Olympic anti-doping lab unveiled as most high-tech ever

[TourOfSardinia]

Olympic anti-doping lab unveiled as most high-tech ever

More than 1,000 people - mostly volunteers - will be involved in all aspects of collecting and processing samples.

Weakest link or what?

 

[L'arriviste]

Here's another weakest link. Tweets from Times sports journo Owen Slot who had just been to the presentation:

"Have been blitzed by science at the new Olympic drug-testing laboratory. An impressive PR campaign about how to catch Olympic cheats ... If u want to be an Olympic cheat, you must either bring in bags of spare blood (dangerous) or do your doping in winter hiding (more popular)"

Oh, nobody's going to do that then...

I asked Mr Slot by Tweet what he thought about the involvement of big pharma companies in sports dope testing.

GSK sponsoring the lab - yes, can see ethical issue here, but don't believe it is valid

 

[Benotti69]

Here's another weakest link. Tweets from Times sports journo Owen Slot who had just been to the presentation:

"Have been blitzed by science at the new Olympic drug-testing laboratory. An impressive PR campaign about how to catch Olympic cheats ... If u want to be an Olympic cheat, you must either bring in bags of spare blood (dangerous) or do your doping in winter hiding (more popular)"

Oh, nobody's going to do that then...

I imagine those athletes sponsored by the major sponsors of the Olympics should have no problems getting their bags of blood into the Olympic village.

 

[L'arriviste]

I imagine those athletes sponsored by the major sponsors of the Olympics should have no problems getting their bags of blood into the Olympic village.

It begs the question - and I acknowledge this may be a little OT as this has nothing per se to do with the lab - what effect will the UK's border position (extra-Schengen) have on the risk of doping?

Will athletes and their support people take the risks anyway or are we going to see riders (and other types of athlete) arriving "fully-armed" right before their events?

 

[Benotti69]

It begs the question - and I acknowledge this may be a little OT as this has nothing per se to do with the lab - what effect will the UK's border position (extra-Schengen) have on the risk of doping?

Will athletes and their support people take the risks anyway or are we going to see riders (and other types of athlete) arriving "fully-armed" right before their events?

I think the IOC take over the Olympic sites and run them like a mini country (dictatorship) so anything may be possible.

 

[sniper]

Here's another weakest link. Tweets from Times sports journo Owen Slot who had just been to the presentation:



Oh, nobody's going to do that then...

+1

The degree of naivity is sometimes dazzling.

I believe the previous olympics were supposedly also the games with the most rigorous testing ever performed. But I don't seem to remember too many positive tests coming from it.

 

[Catwhoorg]

6 medals were stripped in Bejing quite afew less than Athens.

2 shooting, 2 atheltics, 1 equestrian (horse tested positive) and one cycling (Rebellin).

 

[DirtyWorks]

It begs the question - and I acknowledge this may be a little OT as this has nothing per se to do with the lab - what effect will the UK's border position (extra-Schengen) have on the risk of doping?

Will athletes and their support people take the risks anyway or are we going to see riders (and other types of athlete) arriving "fully-armed" right before their events?

We know the positive effects of some doping is longitudinal. e.g. weeks/months of benefits from a doping regimen. A training camp in Tenerife a month before your Olympic cycling event can pay huge dividends. Is WADA going to fly someone to Tenerife for urine samples? Unlikely. Hang around Tenerife or some other far-flung spot for a little while and the risks of a true positive are almost zero. That's the likely doping scenario.

Since they mention it's volunteers doing the collecting, it's going to be urine samples not the blood samples needed to actually catch dopers.

Give a test that ALMOST everyone is guaranteed to pass and you have a the appearance of a legitimate anti-doping program. This is the IOC/UCI strategy in a nutshell.

 

[Benotti69]

We know the positive effects of some doping is longitudinal. e.g. weeks/months of benefits from a doping regimen. A training camp in Tenerife a month before your Olympic cycling event can pay huge dividends. Is WADA going to fly someone to Tenerife for urine samples? Unlikely. Hang around Tenerife or some other far-flung spot for a little while and the risks of a true positive are almost zero. That's the likely doping scenario.

Since they mention it's volunteers doing the collecting, it's going to be urine samples not the blood samples needed to actually catch dopers.

Give a test that ALMOST everyone is guaranteed to pass and you have a the appearance of a legitimate anti-doping program. This is the IOC/UCI strategy in a nutshell.

"Hang around Tenerife or some other far-flung spot for a little while and the risks of a true positive are almost zero."

dont forget the averseness to modern technology inc fax machines and land lines etc....

 

[BotanyBay]

Olympic anti-doping lab unveiled as most high-tech ever

Weakest link or what?

I know a Belgian guy who is willing to volunteer.

 

[Cloxxki]

Have ketchup supplies been thoroughly inspected? Especially watch out for glass bottled stuff. Oh and pasta sauce. Which athlete doesn't love pasta?
Would be an interesting item for investigative TV, see how hard it is to get loads of refrigerated and marked blood bottles into the Olympics.

A ban on red substances and non-clear containers should be imposed.

 

[MacRoadie]

I imagine those athletes sponsored by the major sponsors of the Olympics should have no problems getting their bags of blood into the Olympic village.

I'm seeing a burgeoning market for refrigerated panniers. Someone should alert Wiggle...