Steroid Nation

DNA on 'waste' matches Clemens' DNA found on juiced medical equipment

As the Roger Clemens trial grinds on, there are several developments (which we will try to document).

Today a forinsic expert testified that DNA (and here)found on equipment used for steroid injections retained  by the trainer, McNamee

A forensic scientist testified that two cotton balls and a syringe needle allegedly saved after a steroids injection tested positive for Roger Clemens’ DNA, a key moment on Friday as the government tries to prove the former pitcher used performance-enhancing drugs.

Alan Keel told jurors that the DNA on both cotton balls were “unique to one person who has ever lived on the planet” – Clemens. He said one of the cotton balls had a random match possibility of one in 15.4 trillion for Clemens’ DNA, and the other had one in 173 trillion, when comparing to the population of white people in the U.S.

Both cells and blood were 'matched' from the discarded cotton balls and syringes containing PED substances, with Clemens' DNA.

Experts testified that the medical waste contained traces of 'roids.  Thus there is a tenuous link betweem Steroids and Clemens on physical evidence, that appears to corroborate the oral testimony of Clemen's trainer Brian McNamee (below right) about the Rocket's use of the PEDs.

Obviously questions remain, as this is not a forensic sample, about the links among the bits of evidence that Clemens deceived others about his steroid and PED use.

 On Thursday, two forensic analysts said they had found steroids on the items, some of which included needles, gauze, and a broken steroid ampoule that had been stuffed into a Miller Lite beer can. Clemens attorneys have already indicated they will argue that there is no way to tell how steroids got onto items connected to the pitcher. They countered on Thursday that someone may have dripped steroids over the medical items and that chemicals in the batch of evidence could have mixed together, making it hard to tell whether steroids were on items connected to Clemens. McNamee admitted last week that some of the medical waste was from other players.

 

 

 

What puts the 'cyborg' in Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos?

MMA star Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos showed what put the 'cyborg' in her name: PEDs.    Article today discusses the female side of the MMA, where Santos tested positive for juicing in January:

The MMA world has courted Ronda Rousey as the new face of women's MMA, but it would be foolish to completely write off Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, who was once considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

After testing positive for steroids in January, Santos was stripped of her Strikeforce title and pretty much obliterated from the minds of fans.

Hey, but no big deal:

People have a tendency to overestimate the effectiveness of steroids on a fighter's actual skill. Steroids didn't turn Santos into a world-class striker and grappler. If such a magic pill or shot existed, MMA would be overrun by athletes doping up to take their skills to the next level.

Cleverly worded sentence:  'overestimate the effectiveness of steroids on ..skills'.  What about strength, endurance, arousal, and explosiveness.  Not to mention cheating.

Maybe the substance wasn't 'roids.  According to Santos:

I would like to sincerely apologize to Strikeforce, the Zuffa organization, Hiroko Yamanaka and my fans for my failed drug test. While I was preparing myself for my last fight I was having a difficult time cutting weight and used a dietary supplement that I was assured was safe and not prohibited from use in sports competition. It was never my intention to obtain an unfair advantage over Hiroko, mislead Strikeforce, the commission or my fans. I train harder than any fighter in MMA and do not need drugs to win in the cage, and I have proven this time and time again.

Photos of Santos.  Which one was caught with possible roids?  The one with ripped male abs?

That's Rousey, above left.  Note the differences in musculature?  Do fans really like watching females with male physiques?

Denver Bronco players take action on NFL steroid testing suspensions: Ghost of Ryan Braun's court win flys high

Predictably, following Ryan Bruan's PED appeal win in the MLB steroids case, professional athletes suspended for either juicing or some other PED impropriety will begin suing their respective professional leagues for dismissional of charges.  Let the party begin!

Two of 3 recently suspended Denver Broncos kick off the action in the NFL.  To Yahoo Sports:

...On March 9, it was announced that Williams and McBean would each be suspended six games without pay, and Green suspended four games without pay, for violations of the league's policies on performance-enhancing substances. The process seemed sketchy at the time, as Williams pointed out in a statement, and as Green wrote on his Twitter account.

ESPN reported on Tuesday morning that Williams and McBean have filed suit against the NFL.

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the case is that the NFL contends the samples given by Williams and McBean were of the "non-human" variety. However, Peter R. Ginsberg, Williams' attorney, said that the since-fired specimen collector was a witness to the ... uh ... "sample collection."

The players contend on different issues; Green on an ADHD medicine (and subsequent Therapeutic Use Exemption, TUE) and Williams/McBean on improper collection procedures:

From Williams, the day the suspensions were handed down:

I understand from media reports today that the NFL has announced a suspension based on a specimen that the NFL acknowledges did not contain steroids or any illegal substance. Instead, the NFL contends that I provided a non-human specimen.

I have never failed a test of any kind — for steroids or illegal substances — during my eight-year pro career. I am proud of my record and proud of the way in which I conduct myself as a professional athlete and citizen. We proved — conclusively — at the NFL hearing on this matter that the NFL and its specimen collector wholly failed in their duties to safeguard and process my specimen properly.

In fact, the specimen collector was fired by the NFL after compromising my specimen as well as others'. The hearing officer, an NFL executive, ignored the NFL's own Policy, engaged in inappropriate communications with top NFL officials about this matter without my knowledge or approval, corrupted the system, ignored that my specimen had been compromised, and now has subjected me to humiliation as well as suspension. We will be vigorously pursuing my rights in the judicial system.

My suspension is unjust; the NFL has undermined and corrupted its own steroid policy.

Green wrote on Twitter that "I was suspended for taking ADHD medication prior to approval from NFL. I have now been approved to take the medication to treat my ADHD. I apologize to my teammates, the Bronco Organization and my family and friends. Thank you guys for all your support."

Major League Baseball implements HGH testing

MLB implemented HGH (human growth hormone) testing for the first time last week.  The New York Daily News was there to interview the Met's Josh Thole and the Yankee's Phil Hughes.

First Thole:

Josh Thole will give way to Tim Byrdak as the Mets’ union representative this season, but the third-year catcher strongly supports the now-in-place adoption of HGH blood testing this season by MLB and the Players Association.

The Mets were tested for human growth hormone for the first time Wednesday under rules of the new collective bargaining agreement that was implemented in November.

“It’s not an issue at all for me, whether they do it in spring training or during the season,” Thole said Thursday. “The one thing that’s important for us as a unit is we should all want an even playing field.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but I can speak for myself and I can tell you this: Most guys are just saying whenever we do (the testing), we do it, but let’s just be sure there’s no gray area. During the steroid years, it was definitely becoming an unfair playing field. For the guys that actually spend all the time in the gym and really bust their butt and work hard, there should be a little reward at the end of not being overtaken by guys sticking a needle in themselves.”

Fascinating, blue collar players speaking out against the elite's (protected) use of PEDs.  "Level playing field", how radical.

Now for Hughes:

Baseball’s HGH testing is underway for the first time this season, and many Yankees have already been subjected to blood tests this spring.

Several players had blood taken for the purpose of HGH testing, though according to two Yankees pitchers, it hasn’t been as invasive as many had feared.

“It’s just like getting blood taken for a physical,” Phil Hughes said. “It’s a pain and I wish we didn’t have to do it, but it’s part of the deal now so we’ll live with it. If they were taking blood every day, I might be opposed to it, but every once in a while is fine. As a starting pitcher, you wouldn’t want blood taken before you pitch, but otherwise, it’s fine.”

It will be interesting to follow HGH testing, as the service develops over time.  Also important to note the change in attitute as`players speak out against PED cheating.

 

The Braun Case: Good clinical practice, steroid (PED) abuse testing, and HIPAA violations

I heard Dan Patrick pontificate on the Ryan Braun situation today. Apparently these sports commentators have Ph.D.s, JDs, and a host of other professional degrees, at least in their own minds.

They also do not need to reveal sources (talk about a slippery slope; what if the source is their dog, ie made up).  Patrick kept referring to "I was told", and "sources".  He made these points:

• Bruan had some huge quantity of synthetic testosterone in his urine.  (actually his T:E as reported was 20:1; 5:1 is usually the cut off for suspicions)
• The issue should not be chain of custody
• Braun should not pursue legal remedies, what what he sue for?  (defamation for a beginning)
• That the chemists are always ahead of the testers (ah he has a Ph.D. in biochemistry now)
• And that big names are enrolling in an MD lead PED program to beat the system (assuredly based on the East German Doping Machine, chuckles)

In medicine laboratory and clinical, the procedure and the processing is vitally important.  If a sample is mishandled, or stored incorrectly, or allowed to warm up (in some cases) the lab values may be in error, and not reliable.  Biologic molecules can decompose, enzymes can metabolize substances, results may be affected.  For experiments, freezers are monitored for constant temperature, labels are clear, and the process is transparent.  If there is a breech, the data is discarded, or should be.

And even then..

Example, I knew of a patient who was told by a physician of standing that he had Hepatitis C, based on high bilirubin.  That was the only value.  I looked at the lab, astonished to hear the conclusions, because nothing else appeared in line with Hep C.  There is a natural variant called Gilbert's Disease where a person walks around with elevated bili.  On retesting that was exactly what the patient manifest - Gilbert's and not Hep C.  So he was given a 'death sentence' based on one lab value.

Thus if there is a breach in protocol, the test is invalid, and it did not happen.  No you cannot reconstruct the results, forget it.  Check out the post on DNA analysis.  Degrdation of lab tests here, here and here.

What is the ideal temp for urin storage?  See below.  The average refergerator is from 35-38C.  And is the household refergerator certified for storage?  BIG OOPS!

But multiple sources said the sample was not shipped for testing as soon as possible, as required by the drug testing policy, and instead was kept in a cool place in the sample collector's home. Sources told ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson that the collector left Braun's sample on a desk in a Tupperware container and left it there for two days.

In retrospect, this was an easy case to arbitrate if the above were true.  Throw out the sample.

So why were Braun's values 'leaked' to the press -- who is going to distort the issue, and hold some kind of kangaroo court on it?  Could this be a HIPAA violation (Health Information Portability Accountability Act)

The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”) establishes, for the first time, a set of national standards for the protection of certain health information. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).¹ The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals' privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used. Within HHS, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Privacy Rule with respect to voluntary compliance activities and civil money penalties.

A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and to protect the public's health and well being. The Rule strikes a balance that permits important uses of information, while protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing. Given that the health care marketplace is diverse, the Rule is designed to be flexible and comprehensive to cover the variety of uses and disclosures that need to be addressed.

Clearly there was a breach of confidentiality, unless Bruan gave his consent to releaqse information to ESPN.  The issue is 'covered entitiy'.  Is MLB a 'covered entity' testing employees for drug abuse? Sounds like one law firm may answer positively.

The new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rule on privacy scheduled to go into effect on April 14 may reach as far as the disclosure of information about workplace drug testing and substance abuse management. The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, known as the Privacy Rule, generally will prevent "covered entities" from disclosing protected health information to non-covered entities without authorization from the subject of the protected health information. The disclosure requirements may apply to many collection facilities, laboratories, Medical Review Officers and other service providers who analyze and review applicants' and employees' drug and alcohol test results.

"Covered entities" under HIPAA must require employers using their services to provide HIPAA-compliant authorization before releasing drug and alcohol test results (i.e., protected health information) for employees and job applicants. Forms currently being used by employers for this purpose may not meet the requirements of the regulations which identify the key components and specifics for the authorization form. Additionally, the forms must be signed by the employees or applicants. As a practical matter, since HIPAA compliance ultimately falls on the shoulders of the "covered entity," the collection facility, laboratory or Medical Review Officer may have its own authorization form for employers.

In addition to the release of test results, other aspects of an employer's substance abuse policy may require use of a HIPAA-compliant authorization form. For example, when an employee enters into substance abuse rehabilitation, an employer may require progress reports from the substance abuse professional who evaluated and treated the employee. If the substance abuse professional is a "covered entity" under HIPAA, the employer may then be required to have the employee sign a specific HIPAA-compliant authorization form permitting the release of the "personal health information", i.e., the substance abuse professional's records, to the employer.

Baseball has cited HIPAA to assure privacy in medical matters before.

The polyps have bothered Rivera recently. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, citing HIPAA privacy laws, has declined to talk about the issue because it is not baseball-related.

In fact it is reported MLB requires players to sign a HIPAA statement.  Athough this author doesn't think it is a HIPAA violation, I have been on hospital boards that rang up people for far less a HIPAA violation, This might be a MALIGNANT HIPAA violation.

My conclusions:

• If there was a violation in laboratory protocol THIS LAB RESULT, THIS SAMPLE DID NOT EXIST
• Ryan Bruan's attorney's should be looking at defamation and HIPAA violations.  An HIPAA violations not a laughing matter.

I still say Braun should not expose those abs, which are quite unusual for baseball....  ^^

References:

German documentation of tampered doping urine samples.

From this paper:  Detecting the Administration of EndogenousAnabolic Androgenic Steroids
Christiane Ayotte (name sound familiar, she is head of the Montreal Lab)

2.3 Stability of Urinary Steroid Conjugates
Testosterone glucuronide is known to be stable in urine for at least 1 year when the
specimen is stored below –20C (Venturelli et al. 1995; Robards and Towers 1990),
while one study reported the formation of free testosterone and free dihydrotestosterone
in urine samples kept at 18 and 37C (Kjeld et al. 1977). Testosterone and
epitestosterone conjugates are stable for months in sterile urine kept at 4C and
–20C (Jime´nez et al. 2006), while the addition of a bacteriostatic agent was
required to preserve their integrity in urine samples kept at 4C and 37C for a
week (Saudan et al. 2006). Spiked in sterile urine, authentic standards of androsterone,
etiocholanolone, testosterone, epitestosterone sulfates and glucuronides are
stable even upon incubation at 37C; dehydroepiandrosterone-3b-sulfate, like other
sulfoconjugated steroids, is less stable showing partial deconjugation. Since samples
are not collected under sterile conditions, skin bacteria and intestinal microflora
(staphylococci, enterobacteria, E. coli, etc.) are often present. Delays in
delivering the samples to the laboratory and improper refrigeration during transportation and storage may offer good conditions for microbial growth; the effects on the urinary steroids are easily detectable and consist mainly in the hydrolysis of the steroid conjugates and in oxidoreductive reactions leading to
the abnormal presence of steroids in the free form and the accumulation of 5aand
5b-androstan-3,17-dione, the b-isomers being more rapidly altered. Signs of
microbial degradation should obviously be absent to ensure the accurate measure
of the steroid profile (Ayotte et al. 1996, 1997; Hemmersbach et al. 1997).

The San Francisco Chronicle says Ryan Braun not worth the sweat or tears

(thought we changed the headline the other day..atrocious grammar)

As we pointed out yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle says Ryan Braun's 2011 was in-line with past numbers.  Therefore if he juiced the effects were either: 1.) not career altering or 2.) commensurate with past performance (or juicing).

Braun must now prove his worth over time, under the hot microscope of a skeptical public and press.

Braun's allegedly tainted season was profoundly typical of his career. Not a number out of place. He hit more homers in his rookie year, 2007, than he did last season (34 to 33) and had a higher slugging percentage (.634 to .597). To be a .300 hitter (.332) was common for him. He has essentially been the same player throughout a magnificent five-year run.

It is widely believed that steroids have vanished from the major-league scene and that players have turned to more subtle pursuits of the "edge." I wouldn't be shocked if Braun falls into this category, or if he's joined by hundreds of others. Players will be out to circumvent drug-testing systems for the rest of time, and even the more straitlaced players, those with legitimate concerns about putting their long-term health at risk, express lingering disappointment over the ban of amphetamines.

As the new season unfolds, I'm going to watch Braun with the same unbridled enthusiasm as before. I've spent too much time around big-league clubhouses - those havens of very adult behavior - to feel otherwise. But he's going to pay for this episode, in the form of relentless heckling whenever the Brewers hit the road. My biggest fear is that this engaging man becomes jaded, perhaps to the detriment of his game.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/24/SP2H1NC6GN.DTL#ixzz1nPgZyJPz

 

 

Ryan Braun challenges MLB's drug testing system, wins steroids appeal

Ryan Braun who reportedly showed evidence of anabolic steroids during an MLB steroids screen, defeated the league's testing on appeals citing an unsecured chain of custody.  There were plenty of missteps along the way no doubt.

1.  Results of the positive test leaked out to the public from ESPN.  Most accounts in the press accept leaked information, however why are reporters (and ESPN) held to some kind of ethical standards.  Can they leak any confidential medical information?   Ring them up on HIPPAA violations.

2.  Apparently the chain of custody for steroid samples was not well planned out.  Although the T:E ration was 20 in Braun's sample, the arbitrator ruled that chain of custody and the testing procedure was not 'state of the art'. (ESPN)

In his appeal, Braun didn't argue evidence of tampering and didn't dispute the science, but argued protocol had not been followed. Multiple sources confirmed to ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn that Braun questioned the chain of custody and collection procedure.

MLB officials argued that there was no question about the chain of custody or the integrity of the sample, and that Braun's representatives did not argue that the test itself was faulty.

But multiple sources said the sample was not shipped for testing as soon as possible, as required by the drug testing policy, and instead was kept in a cool place in the sample collector's home.

I am not a lawyer, but defense attorneys will question procedure integrity from the outset.  And why not, if the consequences are severe, MLB should maintain a tight, professional, well-supervised chain of custody and maintain 'good clinical practice' for these biological samples.  There can be a ton of errors if good clinical secure procedure is violated.

Braun is claiming innocence, which is true in the strictly 'eligilbe to play' sense.  He beat the positive test on procedural grounds.  That means the needle moves more toward 'no evidence of anabolic steroids' than 'evidence of  anabolic steroids'.

You see, nothing in medicine or the laboratory is absolute, unless it is birth or death, and even then mistakes can be made.  It is 'preponderance of the evidence' (apologies to you with obsessive-compulsive disorder).

Braun said this:

"We provided complete cooperation throughout, despite the highly unusual circumstances. I have been an open book, willing to share details from every aspect of my life as part of this investigation, because I have nothing to hide. I have passed over 25 drug tests in my career, including at least three in the past year."

Passing 25 tests is unimpressive.  The logic is like "But officer your speed gun is wrong because I have driven this road 400 times and never once was clocked at 100 mph".  Well, yeah, but now you were.  Except the officer jiggled the speed gun, so the results are not considered 'good clinical practice'.

It is said MLB may appeal in federal court.  Forget it.  Don't waste time on juice under the bridge.  Tighten up the procedure and the collection protocol.  If a guy juices once, it is unlikely he can go cold turkey forever.  Sooner or later....

Other takes:

Jeff Bradley talks about Ken Caminti and Jose Canseco, and A-Rod.  What's the point?  Athletes will cheat for advantage.  Monitor them with legally sound good clinical practices.

As for Braun, nothing  about last year pops out as particularly unusual.  .332, 33, 111 are not career highs.  He was a 29 year-old 6-1, 210 pound slugger.  He doesn't really look like a 'roid abuser.  There is no Barry Bonds 175 pound lanky dude to 250 pound middle linebacker with huge-neck-muscles transformation.  If he keeps clean for a couple years, the memory will fade.

Does this mean that everyone else can challenge the system including Manny...?

Mega-Roider Manny Ramirez courted by the Oakland As; Should aging stars be allowed testosterone replacement?

Last year, multi-juiced offender Manny Ramirez retired from baseball rather that face up to the consequences of cheating the system multiple times.  However, Moneyball, Billy Beane, now pursues Manny as a low-cost, run-producing, veteran on the rebuilding As.  To CBS Sacramento:

The Oakland Athletics still have strong interest in signing slugger Manny Ramirez, who presents a low-risk investment for the rebuilding franchise.

If things come together, the 39-year-old would sign a deal for slightly more than the league minimum of $480,000.

He first must serve a 50-game suspension without pay for violating baseball’s drug policy for the second time. With no rainouts, the first game Ramirez would be eligible to play is June 2 at Kansas City.

The sides could reach agreement as soon as the next few days or sometime next week, and Ramirez then likely would travel from Florida to Arizona to undergo a physical before joining Oakland’s spring training camp for full-squad workouts starting Feb. 25. Pitchers and catchers report to camp Saturday.

The Athletes may be desperate for some run production, and Ramirez must be hungry to get back in the game.  He is getting to the age where perfomance at the higest level will deteriorate rapidly, to a point where the fountain of steroid youth gave him an opportunity, expect the steroid testing outed that plan.

Interesting debate: Should aging athletes be given testosterone replacements?  There are a ton of aging men who line up for testosterone shots from their friendly GP.  While not endorsing that, it is an interesting question.  Manny, if not allowed a steroid boost, will find his performance significantly degraded from even last year.

BALCO investigator Jeff Novitzky aims scope at Lance Armstrong

The AP reports BALCO investigator and Barry Bond's good buddy Jeff Novitzky will lead the investigation of Lance Armstrong's cycling antics in the near future.  Armstrong would likely rather have the IRS invite him to a weekend picnic at Alcatraz.

He's been called high-minded, a trailblazing lawman and "America's top steroid cop."

For someone who does his best work behind the scenes, federal agent Jeff Novitzky is hardly a stranger to the spotlight. And depending on the results of an ongoing investigation into the sometimes-shadowy world of pro cycling, he could soon become better-known still.

After hounding home-run king Barry Bonds for years and wringing a confession from Olympic sprinter Marion Jones, Novitzky is leading an investigation that has questioned sponsors and examined claims from former teammates of Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion. A grand jury has been seated in Los Angeles to hear evidence in the investigation over the coming weeks and months, and Armstrong sponsors Trek Bicycle Corp. and Nike each said Friday that they've been contacted by federal agents.

"I'm just glad he ain't after me," said attorney Richard Emery. "He is a nightmare for anyone that's he's focused on."

World Antidoping Agency (WADA) to come down on International Cycling Union (UCI) for possible dope testing cover-ups

Before getting shoved off pager one by the Hewlett-Packard CEO sex-scandal the Wall Street Journal reported that WADA was looking closing at the international body governing pro cycling -- UCI.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said it has decided to step up its oversight of drug testing in professional cycling amid concerns that the sport has failed to aggressively police itself. David Howman, WADA's director general, said that in the last three weeks, the organization has taken steps to allow its staff to begin monitoring the blood and urine profiles of the sport's elite riders that are collected through the sport's Biological Passport program—and to push for sanctions when necessary. "Our job is to make sure the system isn't being sidestepped," Mr. Howman said. "We have the right of intervening if we think cases aren't being prosecuted appropriately."

The move reflects a growing concern in the antidoping community that the International Cycling Union, or UCI, the governing body of the sport which is charged with administering the Passport program, has not been following procedures correctly and is not doing a satisfactory job of cracking down on cheating.

WADA remains concerned that the UCI is shielding guilty cyclists from exposure when their biological samples test positive for drugs.  Shocking that anyone think pro cyclists would cheat, or that officials would look the other way.  (shocking if you are incredibly naive)

This person said antidoping officials are particularly concerned about the status of five professional riders who were flagged for doping in December but have not yet been sanctioned by the UCI. The riders, whose names are known only to the UCI, were determined to be doping by an independent committee of nine scientists and experts that was appointed by the UCI to review data from blood and urine tests.

The person said at least two members of the panel have voiced concerns that the UCI may be disregarding these positive tests or shielding guilty riders from punishment.

Doping in track is alive and well: Five Brazilian track athletes named as drug cheats

A number of Brazilian track athletes will receive an early exit from the world championships in Germany, reported as doping suspects.  To the AP:

Brazilian officials say five athletes preparing for the upcoming world track and field championships in Germany have failed doping tests.

The Brazilian athletics confederation says Bruno Lins Tenorio de Barros, Jorge Celio da Rocha Sena, Josiane da Silva Tito, Luciana Franca and Lucimara Silvestre presented "adverse results" in out-of-competition tests conducted by the confederation on June 15.

The athletes, who were already in Germany for this month's competition, requested their B samples be tested and are returning to Brazil to present their defence.

Three of the five athletes were at the Beijing Olympics last year - Barros helped Brazil finish fourth in the 4x100 metre relay, Silvestre competed in the women's heptathlon and Tito was in the women's 4x400 relay.

A number of Beijing 2008 Olympians included in this group.  One would not expect them to have suddenly become dopers in the past year...if you catch our drift.

The photos of Franca and Tito appear a bit strange....androgen influence?

2007 Giro d’Italia champion Danilo Di Luca drops positive urine for CERA EPO

The New York Times reports that 2007 Gyro de Italia champion Danilo Di Luco tested positive for CERA EPO during this year's race (surprise).

CERA EPO is Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA) as form of Erythropoietin (EPO).  The kidney naturally produces the hormone EPO, which stimulates red blood cell proliferation.  CERA is a larger molecule that is not eliminated by the kidneys as easily as 'regular' EPO, t his making it a longer acting up-regulator of RBC production.

The attraction of doping athletes for CERA appears to be the thought that a new molecule would slip through the detection process...doping control....giving the athlete a PED boost.  Athletes will try to get by with cheating as long as they think the cheating is undetectable.

The Italian cyclist Danilo Di Luca, the 2007 Giro d’Italia champion, tested positive for the blood booster CERA twice at the Giro d’Italia in May, the International Cycling Union said in a statement on Wednesday.

Di Luca, the runner-up at the Giro, is the leader of the LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini team, a squad that was not invited to participate in the Tour de France. At the Giro, Di Luca finished 41 seconds behind Denis Menchov.

The cycling union said it provisionally suspended Di Luca, 33, after a Paris laboratory found traces of CERA in his blood.

“These adverse findings were a direct result of a targeted test program conducted on Mr. Di Luca using information from his biological passports blood profile, previous test results and his race schedule,” the cycling union said.

Neither of Di Luca’s backup blood samples has been tested for traces of CERA, an anemia-fighting substance that is a new generation of the drug EPO, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Both EPO and CERA stimulate bone marrow to produce more oxygen-carrying red blood cells, but CERA is longer lasting and requires fewer injections.

Antidoping rules say Di Luca has the right to have both samples retested in his presence or in the presence of a representative.

He will remain provisionally suspended until the Italian Cycling Federation holds a hearing to determine whether Di Luca had violated antidoping rules.

This year’s Tour, which ends Sunday in Paris, has not had any positive doping tests.

2009 Kentucky Derby first in history to check for steroids post-race

Last year Big Brown juiced before he won the Kentucky Derby.  This year, if a horse uses the same drug as Brown (Winny, stanozolol), he gone. Post race steroids testing will be administered to the top 4 finishers for the first time in Derby history. To the Press-Enterprise

The biggest change at this year's Kentucky Derby won't be noticed by any fan or disrupt the routine of any horse. In fact, its only evidence will be sealed and stored in a padlocked refrigerator minutes after the race.

For the first time, the signature American thoroughbred race is screening for anabolic steroids -- a quiet step that industry officials are hoping will help the sport's image.

"Our existence depends on public confidence," longtime breeder Arthur Hancock said. "If we lose that, we lose our livelihood. Its extremely important we get this mess cleaned up."

Last year's Derby winner, Big Brown, was on steroids at the time of his victory -- a fact known only because trainer Rick Dutrow acknowledged he injected the horse with the then-legal steroid stanozolol.

If this year's winner tests positive for more than a trace amount of stanozolol, the horse will be disqualified and the trainer subjected to a lengthy suspension.

The race gained some excitement this morning with the favorite scratched.

Russian biathlon athletes suspected of doping

M and C reports a couple Russian biathlon athletes tested positive for doping at a recent meet.

Two Russian biathletes who tested positive at the recent national championships

were named by Russian news agency RIA Novosti Tuesday as Andrey Prokunin und Veronika Timofeyeva.

The agency cited confidential sources for its report but there was no comment from the Russian biathlon federation.

A-samples of the two skiers tested positive for the blood-booster EPO, it was reported. Follow-up B-samples will be returned next week.

Russian biathletes Ekaterina Iourieva, Albina Akhatova and Dmitri Yaroshenko were tested positive for the same drug at the biathlon World Cup season-opener in Ostersund, Sweden, last December.

The trio were identified as drug cheats after the examination of their B-samples ahead of February's world championships

in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Prokunin, 30, was a member of the Russian relay team which finished fourth at the 2001 world championships. Timofeyeva, 27, was second at the 2003 Universiade in Tarvisio, Italy.

Both have rejected the doping allegations, RIA Novosti reported.

Lance Armstrong accused of violating anti-doping protocol

Although it's is a tempest in a teapot in a way, the charge does hold importance.  The AP says a French doping agency accuses Lance Armstrong of breaking protocol when an agent paid a visit to the multiple Tour de France winner last month.

Armstrong blew off the anti-doping physician for a time, showering etc. while the tester waited.  The tests (urine, blood, hair) turned up negative, which is the teapot part.   However as any enterprising athlete knows a 20-30 minute break can enable all kids of shenanigans to thwart dope testing...and this is well practiced among professional cyclists.

Lance haters will pile on; Lance defenders will scream in anguish.  The rest of us will likely stay nauseated.

France's anti-doping agency says seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong violated its rules and that it could punish him.

French doctors say they tested Armstrong's hair, urine and blood March 17. They say they found no traces of drugs.

However, the agency, known as AFLD, said in a statement Thursday that a doctor charged with testing Armstrong last month claimed Armstrong "did not respect the obligation to remain under the direct and permanent observation" of the tester.

The AFLD says it is can impose sanctions on the American rider, but didn't indicate what they would be.

Armstrong is in training to ride in this year's Tour.

Somethings getting hairy with Lance Armstrong: Report sent to WADA and UCI

The Hartford Courant says WADA and UCI received a report on Lance Armstrong's recent haircut.
A hair sample? That's what France is banking on in its report to the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

A sample of Lance Armstrong's hair, taken during an out-of-competition test in Beaulieu-sur-Mer in southern France, was sent to be analyzed. Testing of hair samples is allowed under French law, but is not recognized by WADA or the UCI.

French Doping Agency chief Pierre Bordry declined to disclose details of the report. "I sent [the report] in order to get an opinion on the matter. I am not making any judgments," Bordry said.

Armstrong said it was the first time he had to provide a hair sample. He said the test "butchered" his haircut.

Cycling Weekly says the report discusses Armstrong's behavior.  Gee, that's news.

The French Anti-Doping Authority (AFLD) has filed a report on Lance Armstrong's behaviour during a recent out-of-competition drug test. Both the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have received the report.

The exact nature of the report has not been revealed, but it is likely that Armstrong was not happy to have an impromptu haircut.

The seven-times Tour de France champion was visited in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday, March 17, whilst training for July's Tour de France. AFLD inspectors requested the usual blood and urine samples, and also removed a sample of hair for analysis.

"Yet another 'surprise' anti-doping control," wrote Armstrong on his Twitter site a day later. "This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic..."

Armstrong had to get his hair cut short after the sample was taken as the testers had left it "butchered".

No wonder Armstrong wanted his own unique Catlin-testing protocol.  That would retain his flamboyant hairstyle, seen at the left (um, pretty droll).

Catching up with steroid and PED stories

1.  Bike Radar reviews biological passports.

2.  Ex-Olympian ran steroids smuggling scheme...David Jenkins.  Evening News, Edinburgh.

3.  Get your steroids at a Dominican pharmacy, it's easy.  Newsday.

4.  Former 'roider in New York blames his cardiac problems on past steroids use.  Metrowest Daily News.

Lance Armstrong breaks collarbone in Spanish pile-up. All those dope tests wasted?

The Philly Daily News says Lance Armstrong suffered a broken clavicle (collarbone) in a pile-up at a race in Spain yesterday.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong crashed during a pileup in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon cycling race in Spain and suffered a broken collarbone.

Armstrong will need surgery, leading to questions about whether he'll be able to contend for an eighth title in July.

"I'm alive!" he wrote on his Twitter feed. "Broken [right] clavicle. Hurts like hell for now. Surgery in a couple of days. Thanks for all the well wishes."

Armstrong will fly back to the United States to have surgery.

Astana team leader Johan Bruyneel said on his Twitter feed there were no complications in the break, and suggested Armstrong could be riding soon.

In London, The Times thinks Armstrong's exit might be good for pro cycling:

 Until last weekend, when the real business of Armstrong as an elite cyclist and Tour contender began, everything had gone to plan. There had been much glad-handing around the world, some showboating in a couple of lesser races in Australia and California, the now-traditional casual put-downs of anti-doping campaigners and a little sledging towards his major rival — on this occasion, his own Astana team-mate, Alberto Contador...

...For his detractors — and there are many both in Europe and in America — the prospect of the multi-millionaire packing up his train set and heading back to Texas will be a huge relief. While publicity accompanies his every move, and a key part of the raison d’etre for his comeback is his global cancer campaign, suspicion also shadows him at every turn of the pedals.

The platform of transparency and openness with which he trumpeted his return has quietly been forgotten, while Don Caitlin’s unimpeachable testing programme — that Armstrong insisted would go ahead — was poorly thought through and never got off the ground. Arm in a sling as he flies home to Texas, he will now be desperate to prevent his racing comeback following the same fate.

Pro wrestler Abismo Negro found dead in Mexican river; Blame goes to steroids

Authorities found (now) ex-pro wrestling legend Abismo Negro ("The Black Abyss") floating down a Mexican river on Sunday.  The story/explanation sounds bizarre.  To Wrestling-Edge:

Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González, better known as Abismo Negro in AAA, was found dead in a river in Mexico yesterday. The lucha wrestler was 37.

No definite cause of death has been determined as of yet, nor has foul play been ruled out.

According to a bus driver who was transporting González and other passengers to Mexico City, González became agitated, almost panicked and demanded to be let off the bus despite it being 1:30 in the morning. After leaving the bus, González found himself lost on the dark hillside, confirmed by a text message he sent to his wife. After receiving the text, his wife contacted local wrestling promoter Vicente Martinez, who organized a search party.

Yesterday morning, González was found floating face down in the river. There has been talk that he may have gotten stuck in mud and was unable to free himself. The body was removed from the river and positively identified as Gonzalez. The local coroner confirmed that the anxiety attack led to the events of his death. He also noted that anabolic steroids being taken by Gonzalez at the time could have caused his anxiety attack.

The steroids/anxiety attack explanation sounds hokey.  Indeed Gonzalez may have taken steroids (appears to go with the pro wrestling profession).  However 'anxiety attack' caused by anabolic steroids leading to confusion and death might be pushing it.

The wrestler might have suffered a heart attack or a stroke, leading to confusion.  Very common.  That confusion could have led to more panic and disorientation.  Or it all could be foul play.

Considering the general cocktail of anabolic drugs pro wrestlers ingest - AASs, HGH, insulin, thyroid hormones, it is a wonder their heart makes it past 40.  Oh yeah, it often doesn't.

Early in his career, González went under the ring name Winners, a masked male dancer, who teamed with former WCW wrestler Super Calo during the early glory days of the AAA promotion. At the TripleMania II-A show in April 1994, Winners formed a trio with Rey Misterio and Rey Misterio, Jr. The following year, he lost his mask in a feud with Calo.

González changed his appearance in 1997 and became Abismo Negro in 1997. He wrestled at the 1997 Royal Rumble in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome by taking part in a "Free-For-All" pre-show match alongside Heavy Metal and Histeria. His team lost to Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr. and Tinieblas Jr. He also made two appearances on Raw in March of that year.

In 2004, Abismo Negro appeared in TNA by taking part in the World X Cup Tournament for Team Mexico.

German scientists claim lab test detects gene doping

The next big trend in doping will be gene doping...the implantation of genes to develop strength, endurance, coordination, or stamina.  If this process isn't already on the steroid black market, it appears to be a major future challenge, as the technique is undetectable.  Or thought to be undetectable; a German lab says it developed a process to detect gene doping.  From Deutche World:

German researchers say they have successfully developed a test to detect instances of gene doping. As doping in the sports world becomes more sophisticated, genetic engineering is seen as the next major threat.

The test traces a special substance, known as GW1516, which artificially increases the volume of so-called endurance muscles and enzymes that gain energy from fat. 

"For the first time, a substance for gene doping has been traced through mass spectrometry," the German Sports University Cologne (DSHS) said of the procedure, which was announced this week.

Mario Thevis, a researcher who helped develop the test, said it was ready for use.

Russian cross-country skier Matveyeva upended for doping

A Russian cross-country skier, Natalia Matveyeva (far right), ran afoul of the doping authorities.  She is a cross country skier of some consequence.  To the Canadian Press:

Russian cross-country skier Natalia Matveyeva has been suspended for doping, Russian news site Allsport reported Sunday.

The 22-year-old Matveyeva reportedly tested positive for EPO during a World Cup meet in January in Whistler, B.C.

Russian sprint team coach Tatyana Revina, who called the result a mistake, said a Russian expert who works with the team would be in Montreal when the "B sample" result is revealed Monday.

"We do not use doping technology in our work and there have been no doping ingredients in the preparations we use," Allsport quoted Revina as saying.

Russian cross-country officials could not be reached for comment.

French hair tests allegedly show 1 in 5 soccer players with evidence of steroids

A release from the AFLD -- the French doping control agency -- says that most of the positive tests show DHEA.  However, the hair samples hold no legal power in France.  Which makes it weird Lance Armstrong submitted to hair analysis.

Random tests on the hair of professional French football players, has revealed that there is frequent use of illegal, muscle-building steroids in the French game.

Of the footballers tested, results proved that one in five showed signs of having used banned steroids – mostly the anti-ageing hormone DHEA. Drug tests on hair samples have no legal basis in French law and are not implemented by sports governing bodies but the French anti-drugs agency believes that its "hair opinion poll" points to a submerged culture of drug-taking in football.

Pierre Bordry, the president of the Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD) said: "Here is the proof that doping is not just something that happens in cycling."

Of the 32 professional footballers playing in the French First and Second divisions who were tested, out of 138 sportsmen, seven showed clear signs of having used steroids. The 21.8 per cent "hit" rate was the highest in any sport tested.

The anti-doping agency confirmed that it has no plans to reveal the names of the players who tested positive or to pass individual results to clubs or sports bodies.

Lance Armstrong losing hair over doping tests

Lance Armstrong submitted to a French doping test yesterday, which involved a hair sample.  Lance's latest close shave resulted in hair loos.  From Cycling Weekly:

Lance Armstrong has been given a free haircut by the French anti-doping agency (AFLD) during an out-of-competition test.

The seven-times Tour de France champion was visited in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday for his 24th out-of-competition test since announcing his comeback from retirement last year. Inspectors requested the usual blood and urine samples, and also removed a sample of hair for analysis.

"Yet another 'surprise' anti-doping control," wrote Armstrong on his Twitter site. "This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic..."

"So I'm clear - never complaining about these tests. Def part of the job. Feel targeted? Of course. But anything to prove I'm clean. Onward."

So brave. So bold.  And such short hair: apparently he needed a haircut to cover up the sampled areas.

Although this is the first time Armstrong has had hair removed for testing, obtaining a hair sample is not unusual in the fight against doping. Hair contains residual traces of substances ingested by the body - and they are retained in hair until that portion is cut. Therefore hair can be used to test for longer-term use of banned substances. However, it's not a completely fool-proof method as bleaching hair can destroy the markers left in it by certain substances.

Armstrong was working out in France, preparing for the 2009 Tour de France.

Why no positive for 'boli' (primobolan) in MLB testing for A-Rod?

Newsday wonders why Alex Rodriquez who admitted to using primobolan for at least 3 years, did not test positive for the anabolic steroid?

The MLB and MLB Players Association agreed to the 'screening' test in 2003.  As we know Sports Illustrated found credible information that A-Rod was among those players who tested positive.  However, according to the Mitchell Report, no MLB player tipped the scales with primobolan.

On Feb. 17, Alex Rodriguez held a news conference at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa intending to set the record straight about his steroid use, which had been reported by Sports Illustrated the previous week.

Nearly a month later, many of the questions raised by the original story have been answered...

If A-Rod really was taking Primobolan from 2001 to 2003, why didn't he test positive for that specific drug during the random survey in 2003? There may be a perfectly innocent explanation. Baseball needs to provide it...

...according to a breakdown of the drugs the players tested positive for in the 2003 survey released along with the Mitchell Report, not a single player tested positive for Primobolan.

According to the breakdown that was made public, 73 players tested positive for nandrolone, a hardcore oil-based injectable steroid also known as Deca-Durabolin; 26 for stanozolol, also known as Winstrol; eight for elevated levels of testosterone; five for boldenone, also known as Equipoise; three for methandrostenolone, or Dianabol, and one for clenbuterol, technically not a steroid at all but a bronchodilator used by athletes to cut fat.

Interetesting that no player tested positive for primobolan.  Also interesting that only 8 players tested positive for 'elevated testosterone'  Do we have any information that MLB looked at T:E ratios?  Onlny 8 positive for the most popular PED?

Consider A-Rod himself: Does this cast credibility on his story... or the man responsible for the testing?

Right now, baseball does its own in-house testing, by a lab contracted to work for Major League Baseball, and all results are evaluated by one man, Dr. Bryan Smith, who of course is paid by Major League Baseball.

(Dr. Smith also is the man who signed off on 106 therapeutic exemptions for players diagnosed with ADD, allowing them to use drugs such as Ritalin, a powerful stimulant, without penalty.)

This is not to impugn the integrity of any of those entities or individuals, simply to ask how much more reliable the data coming from them would be if the testing were administered by an entity entirely independent of the people it is testing.

MMA fighter Shamrock gets unlucky: tests positive for steroids

It will not be a happy St. Patrick's Day for MMA fighter Ken Shamrock.  He tested positive for a couple anabolic steroids after a recent fight.

Veteran MMA fighter Ken Shamrock has tested positive for anabolic steroids, the California State Athletic Commission said Wednesday.

Shamrock, who last competed for WarGods on Feb. 13 in Fresno, Calif., tested positive for 19-Norandrosterone, 19-Noretiocholanolone and stanozolol.

The commission said Shamrock, who has the right to appeal, had been  fined US$2,500 and suspended for a year, through  Feb. 1, 2010.

Shamrock (27-13-2) defeated Ross (The Grizzly) Clifton via submission one minute into the WarGods fight. Prior to that he had lost eight of his last 10 bouts, dating back to August 2000.

Green beer and beefy muscles for Patty's Day!

European researchers call for new standards in anabolic steroid/ testosterone testing

Everyone knows the current tests for anabolic steroids remain imperfect.  The tests either key on the testosterone/epitestosterone ratio (positive if testosterone is the doping agent) or measurements of the actual anabolic steroid itself.  Now European researchers report current metabolic/dope testing may be flawed along racial lines.

New steroid doping tests are needed for testing athletes, because current tests ignore important ethnic differences in hormone activity, researchers contend.

Testosterone and other hormones that increase testosterone levels are among the illegal performance-enhancing products most widely used in sports, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency. Evidence of this kind of cheating is determine by the testosterone/epitestosterone ratio (T:E ratio) in urine. The universal threshold is set above four and confirmed by gas chromatography, a type of chemical analysis.

But the current test is inadequate, according to the authors of a new study that tested soccer players of different ethnicities after they deliberately added steroids to their urine samples. The players, ages 18 to 36, included 57 blacks, 32 Asians, 32 Hispanics and 50 whites.

The researchers used gas chromatography to analyze the urine samples and took into account a variation in a gene known to account for different test results between white and Asian men. The gene, UGT2B17, affects metabolism, including the rate at which testosterone is passed out of the body into the urine.

The gene variation was found in 81 percent of the Asian players, 22 percent of the blacks, 10 percent of the whites and 7 percent of the Hispanic players. Based on the findings, the researcher recalibrated the thresholds for each ethnic group and suggested the following T:E ratios: 3.8 for Asian men, 5.6 for black men, 5.7 for white men and 5.8 for Hispanic men.

The study was released online and was expected to be published in a future print issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Dwain Chambers names track athletes, coaches, and contradictions in new book

The AP discusses UK sprinter Dwain Chambers's new book as more of the text is revealed.  Not surprisingly Chambers names more track athletes who used BALCO for doping including Kelli White.
British sprinter Dwain Chambers names several doping-tainted American athletes in his autobiography chronicling his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Sprinters Kelli White, Chryste Gaines and Alvin Harrison, all of whom were busted for doping and served suspensions, are all mentioned when Chambers recounts his ties with BALCO founder Victor Conte.

"He kept telling me to talk to the other athletes, talk to my coach Remi (Korchemny), Chryste Gaines and Kelli, Alvin Harrison to name a few. I told him I would," Chambers writes in the book "Race Against Me: My Story...

"In time I became fully aware of Victor's role and his purpose in recruiting the best athletes in the world," Chambers writes. "Victor was a pharmacologist with a living to make."

Chambers says he started taking THG, also known as "The Clear," and other drugs such as HGH and EPO, in 2002 after meeting Conte in the United States while training.

"As time went on, I became more and more familiar with associating certain athletes with certain drugs. ... I made Kelli White my main confidante and the attraction grew by the day," writes Chambers, who says he dated White for more than a year.

White won the 100 and 200-meter races at the 2003 world championships in Paris, but both her medals were stripped after she tested positive for modafinil

Chambers, who admitted using 300 combinations of illegal PEDs assumes a strange and paradoxiacally moral attitude toward illict drug doping:

Although Chambers says both he and White "agreed that we hated having to cheat to win," he later says he didn't know THG was on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.

"If THG was on there I was out of America on the very next flight and Victor Conte was history!" Chambers writes, but then later in the book adds, "I printed the list off. It ran to nearly eight pages. I went over it three times and found no reference at all to THG. Victor was right: it wasn't on the banned list."

"In my own mind, I wasn't cheating."

In earlier excerpts from the book printed in the Daily Mail, Chambers says he was a "walking junkie" and took "more than 300 different concoctions" of performance-enhancing drugs that cost him $30,000 a year.

"It wasn't a problem. I was earning big money at the time," Chambers writes.

White (photo right) who to her credit confessed to all the doping, is an example of how the drugs produce an incredible physique.  Once again, consider all records in the 'steroids era' to be at risk of PED taint. 

Chambers also hits the syringe on the head in the last statement.."The money..."

Also note the irony of calling Conte a 'pharmacologist'.

UK Sprinter Dwain Chambers lays out chilling inside look at track doping via BALCO

Carrying excerpts before the mid-March publication of Dwain Chambers new book "Race Against Me", The Daily Mail shows the chilling (and expensive) world of big time track doping.  Chambers admits to more than 300 drug cocktails from BALCO (and other sources).  To Earth Times:

London - Disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers admits in his forthcoming autobiography "Race Against Me" that he took a concoction of over 300 performance-enhancing drugs. In an installment published in Tuesday's Daily Mail ahead of next Monday's release, Chambers, who served a two-year ban after being found guilty of doping offences in 2003, said he had paid out 30,000 dollars a year for doping substances.

"I wasn't just on THG, EPO and HGH, but testosterone to help with sleep and reduce cholesterol," he said. "On Christmas Day (in 2002), as I sat in the bathroom with 'The Clear' (THG), I realized I had been taking drugs - more than 300 different concoctions - for 12 months.

During that time, Chambers says he passed 10 doping tests as well as winning the 100-metre gold medal at the 2002 European Championships. However, his times hadn't improved that dramatically and he was also often troubled by stomach cramps.

"When I was clean, my personal best was 9.97 seconds. A year on, after the sleepless nights, the anxiety, the pain of the cramps, the blood draws to make sure I wouldn't suffer a stroke, or worse, the inconsistent races and the disappointment of missing events, my PB (personal best) was 9.87 seconds," he wrote.

Some of the drugs: The clear (THG), testosterone, insulin, HGH . Provigil, T4, and EPO.  Dangerous...Yes.  Effective...apparently.  Chambers says his time went for a PB of 9.97 to 9.87, nice gains.  The cost, you can see above the price.

The discussions?  This discussing with Tim Montgomery about Conte and BALCO:

I  (Chambers)should have seen the danger signals when Montgomery snarled at me one day: ‘Yo, Dwain! You wit that n***** Conte? Don’t go anywhere near that c********r. Let me tell you, Chambers, he’s bad news.’

I was unnerved, but he didn’t elaborate. I didn’t know there was a huge row brewing between Montgomery and Conte. Tim had probably taken a well-educated guess that I was clean and didn’t want me dragged down. I just wish he had been more constructive, instead of hurling obscenities in the direction of Victor.

And a discussion with Conte:

Conte had convinced me that a new drug meant I could train harder and more often. He called it The Clear (THG) and The Cream.

‘Is it illegal?’ I asked.

‘It’s undetectable.’

‘Is it banned?’

‘The Clear is not on the prohibited list and neither will cause a positive test.’

‘Isn’t that cheating?

‘They’re cheating you, Dwain. You’re a talented athlete and you’re not competing on a level playing field. Most of the top sprinters are on steroids. Every time you race you’re at a disadvantage.’

Ah, rationalizations...

Anti-Steroid, anti-doping crusader and IRS agent Jeff Novitzky under the spotlight

ABC News posts a story on the journey of IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, who once tried out for Lute Olson at Arizona basketball, as he crusades against steroids and  doping and some say too zealously Barry Bonds.

The story starts in a California courtroom where Novitzky participated in the BALCO trial of Victor Conte.  And it will continue in the same courtroom:

Sometime in the next few months, Jeff Novitzky will walk back into the same 10th floor courtroom, raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth in the case of the United States v. Barry Lamar Bonds. He will say that Bonds lied in that same courthouse five years ago when he told the grand jury he never knowingly took steroids. And then he'll wait for the jury to decide if baseball's home run king was telling the truth.

But no matter what the jury decides -- and face it, most of us have already made up our minds about Bonds -- it is clear that the detective and his gun has replaced the scientist and his test tube. What isn't clear is whether Jeff Novitzky is part of the solution -- or if he's now the bigger part of the problem. 

Novitzky's early life was highlighted by the Olson connection:

There is nothing about Novitzky's life before Balco that suggests a man destined to direct the biggest investigation in sports history. Or one who would crave or abuse power. He grew up the son of a Bay Area hoops coach, a basketball and track star who still owns the San Mateo County high jump record of 7 feet. Coming out of high school in 1985, he tried out for Lute Olson's Arizona University basketball team. When he fell short, Novitzky returned home to play backup forward and teammate to his big brother at San Jose State.

His athletic career over, Novitzky got a degree in accounting and took a job in San Jose with the IRS's criminal division, a select group of agents who use tax laws and their guns to bust up all sorts of criminal operations.

After the jump we examine more of the extended story on Novitzky...

Dope and steroid testing comes down hard on Jamaica

The Globe carries a story documenting the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAFF) hard come down on Jamaica during the past year's dope testing.

The International Association of Athletics Federations is delighted to see Jamaica's athletes doing fast times — as long as they're not doing it on banned drugs.

The little Caribbean nation was listed yesterday as one of the five most tested nations in IAAF figures for out-of-competition testing released yesterday by the federation's head office in Monte Carlo.

Jamaican athletes, led by the world-record 100- and 200-metre times of sprinter Usain Bolt, dominated the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with 11 medals — six of them gold — in distances of a lap of less. Bolt, who set or shared in four world records last season and won a series of races in Europe, was one of the most tested athletes in the world.

More on dope testing Jamaican athletes after the jump...

A-Rod extras: Does this ever stop?

Like Roger Clemens before him, R-Rod might learn that being in the media spotlight is not good.  All kinds of stories coming out:

The Winnipeg Free Press tries to wrap things up on A-Rod.

 Say what you will about Alex Rodriguez -- call him A-Roid or A-Fraud -- but what the Yankees slugger has been doing since his hands were caught in the steroid jar promises to be a fascinating experiment of human sociology.

The Baltimore Sun says MLB is interested in A-Rod's buddies including Angel Presinal.

Primobolan in not OTC (over-the-counter) says the Dominican Republican via the Miami Hertald.

An official in the Dominican Republic is disputing one of Alex Rodriguez's statements in his news conference Tuesday, ESPN Deportes reported Friday.

Rodriguez said earlier this week in Tampa that he and his cousin, Yuri Sucart, purchased an over-the-counter drug, which he identified as ''boli,'' from a pharmacy in the Dominican Republic between 2001 and 2003. But Primobolan, one of the drugs that Rodriguez reportedly tested positive for, is not available for legal purchase with a prescription in the Dominican Republic, ESPN Deportes said. The network quoted Pia Veras, who oversees the agency that regulates pharmaceutical drugs in the Dominican Republic.

''What Alex Rodriguez stated in the press conference doesn't make sense,'' Veras said. ``It is important for us to clarify that such substance has not been registered, and is not currently registered for legal sale in Dominican pharmacies -- not now, and the same applies for the years 2001 to 2003.''

San Francisco judge bars positive steroid drug tests in Barry Bonds trial

Judge Susan Illston barred federal prosecutors from introducing 3 positive blood tests in Barry Bonds perjury trial to begin later this year.  The AP reports this story.  (New York Times story here)

Evidence in court must adhere to rules unique to courtrooms, and good for that.  However, the judge cannot banish those positive tests from the minds of baseball fans and Hall of Fame voters, where Barry Bonds really lives...tainted forever.  (BTW Bonds is looking pretty old in the photo)

A federal judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors cannot show jurors three positive steroid tests and other key evidence in the slugger's trial next month.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the urine samples that tested positive for steroids are inadmissible because prosecutors cannot prove conclusively that they belong to Bonds. The judge also barred prosecutors from showing jurors so-called doping calendars that Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, allegedly maintained for the slugger.

The judge said prosecutors need direct testimony from Anderson to introduce such evidence. Anderson's attorney said the trainer will refuse to testify at Bonds' trial even though he is likely to be sent to prison on contempt of court charges.

However the judge did not bar us from continuing the story after the jump...

Alex Rodriguez faces media during spring training in Tampa; To make donation to Taylor Hooton anti-steroid Foundation

A-Rod opened spring training today with a press conference where he discussed steroid use.  He also announced that he will make a donation to the Taylor Hooton Foundation in Plano Texas.

Reports indicate A-Rod admitted to taking an over-the-counter preparation that contains anabolic steroids.   Although he just now admitted to injections  (the two are very different).

Listening to the press conference A-Rod dodged a question about 'cheating', but he blamed steroid use on being 'young and stupid'.  A-Rod identified his cousin as the supplier of the drug, transported from the Dominican Republic to the United States.

A-Rod is now invoking God, as putting him in a forum where 'I can be heard'.

A-Rod is talking about the steroids being 'over-the-counter' and 'amateur'.  Interesting, in that veterinary anabolic steroids must be 'over-the-counter' in the Dominican.  A-Rod comments that he didn't even know the drugs were steroids.  "I was 24 or 25" (as a note 24 or 25 year-olds graduate from law school and medical school; We would not characterize them as 'young and stupid')

A-Rod refers to 'bolie' which has to be Primobolan, a typical anabolic steroid.  What are the (suspected) effects of anabolic steroids: increased muscle mass, increased power, in proved injury repair, and perhaps improved vigor.  Remember, no study has ever looked at the effects (short or long term) of anabolic steroids in gifted professional athletes.

Paul Kimmage's Lance Armstrong 'cancer' comments in context

Here are ex-cyclist/current journalist Paul Kimmage's writings (thanks to CyclingFansAnonymous), the words Lance Armstrong choose to inflame and impute.  The remarks almost sound prophetic when the Amgen press conference is reviewed.

To be fair, Armstrong has never officially tested positive for a PED, yada yada yada.  Kimmage could be completely insane with his charges., however almost every ending of the Tour de France appears to be very reminiscent of the ending of Ben Johnson's 1988 Olympic win: the finalists almost all doped.

I will add this and personalize the issue.  Both my parent died from cancer.  I doubt that either would be insulted using a cancer metaphor to illustrate a controversial issue.  However, the issue that would inflame both would be cheating.  Cheating and dishonesty at any level would be condemned in memorable vocal displays.

So here it is, the Kimmage invective.  Armstrong would do well to answer each charge in measured facts, if he wishes to promote his innocence, not insults to the author.

Were the 'cancer' comments over the top?

"My reaction...the enthusiasm that I had built up about the sport in the last couple of years has been all but completely wiped out in the last couple of hours.

Let’s turn the clock back to Armstrong’s last apparition in the sport. The Tour de France 2005. He’s standing on the podium. And he makes this big impassioned speech. Which is basically saying ‘The last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics, the skeptics: I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry you can’t dream big. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.’ That was 2005, his last ride in the the Tour de France. And the people flanking him on that podium were Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich. And a month after that race ended the French newspaper L’Equipe reported that in his first winning Tour de France, in 1999, Armstrong had tested positive for EPO. Six separate samples taken during that race revealed positive tests for EPO.

Continued after the jump...

Lance Armstrong goes off on journalist at the Amgen Tour of California press conference

A former pro cyclist, and now journalist for the London Times felt the full wrath of Lance Armstrong during a press conference preceding the Amgen Tour of California.  Paul Kimmage was bold enough to ask about Armstrong's support of two 'dopers' (Floyd Landis and Irwin Basso).  Armstrong let loose with a tirade against  Kimmage for writing a piece calling him 'the cancer' of cycling, clearly a metaphor for the alleged use of Armstrong's PEDs leading to his multiple Tour de France wins.

Kimmage apparently has violated the la cosa nostra code of omerta within the cycling doping fraternity by 'spitting in the soup'.  That brought him vitriol from multiple outposts of cycling.  Perhaps his metaphor was not appropriate in discussing Armstrong (should he have used 'venereal disease', which would also make everyone uncomfortable;  maybe 'common cold').

Armstrong told Kimmage he "wasn't worth the chair he was sitting on".  Nice comments from a guy who is a purported humanitarian.  Although Armstrong took umbrage at the 'cancer'  metaphor, he needed to understand the comments were a metaphor only.  The journalist was not endorsing cancer.  The journalist was not promoting cancer.  The journalist in the past used cancer as a metaphor and was not using it in his question.

Armstrong wimped out by saying 'Floyd doesn't believe he is guilty' (and has any doper ever believed he is guilty; forget that international courts found Landis red-handed guilty), then added some other illogical verbiage.  Here is a report from The Examiner (complete with video):

Last night, I sat in the second row of the Amgen Tour of California Press Conference. I listened to and asked questions of cycling greats like Basso, Fiere, Cavendish, Hamilton, Leipheimer, Vande Velde, Brooke Miller (winner of last year’s women’s race)and Lance Himself. Everything was going as press conferency as usual...

Lance asked the gentleman his name. The man answered, “Paul Kimmage.” I render a guess Paul may have legally changed it by now. Kimmage, a former pro cyclist from the ‘80s and author of doping expose Rough Ride, is known for exposing the use of drugs in cycling. This is good! The problem? He thinks Lance’s general popularity has made the scandal of doping “disappear”. This is bad! This, however, is even worse: When Lance began his comeback, Kimmage said, in a September interview, “Well he [Lance] is the cancer in this sport. And for four years this sport has been in remission. And now the cancer's back." Kimmage literally called Lance Armstrong “a cancer.” Lance responded in what I can only describe as verbal chemotherapy. And an awesomely high dosage at that.

And Armstrong's response:

"I am here to fight this disease. I am here so I don't have to deal with it, you don't have to deal with it, none of us have to deal with it, my children don't have to deal with it. Yet you said I am the cancer. And the cancer is out of remission. So it goes without saying, no, we aren't going to sit down and do an interview."

“You [pointing at Kimmage] are not worth the chair you’re sitting on.”

The problem here was that Kimmage didn't judge the crowd in the room.  He essentially went into the Roman forum and asked the Cesar if Rome, indeed doesn't suck...not a good idea.

Armstrong, feeling all righteously indignant, and riding for his 'cause' (although the comeback is more about Lance the personality than Lance the cancer fighter) unleashed an unprofessional and undignified tirade on the journalist, clearly veering from the topic and the question.  Methinks he protested too much.

A more professional response would have been to coolly kept on-topic.

Pro cycling will never rid itself of doping (and it has proven that competitors will drug cheat with disturbing regularity at every opportunity) while the cycling mafia controls the enterprise (and rooms like this).

Cycling fans and various groupies will adorn Armstrong with attention.  Pro cycling will ignore doping, to the determent of the fairness of the sport.  Denial is a powerful force.  Death and disability from doping is powerful too.

Remember, doping kills -- just like cancer.

Transcript of Gammons-A-Rod interview: Alex Rodriguez dodges all the soft balls Gammons throws

The transcript of the Peter Gammons - Alex Rodriguez interview at ESPN is found here.  A-Rod spewed several notable comments, most of which were crafted to avoid giving out information.  If examined you will find that A-Rod essentially said nothing about PED use, or steroid use, or the situation, and Gammons let him by with the skimming:

1. The A-Rod confession, which went something like this:

When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.

Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. And I did take a banned substance. You know, for that I'm very sorry and deeply regretful.

... The culture back then, and Major League Baseball overall, was very -- I just feel that, you know, I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time. I'm sorry to my fans. I'm sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about a substance of any kind, and since then, I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that.

    2.  No admission of what he took as a steroid or PED, or who was his dealer:

And to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using...

Again, at the time, you know, you have nutritionists, you have doctors, you have trainers. That's the right question today: Where did you get it? We're in the era of BALCO ... Back then, it was just about what.

There's many things that you can take that are banned substances. I mean, there's things that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test.

I'm not sure exactly what substance I used. But whatever it is, I feel terribly about it.

So A-Rod, an intelligent, dedicated professional athlete doesn't know what PED he took, how he took it, and who gave the drugs to him, or doesn't remember?  Does anyone believe this?  Would an intelligent reader take a pill, or inject a substance recommended by (apparently) an apparition without knowing the effects or side-effects?

Rodriguez knows substances banned from GNC that cause positive doping tests, however he doesn't recall what doping drug he injected?  Unbelievable.  And yet A-Rod will be widely praised for 'coming clean',  The only thing that happened was a reporter investigated the positive MLB urine tests to expose A-Rod.  He still isn't fessing up to what drugs he used.

Read the entire interview.  A-Rod appears to have a selective demented memory.  He doesn't remember anything about his PED use.  He didn't even know he tested positive (despite the MLBPA claiming they notified positive tests):

Again, at the time of that culture, there was no illegal or legal. It was just -- you have to understand the time. To take you back there, again, people were taking a number of different things, from GNC, to whatever.

To be quite honest with you, the first time that I knew I had failed a test 100 percent was when the lady from Sports Illustrated [Selena Roberts] came into my gym just a few days ago and told me, "You have failed a test."

A-Rod cites GNC, which is laughable.  The people pushing steroids don't work at GNC.  Some -- like - are dead.  Others like Victor Conte are convicted felons.

How did A-Rod respond when faced with a outline lie -- a denial of PED/steroid use -- he espoused how he feels good about 'telling the truth'.  A-Rod skirted every probing question Gammons popped to him...and Gammons let him by with the skating.

PETER GAMMONS: Now, you mentioned the Katie Couric interview. You were asked if you ever used steroids, human growth hormones or other performance-enhancing substances. You said no, flat-out no. In your mind, that wasn't a lie?
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: At the time, Peter, I wasn't even being truthful with myself. How am I going to be truthful with Katie or CBS? Today, I'm here to tell the truth, and I feel good about that. I think my fans deserve that. I'm ready to put everything behind me and go play baseball. You know, we have a great team this year. I couldn't be more excited about the guys that we've brought in, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett ... It's an important time in my life to turn the page and focus on what's next.

A-Rod appeared to save his vitriol for Selenna Roberts who broke the story.  Shoot the messenger.  A-Rod who lied to an NBC reporter (I cannot bring myself to write the words 'Katie Couric'), who cannot actually put the facts out there, is no impugning a reporter who broke the story...fascinating and nauseating:

...this lady from Sports Illustrated, Selena Roberts, is trying to throw things out there that in high school I tried steroids. I mean, that's the biggest bunch of baloney I've ever heard in my life.

I mean, what makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me. This lady has been thrown out of my apartment in New York City. This lady has five days ago just been thrown out of the University of Miami police for trespassing. And four days ago she tried to break into my house where my girls are up there sleeping, and got cited by the Miami Beach police. I have the paper here. This lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies because she's writing an article for Sports Illustrated and she's coming out with a book in May.

Really respectable journalists are following this lady off the cliff and following her lead. And that, to me, is unfortunate.

The biggest bunch of baloney is A-Rods dodge of his steroid and PED use.

A-Rod -- Alex Rodriguez -- admits to A-Roiding

Baseball slugging icon Alex Rodriguez, aka A-Rod, admitted today he gained some of his extraordinary power from A-Roiding.  A-Rod's admissions add one more piece of evidence to the baseball power era known as The Steroid Era, when sluggers went 'roid wild, toppling gravity with immense feats of power hitting.  It will also be known as an era when the top MLB talent simply cheated the game, the fans, and in the end themselves.

Some say events occur in threes; A-Rods confession coincides with Barry Bonds's BALCO/steroid legal battles firing up again this year, and Mark McGwire's brother pulling open the curtain on his juiced slugging career. The vintage sluggers of just 5-15 years ago now appear to have cheated past sluggers like the Babe with a ptoent mix of anabolic PEDs like testosterone, nandrolone, HGH, and other more exotic drugs.

A-Rod admitted in an interview with Peter Gammons (was this staged?) to roiding (blast magazine):

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003.

ESPN is reporting that Rodriguez, in an exclusive interview with Peter Gammons, has admitted to allegations that surfaced in a recent Sports Illustrated report online.

“I felt an enormous amount of pressure,” Rodriguez told Gammons. “Back then it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, being one of the greatest players of all time, and I did take a banned substance.”

Rodriguez did appear apologetic in talking to Gammons.

Reports indicated A-Rod tested positive for testosterone and primobolan.  His 3 year run from 2001 to 2003 included 52, 57, and 47 home runs.  And who says anabolic steroids don't benefit sluggers?

The drug Rodriguez allegedly tested positive for, Primobolan, is less detectable than many other steroids because its markers stay in the body for less time than other drugs. It is also expensive, costing about $500 per week, SI reported.

Rodriguez called the time a “loosey goosy” era, saying he didn’t “know exactly what substance” he “was guilty of using.”

Rodriguez hit 47 home runs in 2003, good enough for his third consecutive home run title.

A-Rod A-Bomb! Slugger Alex Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003

Baseball nuclear Armageddon exploded at Sports Illustrated today when the magazine/web site dropped an A-Bomb on R-Rod.  The website reports that Yankee slugger Alex Rodriquez tested positive in 2003 for two steroids: testosterone and primobolan (not legal in the US).

As background, A-Rod delivered fantastic 2001-2-3 seasons for the Texas Rangers.  The steroid slugging era was chugging on full-steam with accusations flying everywhere.  The MLB Players Association agreed to PED testing with the MLB;  if a certain percent of players tested positive, then a full blow elaborate PED testing system would be set up for MLB players.  As we all know now, the minimum criteria (5%) of positive tests was met which meant steroid testing for steroid sluggers.

Steroid testing started in spring training 2003, and apparently continued throughout the year.  Wonder when A-Rod dropped his positive urine?  Wonder how long Rodriguez juiced?

In 2001 for the Ranger A-Rod put up monstrous numbers: 52, 135, .318.  A-Rod's 2002 was even better:  57, 142, .300.  Slugging was .622 and .623 respectively. 

In 2003, A-Rod launched a 47, 118, .298 year, which was good for the MVP, even though the numbers were down from previous years.  Considering A-Rod's positive tests, one wonders why production decreased in 2003.  To Sports Illustrated:

In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.

Rodriguez's name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's '03 survey testing, SI's sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.

When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. "You'll have to talk to the union," said Rodriguez, the Yankees' third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, "I'm not saying anything."

Test results were obtained when federal agents raided CDT labs as part of the BALCO investigation.

Though MLB's drug policy has expressly prohibited the use of steroids without a valid prescription since 1991, there were no penalties for a positive test in 2003. The results of that year's survey testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner's office and the players association. Rodriguez's testing information was found, however, after federal agents, armed with search warrants, seized the '03 test results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., of Long Beach, Calif., one of two labs used by MLB in connection with that year's survey testing. The seizure took place in April 2004 as part of the government's investigation into 10 major league players linked to the BALCO scandal -- though Rodriguez himself has never been connected to BALCO.

The testing procedure itself appears to be corrupt:

Because more than 5% of big leaguers had tested positive in 2003, baseball instituted a mandatory random-testing program, with penalties, in '04. According to the 2007 Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, in September 2004, Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players' union, violated an agreement with MLB by tipping off a player (not named in the report) about an upcoming, supposedly unannounced drug test. Three major league players who spoke to SI said that Rodriguez was also tipped by Orza in early September 2004 that he would be tested later that month. Rodriguez declined to respond on Thursday when asked about the warning Orza provided him.

An incredibly embarrassing situation exists in baseball now as corruption dogs the top sluggers and record holders.

Baseball's career and single season home run record holder, Barry Bonds, will be on trial soon for lying about his steroid use. The man pegged as having the best chance to overtake Bonds was A-Rod, who now appears to be a big time juicer.  Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris's single season HR record was exposed last month as a huge 'roider.

Baseball, like track, needs to dump the records of the lost steroids and PEDs decades.  Most performance records from the steroid decades appear to be tainted.

New developments in the Bonds perjury case: The Feds ramp up for the trial

The ramp up to the Barry Bonds BALCO perjury trial took off this week.  Yesterday Federal Judge Susan Illston released court documents (found here for the adventurous).

The AP complied the positive urine tests Bonds dropped over the years.  The first three will be contested  because the tests were taken while Bonds was allegedly doped up by BALCO, and thus did not have positive chain of custody.   Bonds shows himself to be an accomplished doper: steroids, amphetamines, and (if Game of Shadows be believed), HGH, insulin, and clomid.  The LA Times also counts 3 positive tests for anabolic steroids.

The court documents unsealed by a federal judge Wednesday in the government's criminal case against Barry Bonds included the results of 26 blood and urine tests. Prosecutors contend five are positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Three of the results were seized from BALCO and did not include Bonds' name; the government said it determined they belonged to Bonds through a Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative log. The other two were taken by Major League Baseball. One later was retested by the government, which is when it came up positive.

_ Nov. 28, 2000: BALCO urine test positive for methenolone and nandrolone

_ Feb. 5, 2001: BALCO urine test positive for methenolone

_ Feb. 19, 2001: BALCO urine test positive for methenolone and nandrolone

_ June 4, 2003: MLB urine test positive for THG, clomiphene, exogenous testosterone

_ July 7, 2006: MLB urine test positive for D-amphetamine

The Smoking Gun posted images of Bonds's alleged doping calender...or someone who was a BALCO client with initials BB.  Perhaps that would be Bruce Banner, The Hulk.

Gwen Knapp, of the San Francisco Examiner, argues that the various dirty urines produced by Bonds should not be introduced in court as evidence.  She cites confidentiality and personal rights as reasons why. We are not quite sure of the legal grounds of that argument. 

It's alarming that Major League Baseball drug tests on Barry Bonds from 2003 and 2006 could be used as evidence in his federal perjury and obstruction of justice trial. Results of both were released Wednesday, and Judge Susan Illston will rule Thursday on their admissibility.

If she allows them, the validity of all sports drug testing should be called into question. Players' unions and agents should call for the immediate suspension of all drug screening, and Olympic athletes should consider their own rebellion.

The very act of urinating into a cup to satisfy terms of employment straddles the line between an ugly necessity and a civil-liberties violation. But in sports, the benefits of drug testing - creating a disincentive for athletes to pump hormones, speed and blood thickeners into their bodies - outweigh the detriments.

The US Government does not sign confidentiality reciprocal agreements with Major League Baseball.  The Govt in pursuit of evidence in the commission of a crime also can obtain other records, including your bank and phone records.  Medical confidentiality is given but not in the case of a crime investigation (unless the records are psychiatric).  Therefore Knapp's argument appears to be a canard.

As we have argued, the responsibility for protection of confidentiality lies with the lab and with the MLB.  If those organizations want complete confidentiality they would have had either a weaver signed with the Govt, or blinded the test results.

Sports Illustrated claims that Greg Anderson, Bonds's ex-trainer will be key to the prosecution.  Anderson is an unwilling witness, however is deep into this mess.  An Anderson conversation goes like this:

The most important document may be the transcript of a recorded conversation between Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, and Bonds' former business partner and longtime friend, Steve Hoskins. Assuming the transcript reflects an accurately recorded conversation -- which Bonds' counsel will question, given that Hoskins, rather than a recording specialist, taped it -- Anderson tells Hoskins that he injected Bonds with substances that sound very much like steroids. Here is a particularly telling excerpt from that conversation:

Anderson: [E]verything I've been doing at this point is undetectable.

Hoskins: Right.

Anderson: See, the stuff that I have . . . we created it. And you can't, you can't buy it anywhere. You can't get it anywhere else. But, you can take it the day of and pee.

Hoskins: Uh-huh.

Anderson: And it comes up with nothing.

Hoskins: Isn't that the same [expletive] that Marion Jones and them were using?

Anderson: Yeah same stuff, the same stuff that worked at the Olympics.

Interesting.  Anderson's conversation implicate Bonds in this widespread sports fraud conspiracy.  Whatever a person's attitude toward the use of PEDs in sports, the subversion of the normal rules and workings of the sports leagues and Olympics should give pause.

Biathalon union (IBU) boss claims new blood doping drug used by Russian biathletes

The president of the International Biathlon Union, Anders Besseberg, says that 3 Russian biathletes tested positive for a blood doping agent, which he claims is a new drug, not EPO.  To the Khaleej Times:

Three Russian biathletes alleged to have failed dope tests were using a completely new performance enhancer, local media here reported the president of the sport’s ruling body as saying Wednesday.

So far the names of the three athletes have not been revealed because the results from the analysis of their B samples have yet to be released.

International Biathlon Union (IBU) president Anders Besseberg is reported as saying the trio had not been caught using EPO (erythropoietin), the banned blood booster which has been popular with endurance athletes.

‘We’re not talking about EPO. This is a completely new medication,’ the Russian media quoted Besseberg as saying.

‘I consider this a serious breakthrough in our fight against doping.’

What drug contaminated the athletes, as reported by Besseberg?  Could it be the newer CERA EPO?

Besseberg stressed that the names of the alleged dope cheats would not be revealed before their B samples were tested.

However Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, citing unofficial sources, on Wednesday named Ekaterina Iourieva, Albina Akhatova and Dmitry Yaroshenko as the athletes who tested positive.

Iourieva leads the women’s overall World Cup standings having claimed her second win of the season on January 25 in the mass-start event in Antholz, Italy.

Earlier this week the IBU informed the Russian Biathlon Union of the failed tests by two women and one man on December 5 last year at a World Cup event at Ostersund, Sweden.

Other reports last month said that Russian biathlete Ivan Cherezov tested positive for high levels of hemoglobin -- which indicates blood doping.  However, Russian news agency Tass skewered reports of Russian biathletes using blood doping.

Suspicious double helix found on Roger Clemens's syringe

The Wapo reports that investigators discovered DNA at the end of a Roger Clemens syringe -- as claimed by Brian McNamee.

Federal investigators are looking into the possibility (!) that the ex-multiple Cy Young award winning pitcher used anabolic steroids and HGH, then lied to Congress about PED use last year.  The investigation -- part of the never-ending Clemens saga -- sounds serious:

Scientific tests have linked Roger Clemens's DNA to blood in syringes that a personal trainer says he used to inject the former star pitcher with performance-enhancing drugs, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

The DNA results, which are preliminary and subject to verification tests, could prove critical if prosecutors seek an indictment of Clemens on charges that he lied about the use of steroids, according to the sources.

Clemens told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last year that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs. Testifying at the same hearing, the pitcher's former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, said he injected Clemens nearly 40 times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001.

McNamee's attorneys have said their client gave federal investigators syringes, gauze pads and other items that he claimed he used to inject Clemens. He stored the items in a FedEx box in his basement.

Are the syringes actually Clemens's paraphernalia?  Were they used for injecting steroids (could be tested).  And was the DNA, glutteal DNA, or perhaps Clemens was flossing his teeth with the needles.

The chain of custody will be critical if DNA procured from bloody steroid syringes holds up for legal proceedings.  Is this a breakfast read or not?

Clemens and his defense team have long challenged McNamee's credibility, saying the former trainer has lied about the pitcher's alleged drug use. They also have said that McNamee may have cooked up the evidence.

Yesterday, Rusty Hardin, Clemens's Houston-based defense attorney, said the DNA tests "won't matter at all."

"It will still be evidence fabricated by McNamee," Hardin said. "I would be dumbfounded if any responsible person ever found this to be reliable or credible evidence in any way."

We would expect Clemens's defense attorney to claim that the syringes would not be admitted as evidence.  Clearly bloody syringes and gauss pads collected by a trainer would be suspect evidence.  Nonetheless, not a situation that lends itself to peaceful sleep at night for the Rocket.

Feds raid home of Bonds ex-trainer Greg Anderson's mother-in-law

Federal agents found themselves busy yesterday raiding the home of Barry Bonds's ex-trainer Greg Anderson (and leaving everyone with a very wordy headline).  Anderson is accused of delivering PEDs including steroids and HGH to the slugger.  His journey included a long stint in jail while mum about Barry Bonds's drug use.  This raid indicates continued interest in Anderson's role, and perhaps unrest about the Govt case against Bonds.

Twenty federal agents raided the home of the mother-in-law of Barry Bonds' personal trainer on Wednesday.

Madeleine Gestas and her daughter Nicole Anderson, the trainer's wife, are the target of a tax investigation that the lawyer for Greg Anderson said is aimed at pressuring the trainer to testify at Bonds' upcoming trial.

Bonds, baseball's career home run leader and a seven-time MVP, has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

"Even the mafia spares the women and children," said Anderson's lawyer, Mark Geragos.

Anderson's lawyer takes blame credit for the raid:

Geragos said he believes the raid was in response to his refusal to tell prosecutors whether Anderson would testify. Geragos said he ignored a letter faxed to his Los Angeles office Monday by prosecutors that asked about Anderson's plans for the Bonds' trial.

Anderson served more than a year in prison for refusing to testify against Bonds before a federal grand jury. Geragos said that on the day after her husband was released from prison, Anderson's wife received a so-called target letter informing her that she was under investigation.

Geragos said Anderson received a government subpoena last week demanding his testimony at the March 2 trial. Geragos declined to say whether Anderson would testify. If Anderson refuses, he could be sent to prison again.

However, other forces may be in play here -- to tighten the noose around the Bonds thickened neck:

The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, reported Thursday that prosecutors have evidence that links Bonds to the use of performance-enhancing drugs other than the "cream" and the "clear" — the designer substances that have become synonymous with the Bonds case.

A person who has reviewed the prosecution's evidence said that authorities detected anabolic steroids in urine samples linked to Bonds, according to the Times.

Pro cyclists may be caught doping with blood values, and genetic tests

Our colleague Robin Parisotto, who sits on the UCI (Cycling Union) board of doping reveals that doping charges may be levied by radical changes in pro cyclists's blood indices.  Story at The Australian.

THE first case of a cyclist being charged with doping on the evidence of his blood profile is expected to be prosecuted in the coming months, according to Australian anti-doping expert Robin Parisotto.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has been building up blood profiles of its professional cyclists by taking thousands of blood samples over the past year.

Canberra scientist Parisotto, who sits on the UCI panel overseeing the anti-doping program, said yesterday more than 30 suspicious samples had been analysed and there was enough evidence to pursue a handful of riders for doping violations.

"We are only collating the results now but I expect in the next few months the UCI will be taking action against some cyclists," Parisotto said.

Sounds like the decisions about whom to prosecute are looming.

The blood profiling is designed to identify any cyclists using banned drugs or methods which manipulate the blood to improve endurance. He said suspicious samples usually contained high haemoglobin levels, or unusually low levels (which would indicate a cyclist was extracting blood to be re-injected during competition).

"There are discussions now about which are the strongest cases to go after," Parisotto said. 

"There's only a handful they can confidently follow up. But I believe in some cases the results are fairly strong and the athlete will have a hard time explaining them."

The first cycling case will be a test for this new method of identifying drug cheats.

Parisotto said there was a smaller number of suspicious samples than he would have expected if the program had been in operation three or four years earlier.

"Now there is more of an effort being made to weed out the cheats and I think some of them are getting scared," he said.

"The risk of getting caught is becoming much greater now that they have to worry about what's in their blood."

Indices to monitor include red blood cell parameters (hemoglobin, and hematocrit), EPO, and other physiological measures, that should be very stable in an individual athlete over time.  Also, Parisotto speaks of monitoring the response of particular genes to doping drugs, a very interesting development.

Parisotto, who developed one of the first tests for the blood booster EPO in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics, is also working on the next weapon in the anti-doping war, genetic profiling.

"The technology is there now to do gene profiling on blood tests," Parisotto said.

He said any use of blood doping would show up in changes to an individual's gene activity.

The laboratories will just have to chart the abnormal changes that the drugs make to the blood and genes of the athlete.

Ex-Olympic gold medalist positive: Greek Athanasia Tsoumeleka, 20K walk athlete tested positive for EPO

Athanasia Tsoumelek -- a gold medal winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics in 20K Walking -- tested positive for EPO in a blood sample obtained prior to Beijing. This test must be a product of the IOC retest of blood samples from Beijing 2008.  To the Canadian Press:

Former Olympic champion Athanasia Tsoumeleka tested positive for the banned blood-booster erythropoietin in a retesting of a sample she provided two days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

Tsoumeleka, the 20-kilometre walk champion at the 2004 Athens Games, confirmed she was told that a retesting of the urine sample she gave on Aug. 6 tested positive for EPO.

But she expressed doubts about the second procedure and announced her retirement from competition, effective immediately.

"I was informed that there is a problem with a positive test for (EPO) in a sample I submitted on Aug. 6, 2008. I will not try to excuse myself, even though I have not knowingly made use of this substance," Tsoumeleka told radio station Skai. "The fact that samples are tested more than once - that is, opened not in my presence - makes me feel uneasy about the whole process.

"My unfortunate involvement . . . forces me to put an end to the high-level competitive sports I love so much and not wait to continue after the expiration of my expected punishment."

In Beijing, Tsoumeleka finished ninth in the 20-kilometre walk in a personal best of one hour 27 minutes 54 seconds. She was almost three and a half minutes behind winner Olga Kaniskina of Russia.

Tsoumeleka's positive test result was the latest affecting Greek athletes.

The Greek Olympic athletes are compiling a heinous record of Olympic doping.  Fania Halkia, several sprinters and strength athletes either were banned form Beijing or tested positive at the game.

Fani Halkia, the 2004 Olympic 400-metre hurdles champion, was dropped from the team in Beijing and expelled from the athletes' village after testing positive for the anabolic steroid methyltrienolone. Fourteen other Greeks, including 11 weightlifters, tested positive for the same substance before the Olympics.

Vassilis Sevastis, the head of Greece's athletics federation SEGAS, said he would not comment on Tsoumeleka's case and her statement.

"Greece is full of EPO ... nothing has been done to curtail doping in the past 20 years," sports doctor Stavros Hatzos told Skai radio station.

Boulder climbing stumbles on steroid testing scandal

The nascent sport of bouldering, or competition climbing, looking for an Olympic berth may suffer a doping scandal setback.  Maybe not a full-fledged BALCO or Operation Puerto imbroglio, but controversy, thank you ma'am.  Watch out if your doping or 'roiding then climbing.

To Grough (Yes, Grough) Covering the Outdoor World.

Apparently a bouldering star tipped off competitors of surprise doping tests.  The mystery plays out this way:

The high-adrenaline world of competition climbing found itself at the centre of anti-doping controversy today.

In a foretaste of future events, with the possibility of the sport featuring in the 2020 Olympics, an Irish bouldering enthusiast was criticised for tipping off would-be competitors they may be dope-tested in two upcoming events. The climbers’ representative body, the Mountaineering Council of Ireland, was also dragged into the row.

Stephen McMullan, of the Irish Bouldering League, posted an entry on the forms of climbers’ website Climing.ie which read: “I’ve been informed today that it will be highly likely that there will be representatives from the Irish Sports Council conducting anti-doping tests at the Midleton [sic] and DCU rounds of the IBL.

“All competitors will be required to sign the MCI anti-doping declaration prior to being allowed to compete.

“In all likelihood there will be urine testing, more probable for folks getting placed 1, 2, 3 but also there is the possibility of random testing.”

Mr McMullan continued: “Personally I’m still reeling at this news. I suppose we just hoped this day would never come.

“Yes, it’s completely inappropriate due to the nature of the event. However, we are insured and funded by the MCI who are in turned funded by the sports councils of NI and Rep[ublic of] Ireland and them’s the rules for competitive events.

“We don’t have a choice here. Well we do, but compliance is the least of all the evils.”

So now the powerful :-) Mountaineering Council of Ireland will investigate:

Now, according to John Mooney in the Sunday Times, the Irish Sports Council has asked the MCI to investigate the posting. The ISC, along with Sport Northern Ireland, provides funding for the league.

The competitions will take place at Middleton, County Cork on 24 January and Dublin City University on 28 February.

Bouldering, which takes place both inside and outdoors, sets climbers ‘problems’ to climb, with points scored for completing these mini-routes and a strict set of rules governing how the competitions are run.

All affiliated members of the International Federation of Sport Climbing are expected to adhere to its rules, which include anti-doping. These state that all competitions organised under the federation’s authority should comply with the anti-doping code, which bans many drugs which are present in over-the-counter medications.

Mr McMullan says that people taking insulin and anyone who has used corticosteroids recently would fall foul of the dope testing and would need a medical note from their doctor to say there was a clinical need for their use.

However, he also cautions that ‘recreational’ drugs, some of which stay in the bloodstream for some time, would show up in the tests.

Stuart Garland, the MCI’s chief executive, told the Sunday Times’ Mooney: “We asked the IBL to make sure they had the relevant paperwork, which would enable the sports council staff to carry out anti-doping tests at the competitions.

“It would appear this information may have led people to reach certain conclusions.” He added that he did not endorse Mr McMullan’s comments.

An issue would be the exportation of the game to the Olympics.  The Olympics require the rigor of WADA compliance and testing. Thus the concern about doping, and Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) for prescribed medications.

Climbing and mountaineering are recognised by the International Olympic Committee but do not yet form part of the games, though there is a strong likelihood that some form of sport climbing will feature in the 2020 Olympic Games.

The International Federation of Sport Climbing accepted the new anti-doping code in September last year.

Lance Armstrong on eve of comeback down under

Lance Armstrong will take to the race course down under in Australia tonight for a challenging warm up as he competes in the "Race Down Under" later this week. Did Armstrong set up his 'state of the art' anti-doping system?  To the Sydney Morning Herald:

LANCE ARMSTRONG concedes there are very real dangers about kicking off his comeback in a criterium such as tonight's Cancer Council Classic in Adelaide, in which the pace will reach breakneck speed on a tight inner-city circuit...

However, Armstrong is wary about the style of racing he will confront in tonight's criterium, in which the field will race 30 laps of a 1.7km circuit - for a total of 51km - around Rymill Park in Adelaide.

In recent weeks he has reiterated his need to re-adapt to the speed and flow of racing in a tightly compacted bunch, such as the 133-rider pack made up of 19 seven-man teams that will feature in Adelaide.

Asked about his first pedal strokes in international racing since winning the 2005 Tour being made in a criterium rather than a road race, he said: "It wouldn't be my first choice."

Armstrong also discussed the doping program he designed:

Armstrong also confirmed the independent anti-doping program to be run on him specifically by American expert Don Catlin was now in place. Armstrong, who has been tested in and out of competition 12 times since announcing his comeback in September - and twice in Adelaide - said Catlin's program would start at the Tour Down Under

"It's formalised," Armstrong said. "It is under way. It is the most comprehensive anti-doping plan in the history of sport. I am proud of it.

"If anybody has any questions about any performance this year it can hopefully answer some of those questions, but we are under way.

Sound like there were logistic problems:

"It was slightly complicated because there are a lot of people involved and obviously a lot of other agencies involved.

"Outside Don Catlin there has been 12 other anti-doping controls out of competition.

"I would challenge anybody else to show me 12 anti-doping controls in the past few months."

He said the delay in getting the Catlin program up and running was due to "getting everybody synched up, getting everybody together".

And the strategy for the course:

"[The course] has changed a little since last year where there were a lot of turns, and times when [riders] would have been really breaking hard and accelerating out of corners," he continued. "That makes it harder when you are 50 to 60 to 70 guys back. The other ones are sprinting out of the corner when you are braking into the corner. It looks on paper to be something that you can roll around a little easier on.

"But it sort of goes full circle. I started off in the late '80s doing criteriums in the

United States. The main thing is to stay out of trouble, stay up front and avoid the drama."

Annalisa Cucinotta: Another Italian female cylist caught juicing with steroids

Looks like those Italian female cycling races are very competitive...so much so that the female riders use male anabolic hormones to gain an advantage.

Another Italian cyclist tests positive for a steroid, WWOS reports:

Italian track cyclist Annalisa Cucinotta tested positive for an anabolic steroid in December, the Gazzetta dello Sport said on Sunday.

According to the sports newspaper, the 22-year-old failed the test after a World Cup event in Cali, Colombia on December 12.

Cucinotta becomes the second Italian woman cyclist after ex-road world champion Marta Bastianelli to test for a stimulant.

Bastianelli missed the Olympic Games in Beijing in August due to her offence.

Bastianelli''s story is found here.

World Series star Phillies JC Romero says supplement caused his steroid policy troubles

To the 'Supplement Defense' again for Philadelphia Philly reliever JC Romero.  The left-hander says MLB will announce his steroid policy suspension due to taking a contaminated supplement.  To Philly.com:

An anguished J.C. Romero wanted to tell his side of the story before Major League Baseball announces his 50-game suspension on Tuesday. Once that happens, he knows, people will assume he's just another big-leaguer who had to cheat to compete.

"One thing I'm going to say, I'm a man and I'm accountable for my actions," the Phillies reliever said in a telephone interview. "If I'm guilty of something, you know what? I will face it. But I'm not guilty, and I'm not letting people that don't really know me judge me over something and accuse me of something that I didn't do."

Romero's situation is much more complicated than MLB's curt boilerplate announcement will acknowledge. He was not accused or found guilty of knowingly using a banned, performance-enhancing substance. Baseball and Romero agree that he used only an over-the-counter supplement he bought in a retail store in Cherry Hill. Romero is being suspended for 50 games and losing about $1.25 million in salary because, an abritrator ruled, he was "negligent" in not knowing what was in the supplement.

Romero bucked a trend (he says) of keeping quet about suspensions:

Most players, when suspended, release a statement acknowledging their mistake and apologizing to their teammates, their organization, baseball and the fans. In the current highly charged environment, where MLB has been embarrassed by Congress for its years-long failure to police itself, many players fear repercussions if they speak out.

Not Romero, the 33-year-old lefthanded reliever who won two World Series games for the Phillies - including the decision in the title-clinching Game 5. He feels he owes it to himself, his family and his teammates to explain how this suspension came about.

"If people are intimidated because Major League [Baseball] is a big organization, so be it," Romero said. "But they are not going to make an example of me thinking that I'm just a [dumb] Puerto Rican. It's not going to happen. It's not the way I'm built.

"For me to keep my mouth shut? That's not the right thing to do. If they want to bump me out of the game, so be it. What am I going to do, just sit back and take it? When I know in my heart I'm innocent? That doesn't fly well with me and it doesn't fly well in my house, either."

Romero claims he cleared the supplement -- 6-OXO Extreme -- with his trainer.  The story -- found after the jump -- says the supplement is FDA regulated, which we don't think is true.  4-Etioallocholen-3,6, 17-Trione is the aromatase inhibitor in the supplement.  That means it inhibits the conversion of androgenic steroids to estrogen (thus preventing Nitro's problem).

Rather than regulated, the ingredient made the FDA's warning list as an adulterated compound.  So why was a professional athlete using the supplement?  And why didn't his trainer know the supplement was poison?  And why doesn't someone pull the stuff from the shelf?  (to Wiki)

Baylor University conducted an eight-week study to determine the effects of 300 mg or 600 mg of 6-OXO in resistance-trained males. Compared to baseline, free testosterone increased by 90% for 300 mg group and 84% for 600 mg group, respectively. Also dihydrotestosterone and the ratio of free testosterone to estradiol increased significantly. ^[8][9].

In a warning letter dated July 7, 2006, the FDA argues that marketing of 4-AT (aka, 6-OXO) violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and as such products containing it are adulterated by legal definition.

On June 18, 2008, Health Canada issued a warning that 4-AT and 6-OXO had a health risk related to blood clotting and recommended all users immediately cease use.

Congress presses pro wrestling (WWE) on steroids and doping issues; Vince McMahon says he doesn't pee for anyone

Congress released a report on drug testing in the pro wrestling world -- which means Vince McMahon's WWE.  The results show those pro wrestlers like to get high, and sometimes juice and speed.  McMahon -- who obviously looks too good for his age -- doesn't submit to dope testing.

The Congressional report his here, and a story in the New York Daily News here.

The results look somewhat suspicious because the numbers don't add up, perhaps because of extenuating circumstances.  It looks like there were 479 tests, with 58 positives.  (That amounts to 4.2 tests per wrester).  However most positives contained marijuana.  There appear to be 9 positives for anabolic steroids (2 nandrolone, 5 testosterone, and 2 Winstrol), yest only 6 suspensions.  There were 3 other suspensions, 2 for coke, and one for a narcotic.

A bit ludicrous that only a few positive tests dribbled out considered the way the WWE wrestlers look pumped and primed, including the sleazy CEO.

Obviously the WWE did not test for HGH, insulin, EPO, and several other anabolic drugs.  And California Representative Henry Waxman continues to be interested in WWE doping issues.

Henry Waxman fired one more anti-steroid salvo as outgoing chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, shifting his focus from baseball to professional wrestling, a sport with a long history of alleged steroid and drug abuse.

In Friday's letter addressed to the director of the government's Office of National Drug Control Policy, Waxman (D-Calif.) requested that ONDCP chief John Walters "examine steroid use in professional wrestling and take appropriate steps to address this problem."

The Oversight Committee began its own investigation into pro wrestling's doping problem a year ago, interviewing sport officials and examining drug testing policies for World Wrestling Entertainment and its competitor, Total Nonstop Action.

In 2005, the Oversight Committee lambasted baseball during a congressional hearing, prompting MLB to enact stricter drug testing policies and more severe punishments for offenders. But Waxman suggested in his letter Friday that pro wrestling has a long way to go toward eradicating its doping culture, starting with the woefully inadequate drug testing programs in place.

"In the first year of WWE's testing program, which began in March 2006, 40% of wrestlers tested positive for steroids and other drugs, even after being warned in advance that they were going to be tested," wrote Waxman.

Waxman continue on his rant:

Waxman also detailed how wrestlers who test positive for performance enhancers receive light punishment and can often participate in wrestling events even after steroid violations. The committee investigation also uncovered how easily wrestlers can secure therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) - permission to take banned substances for medical reasons - so they can continue performing while using steroids. When Waxman's staff interviewed Dr. Tracy Ray, a physician contracted by WWE, Ray claimed there was "shadiness in almost every (TUE) case that I've reviewed."

Interesting how the physician for the WWE indicates corruption.  Also note the obvious dodge by Vince McMahon who run the a very corrupt operation.

"(Ray) stated that he does not examine wrestlers, discuss their medical conditions with their doctors, or conduct detailed reviews of their medical conditions before granting (TUEs)," wrote Waxman.

WWE chairman Vince McMahon comes off even less flattering in his interview. McMahon told the committee he is "not subject to the WWE substance abuse policy," even though he still performs in WWE events.

"When asked whether steroids could cause impairment and risks to wrestlers and others in the ring, Mr. McMahon indicated that he had never considered the question," Waxman wrote.

Waxman will become chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee this month. Walters could not be reached for comment. Calls left with WWE were not returned.

 

Bulgaria can manipulate urine samples too: Bulgarian track athletes suspended for doping

A trio of Bulgarian track athletes will be sitting out 2 years due to doping violation.  One is sprinter Texdzhan Naimova, who -- taking a page out of the Russian playbook -- manipulated urine samples. (To Focus)

Board of Managers of Bulgarian Track-and-Field Athletics Federation (BTFAF) decided to penalize Tezdzhan Naimova, Vantya Netova and Raya Stoynova for two years, BTFAF told Focus News Agency.

Naimova is sanctioned because of manipulating urine example in doping test. After collecting indisputable proofs about her deed BTFAF immediately initiated an inquiry including hearing to Naimova and presenting her proofs. According to regulations of International Association of Athletics Federations BTFAF ceased her competition rights on 30 September 2008. Naimova admitted her guilt and is ready to bear any sanction.

The sanction comes into force on 30 September 2008.

The others used an anabolic steroid:

Vanya Netova and Raya Stoyneva have given positive doping results on metanolon. The first athlete was tested during competitions for Europe Cup in Istanbul and the second one was tested at Balkaniada in Kastoria, Greece. Netova replaced contused Dobrinka Shalamanova in 3000 m of hurdle-race and Stoynova took part in 400 m of hurdle-race instead of tsvetelina Kirilova that was preparing for Olympiad.

B examples of both athletes that have confirmed the positive results of A examples are opened.

Netova’s two-years of penalty comes into force on 28 July 2008 and the Stoynova’s sanctions is in force since 19 August 2008. Their competition rights were stopped on the same dates.

The head of Bulgaria's anti-doping agency says he is shocked:

I was shocked by these two athletes’ behavior and mainly by Tezdzhan Naimova, President of BTFAF Dobromir Karamarinov commented. The positive moment in Naimova’s case is that she confirmed her guilt and declared her readiness to bear any sanction. That is the motive accepted as mitigating circumstance by BTFAF’s Board of Managers so it imposed a minimal sanction in these cases - two years.
Netova and Stoynova are athletes of club stage and the fact that they have not prepared for championships purposefully does not exculpate them. Stoynova and Netova were imposed with two years of sanction each.