Olympic Drug Stories - Log

[Spudulika]

Got up to start early this morning and found a whack of stories came through overnight about drug test failures. Just wondering how many will happen before the end of the games.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/spanish-steeplechaser-dropped-amid-doping-probe-115854374.html - seems unfair to throw him out before a full hearing.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/frenchman-miss-olympics-failed-drug-test-122756929.html - waiting for the B sample.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2173459/London-2012-Olympics-Debbie-Dunn-Games-failing-drugs-test.html - waiting for the B sample, she seems to have taken it very politely.

[Spudulika]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics/modern-pentathlon/2012/0723/330256-lanigan-okeeffe-to-replace-banned-klekot/ - this one works out well for Ireland, Pole out, Irish in.

[Spudulika]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics/2012/0725/330566-moroccan-selsouli-tests-positive-for-banned-drug/ - Fair play she waived her right to the B sample test. At least she's not drawn it out. Seems nuts that a diuretic is banned, though I suppose it's not good for your body.

[Macy]

Seems nuts that a diuretic is banned, though I suppose it's not good for your body.
They are normally banned because they can be used as masking agents. Athletes will take a diuretic to get elements of the doping product out of their system more quickly, so avoiding detection for the PED. And obviously hope they have enough time before a test so the diuretic has also been passed.

[Spudulika]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics/weightlifting/2012/0728/330940-day-1-weighlifting/ - Albanian weightlifter done. There's a Russian "female" lifter doing adverts here, now, I am pretty sure that I would be nervous gong home with her.

Thanks Macy, crystal for me now!

[Spudulika]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/olympics/weightlifting/2012/0727/330876-oksana-slivenko-out-of-weightlifitng/

This is the one I mentioned above. She'd been dodgy one here with Proctor and Gamble dropping her from their adverts (I think deodorant), but she was left on the Russian clothing company Forward ad.

[Spudulika]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19038114 Uzbek gymnast. Waiting for the B sample. Apparently her mother gave her medication for being sick in June and then last week took medicine for a heart condition.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sprinter-sent-home-for-potential-drug-violation/276081-73.html St. Kitts sprinter. Was pulled by their OC as she told them she was taking something. Now, I didn't look into her profile, but I wonder does she train at one of the US colleges like most other Caribbean athletes? If so..........

[Spudulika]

Waiting for a media conference in the morning or Monday, a sure fire medal winner (according to the locals) pulled out of the games and was drummed out of the village - he disappeared when there was a testing crew in town in Spring, and then seemed to have been banned. Don't know what is happening and will find a link.

[BonnieShels]

Justin Gatlin wins a bronze. Sickening. Tyson Gay should be gutted more so.

[Spudulika]

US Judoka Delpopolo just done for being found to have taken a prohibited substance.

http://www.gazeta.ru/sport/news/2012/08/06/n_2471921.shtml?utm_source=google&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=twi

[Spudulika]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2184659/London-2012-Olympics-Alex-Schwazer-kicked-failed-drugs-test.html?ito=feeds-newsxml This one helps Rob Heffernan. Have to admire him for his hands up approach: 'I made a mistake, my career is ended here. I did it all myself and on my own head so I assume all the responsibility for what has happened.'

[Spudulika]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2183573/London-2012-Olympics-Three-athletes-suspended-failed-drugs-tests.html - 3 more here, A Colombian, a Moroccan and a Belarussian (sounds like the start of a joke).

[Real ale Madrid]

www.dopinglist.com and @Dopinglist on twitter are both excellent resources for keeping track of the cheaters.

[Macy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2184659/London-2012-Olympics-Alex-Schwazer-kicked-failed-drugs-test.html?ito=feeds-newsxml This one helps Rob Heffernan. Have to admire him for his hands up approach: 'I made a mistake, my career is ended here. I did it all myself and on my own head so I assume all the responsibility for what has happened.'
******** to that - name everyone involved in the supply and oversite of his programme.

[Spudulika]

While I'd agree from the off, the first admittance has to be from the athlete, then name names, but it'll be swept under the carpet quickly. It's funny how quickly the media move on from things, the Italians and Spanish are rotten with doping scandals, French too - meanwhile how many British athletes is Linford Christie "training"? Ultimately nobody will care as it's all about entertainment.

[bennocelt]

What about cian o connor?;)

[Spudulika]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/

Conte claims that 6 of 10 athletes are on drugs. Not really a surprise.

There was something on Al Jazeera yesterday about East African athletes and drug abuse, I only caught the end of it though it was something similar to stories out of former Commie countries after the fall of the USSR, how coaches and chemists found gainful employment elsewhere and the results went up etc. The guy speaking on it is involved with Aspire - a former East German "coach". Just looking for the cast link now.

[bennocelt]

Did you see the article in the Daily mail yesterday (I was flying home- free one on plane!). They were saying that all the female track records will probably never be beaten - from Flo Jo in the sprints, to the eastern Europeans in the rest. One record goes back to 1983! To be fair to the Germans they offered to erase the east German records but the OIC rejected it.
Same goes for the Chinese long distance runners that came and went suddenly and the infamous turtle soup (was told that their coach went onto make millions selling it around Asia) At least we can be sure that Bolt is clean

[hoops1]

Only 2 Olympic 100m champions sincs 1984 have nevere failed a drugs test, Donovan Bailey and Usain Bolt

[Macy]

At least we can be sure that Bolt is clean
Sarcasm meter may not have woken up yet, but why? Because of Jamaica's lack of an independent anti doping body? Because of the times in the final (3 matching or under Ben Johnsons 1988 time)? I genuinely don't know whether he is or isn't, but I don't see how anyone could be 100% sure.

[Spudulika]

What's very odd about Jamaica is that they have "gained" from a number of US and ex-USSR coaches who were scouting and based there. Also the US Collegiate circuit is rife with drug abuse and most of the West Indians end up there. It's a hazy memory but I remember from Michelle DeBruin's autobiography and her shock at the amount of substance abuse in the US athletics circuit. I'm very cautious about Usain Bolt as it is the classical car crash. He's running faster than Ben Johnson.

[Mr A]

A pretty damning piece on Bolt here: http://www.muscleweek.com/is-usain-bolt-on-steroids

It seems the testing in athletics, and indeed in many sports, is little short of a joke.

[Spudulika]

Mr. A, you've got it right. I can't remember the % chance, but it's absolutely miniscule that a top league player in England will even get tested, I don't think it's changed since Rio went awol! I remain a skeptic of Jamaican athletics.

[passinginterest]

A pretty damning piece on Bolt here: http://www.muscleweek.com/is-usain-bolt-on-steroids

It seems the testing in athletics, and indeed in many sports, is little short of a joke.

Article's like that are scary alright. I wouldn't pretend to know enough about it to have an idea of how accurate it is though. I have heard it said that if other sports operated the same kind of testing system that cycling is using now that the number of people getting caught would go through the roof, particularly in sports like football and rugby.

[Mr A]

Yeah. For all the flak cycling takes, and the imperfections of its anti doping efforts, it's way ahead of most sports in terms of trying to stop it. I would love to see blood profiles for some of the guys at top clubs in both rugby and football.. especially the big two in Spain.

[Spudulika]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/olympics-2012/other-news/syrian-hurdler-ghfran-almouhamad-disqualified-from-olympics-after-failing-a-drugs-test-3196928.html Didn't do her a whole lot of good, but the B is yet to be tested.

[dong]

Article's like that are scary alright. I wouldn't pretend to know enough about it to have an idea of how accurate it is though. I have heard it said that if other sports operated the same kind of testing system that cycling is using now that the number of people getting caught would go through the roof, particularly in sports like football and rugby.

If you read through some of the comments made under that Bolt article there are some valid queries which admin fails to answer or just avoids.
I would be a bit sceptical because of that. I'm no chemist myself though so I don't know.
How anybody could run faster than Ben Johnson did in Seol 88 amazes me from a layman's point of view so to speak. As one journalist said in a documentary I saw once on that "it looked like his arms were going to fly off". Having said that, he also slowed up over the last 5 -10 meters.

[Mr A]

Even if everything in that piece is untrue- A small country wins gold silver and bronze in a major event, that in itself is enough to raise a few questions, along with the fact the guy can go close to the world record when slowing up at the end.

Maybe I'm just cynical though.

[Spudulika]

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/iql5kl

Now, anyone who saw this lassie compete is probably surprised she's a lassie. Better give her the benefit of the proverbial.

But if you saw who's just been elevated to 3rd.........

[the 12 th man]

BBC report here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19242736

[Spudulika]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/olympics-2012/other-news/belarus-shot-putter-nadzeya-ostapchuk-calls-olympic-doping-test-nonsense-as-valerie-adams-says-good-riddance-3200464.html

More Indo horror reporting, but there's something that was also reported in the NZ and general media.

However, Graeme Steele, Drug Free Sport New Zealand's executive director, said that Ostapchuk did have some claims over her dispute.
He said: "It is an old-style anabolic steroid and it's very surprising that any athlete would allow that type of drug to still be in their system when they arrived at the Games because it's quite easy to detect."

In other words .......

[Mr A]

Anyone caught with stuff in their system at the games is a moron. It's the only time they know they're going to be tested, and most of the work can be done up front when there is little chance of being tested.

[Spudulika]

Mr. A, it's not that they're clean for the games, they should be clean full stop. I won't name names except one which is out there, but in tennis I know personally how players dope up in the off season, do their ott work and then be relatively clean for the rest of the year. One player who as caught doing this was Kuznetzova and her excuse was that everyone does it. She got a couple of slaps on the wrist and nothing more.

[hoops1]

Could someone tell me why they cant use Lie detector tests. I was watching some rubbish were Jodi Marsh was trying to be a body builder, she wanted to enter a competition and one of the rules was you had to take a test to prove you didnt take drugs. So it cant be a human rights issue.

[Mr A]

Lie detector tests are not actually that reliable. There's a bit on it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/10/polygraph-lie-detector-tests-sex-offenders?newsfeed=true