone blaming a contaminated supplement and scoff. Tom Danielson - who last week came down from his four years on the naughty step - blamed a supplement, but some also seemed to be blaming his ex before that excuse was roled out. And Bert, he ended up blaming a supplement but started out with a steak. Experience seems to teach us that blaming a contaminated supplement is the last best hope when you don't want to admit to actually having doped.

But. We do know we have a real problem with supplements, we know that some IFs and NADOs go to the bother of producing lists of safe supplements, we know that some teams buy from a central source and keep track of batch numbers. We know that they're doing this for a reason, we know that the industry does have a problem, sometimes from accidental cross-contamination as a result of poor cleaning standards, sometimes deliberately, cause that's what makes their products work for the average Joe and Jane Punter.

So, the question, then: what'd to be done? Should we be calling for supplements to be regulated? I recall around the time Spitting in the Soup came out being told that with Orrin Hatch in Congress that would never happen, but Hatch is gone, so maybe it's possible?

 

[Merckx index]

And Bert, he ended up blaming a supplement but started out with a steak.

AFAIK, Contador insisted all along that he didn't take a supplement--because, of course, if he had admitted that, he would have gotten some penalty. But even after CAS concluded it was a supplement, I still think he denied that it was. I think he held on to the steak explanation all the time.

So, the question, then: what'd to be done? Should we be calling for supplements to be regulated?

They're definitely poorly regulated, with companies getting away with outrageous claims. As far as the banned substances some of them contain, during the Contador case, I posted something about a Dutch organization, that provided a list of safe supplements.

Hatch is gone, so maybe it's possible?

I hadn't realized that he retired earlier this year.

 

[Pantani_lives]

What's the theory about contaminated supplements? That a pharmacist didn't wash his hands before making the supplement? That seems to happen a lot.

The article about Brajkovic is interesting to read. He seems very honest about his eating disorder. The obsession and the pressure to control your body can mess someone up. I wonder how many riders are struggling with this kind of problems.

 

[fmk_RoI]

What's the theory about contaminated supplements? That a pharmacist didn't wash his hands before making the supplement?

Two explantions, both of which lead to a third.

The first: they're made in industrial quantities with the manufacturing process outsourced to companies that also do other products. Sometimes, this company might be mixing a batch of, say, Methylhexaneamine . The next, they're making, say, Super Slim Fast Slam Sluprie. Becuase their cleaning processeses aren't of a high standard, some Methylhexaneamine accidentally ends up in Super Slim Fast Slam Sluprie.

The second explantion: these products only work because they contain products they shouldn't. So, say, Super Slim Fast Slam Sluprie only helps you to slim fast because of the Methylhexaneamine it contains and which the manufacturers neglected to list on their ingredients.

Both of these lead to the third exlanation: there's no regulation in the supplement industry, manufacturers can get away with murder (and some say that that's quite literally what they get away with). How you regulate, that's the question here.

None of this is actually news within the sports community, athletes know there's a problem. But still they ignore the advice being given to them. Take the Australian swimmer Shayna Jack, the current cause célèbre in supplement stories (her positive may have come from a supplement). Her IF provides information on safe supplements. Yet in December of last year Jack was promoting on Instagram a supplement not listed as being safe. Athletes, they do stupid things, no matter how many times you tell them not to.

 

[fmk_RoI]

Contador insisted all along that he didn't take a supplement--because, of course, if he had admitted that, he would have gotten some penalty.

Apps. I hadn't bothered checking this, just gone from memory. It's actually a complete mess when you go back to the CAS reasoned decision (pdf).

WADA did put forward the contaminated supplement line, allegedly as a fallback from their transfusion theory. Contador did stick to the meat story, but did confirm using supplements, but only those supplied through the team. He also said he had not used those supplements between his last clean test (July 20th) and his positive test (the next day). He also fought the supplement theory by pointing out that none of his team-mates popped positives for clenbuterol, despite using the same supplements. Bert's people also got confirmation from the supplement makers that they didn't use clenbuterol, anywhere. WADA then argued that Bert took a supplement that he didn't tell them about.

Basically, it is as as you say: had Bert accepted it was likely to have been a contaminated supplement, he would still be severly punished but, by sticking to the meat defence, he held on to hope of a lesser punishement/being cleared.

So, it's WADA who were trotting out supplements as their last best hope, not the athelete. Their basic position seems to be that all supplements could be tainted since some supplements are tainted.

 

[Oldermanish]

Two explantions, both of which lead to a third.

The first: they're made in industrial quantities with the manufacturing process outsourced to companies that also do other products. Sometimes, this company might be mixing a batch of, say, Methylhexaneamine . The next, they're making, say, Super Slim Fast Slam Sluprie. Becuase their cleaning processeses aren't of a high standard, some Methylhexaneamine accidentally ends up in Super Slim Fast Slam Sluprie.

The second explantion: these products only work because they contain products they shouldn't. So, say, Super Slim Fast Slam Sluprie only helps you to slim fast because of the Methylhexaneamine it contains and which the manufacturers neglected to list on their ingredients.

Both of these lead to the third exlanation: there's no regulation in the supplement industry, manufacturers can get away with murder (and some say that that's quite literally what they get away with). How you regulate, that's the question here.

None of this is actually news within the sports community, athletes know there's a problem. But still they ignore the advice being given to them. Take the Australian swimmer Shayna Jack, the current cause célèbre in supplement stories (her positive may have come from a supplement). Her IF provides information on safe supplements. Yet in December of last year Jack was promoting on Instagram a supplement not listed as being safe. Athletes, they do stupid things, no matter how many times you tell them not to.

Nascar driver Bayley Curry was just handed a suspension for this very thing. Yahoo Sport's abbreviated story didn't suggest he was using it as a defense for his "positive" but he's accepting the ban.

 

[King Boonen]

Contaminated supplement is an athlete's "my dog ate my homework".

 

[fmk_RoI]

Contaminated supplement is an athlete's "my dog ate my homework".

In times of yore it was "The test doesn't work!" or "I was poisoned by a fan!" now they have an excuse which even WADA has fallen back on. Weird world.

But I do think there is also a problem with the supplements industry.