New story on doping

[RABUBI]

Eben Human, Die Burger

Cape Town - It has been estimated that up to 30% of the top achievers in sport use illegal substances.

And, there are still drugs that can't be traced through scientific testing.

This was the alarming news that emerged here on Tuesday at an international conference of the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport and its counterparts from all over the world.

The executive committees of national organisations are represented in an international body, Anado.

Among the countries represented at the Anado conference held at the Sports Science Institute at Newlands were Canada, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Austria, Greece, Fiji, Japan, Hungary, Germany, Rumania, Cameroon, Sweden, Norway, Barbados, Mauritius, Singapore, the United States, Britain and Sudan.

Canada's Paul Melia, chairperson of Anado, said it had become clear from discussions during the past two days that a more comprehensive strategy was needed to combat the problem of performance enhancers.

Three groups in sport

He said much more should be done to gather and process information. Through regular testing, a clear profile of each participant could be compiled.

It will then be possible much sooner to spot variances that may indicate that someone is using illegal substances.

Dr Shuaib Manjra, chair of the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport, said it was clear that there were three groups in sport.

It was estimated that 30% of elite participants could be using substances. Another 35% might be considering doing so and the other 35% would never use them.

More educational programmes were being planned for the latter groups to point out to them the dangers of illegal substances, and that it was unethical to use them.

Australia's representative, Richard Ings, made everyone sit up when he said customs officials and police already were helping to combat the problem in his country.

Distribution networks

They were even investigating how illegal substances were being brought into Australia and how and to whom they were being distributed.

Melia said more would have to be done to break down the distribution networks.

He was expecting closer co-operation, also with police and customs officials, and the exchanging of information among them.

A study is envisaged to determine when participants in sport would use drugs. The result could be less regular, but more efficient testing.

[RABUBI]

That should read "new story on doping"

[Thyolo]

As far back as the 1930s Walt Disney was warning us against performance enhancing drugs with his tale of 7 miners content to shack up with one bird as long as they could get their fix & dig more gold (obviously a metaphor for medals).

 

The shady "Doc" was behind it all but his potions had different effects on the users and abusers.

 

Some got Sleepy, others Happy, another Grumpy - the side effects made one Sneezy.

 

The direst warning comes in the miner who was Dopey - put dope in, get Dopey out.  It made his ears grow, he lost all his hair and had a permanent stupid grin on his face.

 

One common side effect though is....................it stunts your growth - could make you dwarfish even.

 

This won't be the final word on this thread but maybe it would be nice if it was.

[FanieFiets]

That should read "new story on doping"

 

Thnx for clearly that up...... Previously I had no idea what the the thread was about!

[bikemonster]

That should read "new story on doping"

 

Thnx for clearly that up...... Previously I had no idea what the the thread was about!

 

 

 

Imagine MY disappointment.

 

I had thought that it was a new store FOR doping and I was just getting my credit card ready.

 

Darn!  Now I have to go back to that so-called "training method".  It'll never catch on.

 

(Is there a trick to make quotes that include quotes work properly in the forum software?)

bikemonster2006-11-08 01:09:42

[Chunky]

The problem is just getting bigger and bigger

A short while after returning from the Tour of Mauritius early in October, the Cape-Town based CSC/CVT rider Travis Wilkins was informed he returned a positive test for testosterone during the tour.

The same substance Floyd Landis was tested positive for in winning the 2007 edition of the Tour de France.

According to sources, the positive outcome of the test was after his sample was send to the laboratory in Bloemfontein. The only internationally accredited laboratory in South Africa.

In accordance with UCI and WADA regulations the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Mauritius, requested the sample to be send to Cologne for further tests and the result was reversed.

Obviously, Mauritius doesn?t have the facilities to do the tests on this island paradise and must have a contract with the Germans to do have their tests done at the lab in Cologne. That is what logic tells me.

With the reversal of the end result, a helluva lot of questions came to mind.

After speaking to an old journalist friend, Eben Human of Die Burger, it also came out that another case was botched up in Bloemfontein. The marathon runner Gert Thys returned a positive result, but after further investigation, it became apparent there was a problem with the numbering of his sample that was delivered to the laboratory.

Athletics South Africa (ASA) was supposed to give a final verdict on this matter yesterday (6/11/07), but it was postponed.

I wonder if they?re perhaps waiting to see what is going to happen in the Landis case. Apparently, the same thing happened in France with the American?s sample.

The first question that came to mind was how many other cases have been botched up in Bloemfontein? Positive results normally lead to lengthy suspensions.

Lengthy suspension for a professional athlete means a huge loss of income. Moreover, to a top athlete, that can mean your livelihood. Finish and Klaar. Many of them are not qualified to do anything else and by being competitive, it is the only way they can support a family. 

The athletes will be branded as cheats, the sport in question normally is ridiculed, and the broad supporter base starts losing confidence in the discipline they so eagerly support.

Not to mention the sudden loss of confidence from sponsors. The problem only starts mounting once a positive test has been confirmed.

To my mind, the Wilkins case has been the first one that I know of that has been overturned after being ?double-checked? by another laboratory. Only because the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Mauritius requested it. Obviously, in Mauritius, they have their own rules and regulations, but thank God, for someone that made the decision to go this route. Otherwise it could have taken perhaps another 400 years before a definite flaw like this has been exposed.

I believe it was done not to expose someone, but to conform within the rules that apply within that federation. In addition, by doing that something unexpected happened that could have a huge impact in the overall analysis of this worldwide problem.

Believe me, I am 100% for suspending athletes if they try to create an unfair advantage. If you cannot perform within your natural ability, do not deprive other athletes the opportunity to try to achieve something. That is unfair.
Nevertheless, it is also unfair to suspend someone if tests are botched up at a laboratory where everything is supposed to be scientifically correct. How is it possible that something like this happened?

And there I have to question an organisation like WADA. Obviously, all the laboratories in question fall under their supreme command and all of them have to conform to the same rules and regulations regarding the testing procedures of certain elements. How is it possible then that the result can go from positive to negative regarding the same athlete? 

Surely, something must be wrong somewhere. Maybe WADA should start looking into that before Dicky Pound start shouting from the rooftops again. 

What happened to Wilkins does put a huge question mark behind ?our? own ability to get things right. But who says the tests was done in the correct manner in Cologne? Maybe Bloemfontein was right and Cologne wrong. Who will ever know? Do we have to get a third laboratory involved to justify either one?

What happened in the Wilkins case complicate things even more and that, to my mind, is very, very scary.

After everything that has been said and done in ?The trial by media? regarding Shawn Lynch in recent weeks, one thing he claimed came back to me. Lynch, in one of his interviews, claimed that things in Bloemfontein are not all that ?kosher?. With two recent examples (Wilkins & Thys) it makes a lot of sense why he said it.

Can you imagine if every athlete that has been shortchanged in recent years because of the alleged use of banned substances latch on to this one to prove a point! The lawyers will have a field day and the poor courts will be swamped.

 

http://www.cyclingsa.com/article_2006-11-7_2.html

 

The IDFS are a total joke. They catch people for things hey havent taken, but they cant catch anyone who istaking stuff.

If you want to start catching people, start sending the tests elsewhere, these guys are retarded.

[bikemonster]

Not sure about the problem, but the type faces are certainly getting bigger and bigger!