Rafa Nadal

[Andynonomous]

From http://www.elpais.es: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/tenista/acero/elpepidep/20110705elpepidep_2/Tes.

It states that "'Y sí', cuenta el campeón, que siempre se declaró un patriota, que tiene pasaporte diplomático y hace frecuentes donaciones a la Iglesia serbia, 'tras la victoria en la Copa Davis, en 2010, me quedé lleno de vida, lleno de energía, deseoso de volver a la pista, deseoso de jugar más, de ganar más torneos. Sin miedo'".

Which translates to "And yes, so the champion tells us, that he has always been a patriot, that he's got a diplomatic passport and that he makes many donations to the (orthodox) Church in Serbia, 'after the 2010 Davis Cup win I was a new man, full of energy, wishing to get back to playing, playing more, winning tournaments. No fear.'".

This is a clear mis-use of a diplomatic designation, since athletes are not real diplomats (used to relay political positions between states). I am surprised that there isn't any controversy in the media over this.

 

[thirteen]

This is a clear mis-use of a diplomatic designation, since athletes are not real diplomats (used to relay political positions between states). I am surprised that there isn't any controversy in the media over this.

it was given to the entire Serbian Davis Cup* team: http://www.daviscup.com/en/news/articles/serbian-team-receives-diplomatic-passports.aspx

*with the Fed Cup to follow.

 

[Albatros]

any links you'd like to share?

Here is a few. Bear in mind that many of the links are in Spanish, Italian or French.

Lamberto Boranga

This guy played as a goalkeeper in Serie A during the 60's 70's and early 80's and now is a doctor.

He declared that he took nandrolone, Micoren (an stimulant) and that during the 80's it was rampant the use of stimulants, amphetamines, or cortisone.

Fabio Capello also took Micoren although he states that at the time it was not included in the banned list, and so did Spalletti, now a manager. An stimulant that helped with breathing and was not forbidden at then time? Tennis players could certainly do with it.


Juanito

One of the best Spanish players of the 70's and 80's confessed to the Spanish FA having taken Centramine. Not only that,he accused the rest of footballers of having the same doping habits.

Stan Bowles a player for QPR took centramine, valium and cannabis to get by on the football pitch and afterwards.

Gerardo Ottani, an Italian football player who latter became a doctor, made a poll among Italian footballers of the late 50's and 27% confessed to amphetamine use, 62% took stimulants and 68% took hormones or steroids.

Toni Schumacher, the German goalkeeper during the 80's confessed taking Ephredine and Actovegin while playing at club level and also for the NT. He was given 3000 injections during a six week period.

Beckenbauer did blood doping, Carlo Petrini and his teammates were doped to the gills

Real Murcia masseur, Genaro Zapata, declared in an interview in 1972 that 90% of Spanish footballers took stimulants.


Paul Breitner and Uli Stielike, two very famous German internationals of the 70's and 80's confirmed what Schumacher stated, that doping was rampant in German football.

1978 World Cup winners Argentina took Pervitin, an amphetamine. Even their doctor, Dr Oliva, stated that he had found doping consumption among the players when he joined the medical staff.

There are many more cases, but I think these are enough to give you an idea of how widespread doping was, and I firmly believe that it wasn't only football but just about every professional sport. It has to be.

 

[sniper]

Here is a few. Bear in mind that many of the links are in Spanish, Italian or French.

Lamberto Boranga

This guy played as a goalkeeper in Serie A during the 60's 70's and early 80's and now is a doctor.

He declared that he took nandrolone, Micoren (an stimulant) and that during the 80's it was rampant the use of stimulants, amphetamines, or cortisone.

Fabio Capello also took Micoren although he states that at the time it was not included in the banned list, and so did Spalletti, now a manager. An stimulant that helped with breathing and was not forbidden at then time? Tennis players could certainly do with it.


Juanito

One of the best Spanish players of the 70's and 80's confessed to the Spanish FA having taken Centramine. Not only that,he accused the rest of footballers of having the same doping habits.

Stan Bowles a player for QPR took centramine, valium and cannabis to get by on the football pitch and afterwards.

Gerardo Ottani, an Italian football player who latter became a doctor, made a poll among Italian footballers of the late 50's and 27% confessed to amphetamine use, 62% took stimulants and 68% took hormones or steroids.

Toni Schumacher, the German goalkeeper during the 80's confessed taking Ephredine and Actovegin while playing at club level and also for the NT. He was given 3000 injections during a six week period.

Beckenbauer did blood doping, Carlo Petrini and his teammates were doped to the gills

Real Murcia masseur, Genaro Zapata, declared in an interview in 1972 that 90% of Spanish footballers took stimulants.


Paul Breitner and Uli Stielike, two very famous German internationals of the 70's and 80's confirmed what Schumacher stated, that doping was rampant in German football.

1978 World Cup winners Argentina took Pervitin, an amphetamine. Even their doctor, Dr Oliva, stated that he had found doping consumption among the players when he joined the medical staff.

There are many more cases, but I think these are enough to give you an idea of how widespread doping was, and I firmly believe that it wasn't only football but just about every professional sport. It has to be.

Great post, Albatros. Very interesting indeed.
Thanks for this.

 

[Zoncolan]

Nole was also made a Goodwill Ambassador for Serbia, along with some other athletes and artists maybe a year or two back, I can't remember.

 

[Paco_P]

They were professionals back then. Don't make me feel older than I already am . Tennis was not their second job and the dividends, although not as high as today, were good enough to become rich if you belonged to the elite.

The reason why they trained less is because their body could not cope with more training. Surely some of them took recreational drugs, but that also happens in today's game. How much of that ability to train hard for longer periods is due to better nutrition, training techniques or better doping is anyone guess, but don't ever think that the majority of those tennis players didn't take their job seriously.

Maybe I didn't say things well. I didn't mean that Mcenroe and Bjorg weren't as professional as those playing now. Clearly they were, and that had something to do with Bjorg's burnout. What I meant is that the institutional context has changed. Now there are massive institutions dedicated to professionalizing adolescents in a wide variety of sports. The pool of talent from which the top pros emerge is much wider, and their formal, professional training in general begins earlier and is more intensive. There are more people able to devote all their time to training to play sports. In the 1960's a man named Frank Ryan was the starting quarterback for the (USA) NFL's Cleveland Browns; at the same time he completed his PhD in math at Rice University, and then taught classes at what is now Case Western Reserve University, as a professor (he was a good quality mathematician too). Something like that is simply impossible now, and reflects the systematic and systemic changes that have occurred in the world of professional sports, though that's not to say that they weren't already professional even in 1880. By the 1970's the transition the modern context had begun, but it wasn't like it is now. There's a gigantic marketing machine around them that is somehow much more extensive and powerful than it was in the days of Babe Ruth and Jesse Owens (to pick some big stars from long, long ago). Remember when Bruce Jenner on a cereal box was somehow novel?

Among other things that have changed, it seems the marginal benefits of doping are greater than they were. Pay and prizes are relatively bigger, there is more competition for spots in the top tier, and, because of the incredible developments in medicine and biochemistry in recent decades, the drugs to dope with are much more effective.

 

[D Avoid]

he was reported to be on the list of 200 names just after OP broke, then the story disappeared. he has an uncle (or two) who plays for real madrid--so it's possible the nadal on the list was him not rafa.

we tried to discuss it at mens tennis forums but the administrators wouldn't let us. in tennis, the big cheating topic is usually match fixing. i forget who, but someone was threatened with a fine for not trying hard enough this past wimbeldon, and daveydenko was investigated for like a year for betting irregularities related to his matches (he lost matches he should have won and huge sums of money, several hundred thousand dollars, were bet on his opponents to win, who should have had no chance to win).

john macenro said on air a few years ago, during a match he was commentating, that boris becker used to inject cows blood and how it gave him the heebeejeebees whenever boris would talk about it. i got the impression that boris wasn't transfusing though, but main lining it like heroin. edit: i'm not even sure how that would work without killing you...

i wouldn't bet against rafa doping. he's conveniently taking 6 weeks off to make sure he is "super fit" for the US open.

The cows blood is well known, Google Mick Murphy Ras 1958 Rte, program is "Convict of the road", it is largely unintelligable as he has the heaviest accent currently available, he comes from a mountainous region of Ireland, way back from the main road, it is called Kerry and they are indeed the funniest people in Ireland, if you can understand him he explains his method for fresh cows blood, very fresh. It is 43 minutes long and details his exploits in the 1958 Ras Tailteann, Irelands premier road race of the time for Irish nationals and some English teams.

 

[Señor_Contador]

The cows blood is well known, Google Mick Murphy Ras 1958 Rte, program is "Convict of the road", it is largely unintelligable as he has the heaviest accent currently available, he comes from a mountainous region of Ireland, way back from the main road, it is called Kerry and they are indeed the funniest people in Ireland, if you can understand him he explains his method for fresh cows blood, very fresh. It is 43 minutes long and details his exploits in the 1958 Ras Tailteann, Irelands premier road race of the time for Irish nationals and some English teams.

Jesus Christ! The guy's gotta take all the marbles out of his mouth and THEN speak.

What was Mick talking about????

 

[PedalCastro]

I'm Irish and it all makes sense to me!!But it is a very thick accent and he uses a few colloquial terms!! He ate raw meat and drank cows blood.. I'm not sure what that would do to help you win..

 

[Cloxxki]

He ate raw meat and drank cows blood.. I'm not sure what that would do to help you win..

Would cheatahs run faster when served with beer and hot BBQ'd meat? I do believe raw meat and blood could make an athlete stronger, but it seems tricky to eat any sort of raw meat these days.

 

[petethedrummer]

Mick would tap the vein of a cow and let the blood flow into a bottle then close up the cut he made in the cow's leg. Fresh.

 

[Andynonomous]

Nadal takes a well deserved break.

"Skinny" (as his defenders say) Rafa takes a vacation.

 

[Señor_Contador]

If you're posting those pictures to show that he dopes... they kinda show the opposite.

 

[Midnightfright]

"Skinny" (as his defenders say) Rafa takes a vacation.

What excatly are those pictures supposed to prove? He had some muscle bulk but certainly nothing suspicious.

 

[Albatros]

If you're posting those pictures to show that he dopes... they kinda show the opposite.

 

[Albatros]

Talking about the old guard.

McEnroe: 'I was given steroids but did not know'

By Derrick Whyte

Monday, 12 January 2004


John McEnroe has reportedly admitted he unknowingly took steroids during his tennis career.

John McEnroe has reportedly admitted he unknowingly took steroids during his tennis career.

McEnroe was quoted in this morning's edition of The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney as saying: "For six years I was unaware I was being given a form of steroid of the legal kind they used to give horses until they decided it was too strong even for horses." McEnroe did not reveal who gave him the steroids or for what reason.

The three-time Wimbledon champion's admission followed the revelations by Greg Rusedski that he tested positive for nandrolone at a tournament in July, blaming supplements dispensed by tennis tour trainers.

McEnroe said the Rusedski case and the handling of other recent doping cases showed tennis' hierarchy needed an overhaul. "Surely it's now time for tennis to have its own commissioner," he said. "We have enough problems in the sport. It's the last thing we need."

McEnroe was implicated in a doping scandal two years ago when his former wife, Tatum O'Neil, claimed the former No 1 had used steroids late in his career. McEnroe later called O'Neil's statements "ridiculous."

Drug testing in tennis started in the late 1980s, conducted by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council. The testing at that time was for recreational drugs only and not for those that were considered performance-enhancing.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/mcenroe-i-was-given-steroids-but-did-not-know-572791.html

 

[Señor_Contador]

Another iluminatii!

What that picture proves is that Federer's got shíty genetics. His wife has better arms than him for Christ sake!

All I'm saying is that is doping is what you're trying to prove, those pictures do not do your point any justice.

Capisci?

 

[T_S_A_R]

does no else find it strange that rafa is supposedly taking 6 weeks out with a 'fractured foot' yet is jumping off pleasure boats?

 

[Señor_Contador]

does no else find it strange that rafa is supposedly taking 6 weeks out with a 'fractured foot' yet is jumping off pleasure boats?

Because jumping off a pleasure boat is the same as playing a tennis match.

Oh dear...

 

[Andynonomous]

does no else find it strange that rafa is supposedly taking 6 weeks out with a 'fractured foot' yet is jumping off pleasure boats?

We don't know what Rafa's "injury" was. The story keeps changing (broken foot, nothing wrong with the foot, tissue inflamation, stress fracture, no stress fracture).

It is likely he never had any significant injury in the first place (his movement was never affected). He just needed an excuse to explain why he took a medical time out for strategic purposes (to upset Juan Martin Del Potro's tempo during a match at Wimbledon).

 

[T_S_A_R]

We don't know what Rafa's "injury" was. The story keeps changing (broken foot, nothing wrong with the foot, tissue inflamation, stress fracture, no stress fracture).

It is likely he never had any significant injury in the first place (his movement was never affected). He just needed an excuse to explain why he took a medical time out for strategic purposes (to upset Juan Martin Del Potro's tempo during a match at Wimbledon).

and it's also convienent that he can disapear for a month and return at the US open no doubt with an extra 10mph on his serve.

 

[Andynonomous]

Another iluminatii!

What that picture proves is that Federer's got shíty genetics. His wife has better arms than him for Christ sake!

All I'm saying is that is doping is what you're trying to prove, those pictures do not do your point any justice.

Capisci?

Unlike these guys who have great genetics, right ?

Rafael Munoz Perez:

Rafael Nadal :

David Ferrer:

I guess that only Spaniards have great genetics (since 1992)

 

[Albatros]

Another iluminatii!

What that picture proves is that Federer's got shíty genetics. His wife has better arms than him for Christ sake!

All I'm saying is that is doping is what you're trying to prove, those pictures do not do your point any justice.

Capisci?

Take it easy young man. I was just joking.

My position on doping is I consider everyone guilty until proven otherwise, regardless of their nationality.

Having said that I believe that we Spaniards may be getting the better stuff these days, which is sort of poetic justice if we think of the times when we had to catch up on thesevmatters with our European and overseas counterparts.

 

[Roninho]

Unlike these guys who have great genetics, right ?

Rafael Munoz Perez:
image

Rafael Nadal :
image

David Ferrer:
image

I guess that only Spaniards have great genetics (since 1992)

Well, those pictures to me just look like these guys hit the gym, but that's it. I'm 100% sure you can get a body like that without doping, but just doing hard workouts in the gym and the right diet.

Just to make sure: i'm not saying these guys didn't dope, i'm just saying that these pictures don't show anything that could not be done without dope.

 

[hrotha]

Too bad Nadal doesn't lift weights or anything, according to himself.