General Doping Thread.

[rokovski]

There is article about freediving record, could be breathing high level oxygen before start of short time trial beneficial?

 

[Sciatic]

There is article about freediving record, could be breathing high level oxygen before start of short time trial beneficial?

Don't know -- but it wouldn't be UCI legal?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Don't know -- but it wouldn't be UCI legal?

I assumed so too after the rumours around the rebreathers and Sky's alleged noble gas method back in the day, but apparently not;

M1.2. Artificially enhancing the uptake, transport or delivery of oxygen. Including, but not limited to: Perfluorochemicals; efaproxiral (RSR13); voxelotor and modified haemoglobin products, e.g. haemoglobin-based blood substitutes and microencapsulated haemoglobin products, excluding supplemental oxygen by inhalation.

• What is the status of supplemental oxygen?​

  
  Supplemental oxygen administered by inhalation, but not intravenously, is permitted. However, some sports authorities may prohibit its use in their regulations. Athletes must check the rules that apply to supplemental oxygen use with the sporting authorities governing the events they compete in.
  
  
  

 

[Sciatic]

I assumed so too after the rumours around the rebreathers and Sky's alleged noble gas method back in the day, but apparently not;

M1.2. Artificially enhancing the uptake, transport or delivery of oxygen. Including, but not limited to: Perfluorochemicals; efaproxiral (RSR13); voxelotor and modified haemoglobin products, e.g. haemoglobin-based blood substitutes and microencapsulated haemoglobin products, excluding supplemental oxygen by inhalation.

• What is the status of supplemental oxygen?​

  
  Supplemental oxygen administered by inhalation, but not intravenously, is permitted. However, some sports authorities may prohibit its use in their regulations. Athletes must check the rules that apply to supplemental oxygen use with the sporting authorities governing the events they compete in.
  
  

Would be hard to believe it's allowable right before a race in pro cycling. Based on the above (if allowed) why don't we see riders get hits of O2 from team cars on climbs during the race (a' la NFL sidelines)?

 

[Unchained]

Would be hard to believe it's allowable right before a race in pro cycling. Based on the above (if allowed) why don't we see riders get hits of O2 from team cars on climbs during the race (a' la NFL sidelines)?

What good would it do? The absorption through your lungs is a natural limiter..would be sort of cool to see riders wearing a canula or facemask.. Oxygen tank, maybe a....

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qnGTCgHGruM&pp=ygUYbWluaSBveHlnZW4gY29uY2VudHJhdG9y


Amgen and a few others already have drugs to enhance your blood..

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/ZesgGXg19lA

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mhHvbgNHTqA&pp=ygUYTkZMIHBsYXllcnMgdXNpbmcgb3h5Z2Vu

 

[Sciatic]

What good would it do? The absorption through your lungs is a natural limiter..would be sort of cool to see riders wearing a canula or facemask.. Oxygen tank, maybe a....

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qnGTCgHGruM&pp=ygUYbWluaSBveHlnZW4gY29uY2VudHJhdG9y


Amgen and a few others already have drugs to enhance your blood..

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/ZesgGXg19lA

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mhHvbgNHTqA&pp=ygUYTkZMIHBsYXllcnMgdXNpbmcgb3h5Z2Vu

you kinda lost me with all those. I wouldn't know if it works or not, might comment is about what's allowable.

 

[memyselfandI]

New findings in sad case of Sivert Bakken:

Avdøde Sivert Guttorm Bakken ble funnet med høydemaske

Skiskytter Sivert Guttorm Bakken hadde på seg høydemaske da han ble funnet død lille julaften. Det melder Norges Skiskytterforbund i en pressemelding.

www.nrk.no

 

[Rob5091]

New findings in sad case of Sivert Bakken:

Avdøde Sivert Guttorm Bakken ble funnet med høydemaske

Skiskytter Sivert Guttorm Bakken hadde på seg høydemaske da han ble funnet død lille julaften. Det melder Norges Skiskytterforbund i en pressemelding.

www.nrk.no

I hope he wasn't playing around with CO inhalation.

 

[Rob5091]

HIF detection possible - from 2024
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667118223000491

Small-molecule HIF stabilizers are being misused in sports to ‘artificially’ increase red blood cells. WADA banned their use, but the structural variety in this relatively new class of performance enhancing drugs and the rapid pace at which new drug candidates are emerging hampers their detection in biological fluids, as many currently used techniques target specific structures – a problem also encountered with NPS. Therefore, a future-proof strategy was envisaged, capable of detecting ANY HIF stabilizer (known AND unknown ones).

Results
The HIF1 bioassay proved to be universal, detecting every HIF stabilizer tested so far (including enarodustat, IOX2, JNJ-42041935, etc.). Using roxadustat as a prototype compound, sensitivity in known urine matrices was determined and ranged from 1-25 ng/mL. A limit-of-detection in blind-coded roxadustat-spiked urine matrices was determined to evaluate routine applicability of this activity-based detection method.

 

[Rob5091]

Red light therapy and boosting mitochondria - a good recovery aid?
https://biologyinsights.com/how-red-light-therapy-works-on-mitochondria/

Specific wavelengths of red (600-700 nm) and near-infrared (700-900 nm) light penetrate the skin to reach underlying cells and tissues. Unlike ultraviolet light, these wavelengths are gentle and do not cause cellular damage.

The primary mechanism of interaction involves a specific enzyme within the mitochondrial respiratory chain known as cytochrome c oxidase (CCO). CCO acts as a photoreceptor, absorbing these specific light photons. This absorption initiates a cascade of biological responses within the cell. The heme and copper centers within CCO are the main sites where this light absorption occurs. When cytochrome c oxidase absorbs red and near-infrared light photons, it stimulates the mitochondrial respiratory chain to operate with greater efficiency. This enhanced activity directly leads to increased production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). More ATP means cells have more available energy to perform their various functions effectively.

 

[Rob5091]

Ruben Guerreiro's last days at Movistar -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...aken-aside-from-the-team-with-no-announcement

Original article in Spanish
https://as.com/ciclismo/mas_ciclism...de-ganar-en-giro-y-ventoux-al-paro-f202601-n/

... Ruben Guerreiro. The Portuguese rider has not been renewed with the Spanish team and was not at its presentation, which confirms his departure from the team. One that was ultimately unannounced, a relationship that ended privately within the ranks of Movistar. However there may have been a reason why the team did not communicate regarding Guerreiro, as AS reported that during the 2025 season he failed to report a trip in the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration System), the same situation that led to Rangel's suspension. Whilst Guerreiro only had one infraction, which does not lead to direct consequences, it raises questions. All professional riders must report their locations so that anti-doping authorities have the possibility of carrying out doping tests all-year round, whilst the use of medication of foreign substances that can potentially lead to a positive test must also be reported beforehand.

 

[Sciatic]

Red light therapy and boosting mitochondria - a good recovery aid?
https://biologyinsights.com/how-red-light-therapy-works-on-mitochondria/

Couldn't this be viewed as artificially manipulating blood values?
ed. Never mind--that's what an altitude tent does so I guess it won't matter . . .

 

[Rob5091]

Does more whistleblowers mean more doping going on, or is it just the norm?
https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/cm24l522e24o

Whistleblowers made 185 reports of suspected doping to the UK's national anti-doping organisation in 2025.

UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) says concerns raised through its 'Protect Your Sport' whistleblowing initiative led to two individuals being charged with anti-doping rule violations.

The 185 reports, which came from 25 sports, is the second-highest since the scheme was launched in 2020, behind the 211 in 2024.

"Seeing yet another year of consistently high reports coming in has been positive, it shows that individuals feel safe coming to us and that they want to protect the integrity of their sport," Mario Theophanous, head of intelligence and investigations at Ukad, said.

Mario is an interesting guy,
https://www.sportsintegrityinitiati...s-as-head-of-intelligence-and-investigations/

Mario has over 30 years of law enforcement experience having previously worked for Kent Police, the National Crime Squad and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). In his previous roles, Mario led covert investigations into serious organised crime groups nationally and globally, helping to combat the importation of drugs, firearms and people trafficking.

 

[Izzyeviel]

I just looked up something on wikipedia about tramadol, here's what I discovered.

Misuse​

Illicit use of the drug is thought to be a major factor in the success of the Boko Haram terrorist organization.[138][139][140] When used at higher doses, the drug "can produce similar effects to heroin."[138] One former member said, "whenever we took tramadol, nothing mattered to us anymore except what we were sent to do because it made us very high and very bold, it was impossible to go on a mission without taking it."[138] Tramadol is also used as a coping mechanism in the Gaza Strip.[141] It is also abused in the United Kingdom.[142][143]

From March 2019, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) banned the drug, after riders were using the painkiller to improve their performance

 

[csillag]

An interesting story out of Estonia today where a positive doping test went unnoticed for nearly a year and a half by both Estonian anti-doping authorities and WADA because WADA's ADAMS system malfunctioned and didn't send out notifications to them.

Source: https://sport.delfi.ee/artikkel/120...uproov-tuli-ilmsiks-aasta-ja-neli-kuud-hiljem (In Estonian and paywalled; I've google-translated some paragraphs below that explain what happened)

The curious story began to unfold around last Christmas, when Delfi discovered from the annual report of the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA – detailed testing results for 2024 were published by country and sport in December 2025 – that four of the doping samples taken by the Estonian Anti-Doping and Sports Ethics Foundation (EADSE) had tested positive for doping in the past year: those of two bodybuilding and fitness athletes, one rower and one skier. The first two – Andrei Abrossimov and Regina Krukovskaya – have already been in the media. But which rower and skier slipped under our radar?

If a journalist hadn't noticed a discrepancy between the number of positive tests and the number of cases he remembered being reported in the media, would this case have come out at all? And he probably only noticed because of the low number of positive cases; could there be other such hidden positives in countries with larger populations and more positive cases?

As for the skier, it took EADSE itself some time to clarify the circumstances of this case. Full clarity only came a few days ago, although the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration & Management System) program, which notifies national anti-doping agencies of positive samples from athletes under their jurisdiction, should have sounded the alarm as early as September 5. And not in 2025, but on September 5, 2024!

"The ADAMS program is set up so that it automatically sends a positive test notification to all contacts who have been added to this system – both to us and to WADA people. This system was created for this purpose, so that the relevant authorities can respond immediately to a doping case. Looking back at all the logs and communicating with the laboratory, it has become clear that on September 5, 2024, when the notification was supposed to come out of ADAMS, it did not reach us or any WADA person. We have met with WADA people, forwarded all the materials to them and made inquiries, but it will take them time to determine the exact nature of the malfunction,” said Perli.

Delfi has also contacted WADA with a question as to whether it can be certain that this is an isolated incident, or whether there is reason to doubt the reliability of the entire notification system. At the time of publication of the article, WADA had not yet responded.

The cross-country skier in question was Kaarel Kasper Kõrge who tested positive for cocaine during the Estonian roller-ski championships in August 2024. He has since retired and admits to having taken cocaine recreationally.