Steroid Nation

Hawkeye Tyler Sash suspended for violating NFL substance use policy

The New York Daily News reports former Iowa Hawkeye Tyler Sash will be suspended four games because he violated the NFL's PED policy.  The News states Sash tested positive for Adderall.

The Giants banged-up secondary took another blow on Tuesday when second-year safety Tyler Sash was suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Sash, a sixth-round pick out of Iowa in the 2011 draft, claimed in a statement released to the media that he tested positive for Adderall back in March. He said he was taking it legally and “under a doctor’s care for an anxiety condition” to help him with some public-speaking appearances.

Odd comments for several reasons:

• Adderall is a combination of amphetamines, used for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)
• The drug would make you MORE ANXIOUS
• An athlete may use Adderall if he obtains a therapeutic use exemption, which would be evidence that he has a condition the drug treats

Maybe Sash does have ADHD, didn't pay attention to the drug's uses, nor to the TUE process.

Marlins catcher Ronny Paulino suspended for PED use: ?weight loss product?

Apparently another professional athlete doesn't understand ingredients in weight loss preps violate the steroid policies of professional leagues.  Marlins catcher Ronny Paulino faces a 50 game suspension for what he ways was a weight loss supplement.  From the Palm Beach Post:

MIAMI GARDENS — The Marlins will play the rest of this season without catcher Ronny Paulino, who Friday began serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance under Major League Baseball's drug policy.

"I am horrifically embarrassed," Marlins President David Samson said of the organization's first failed drug test by a player on the 25-man roster.

Samson said owner Jeffrey Loria immediately ordered a review of the club's drug-education policies to try to prevent a recurrence. Samson said that review will encompass "everything we do, from the Dominican League up to the major leagues."

Baseball operations president Larry Beinfest added, "One is more than we would ever want."

Paulino, who appeared in 91 of the Marlins' 120 games through Thursday, will miss another 41 games this season and the first eight games of 2011. He will forfeit approximately $272,000 during his suspension.

Paulino, who is 6-feet-3 and 250 pounds, blamed weight-loss medication for failing the test.

"To control my weight this season, I used a dietary pill," Paulino, 29, said in a statement released by the team. "I recently learned that the dietary pill contained a substance banned under Major League Baseball's drug policy.

"I am ashamed and saddened for disappointing and distracting my family, my teammates, the entire Florida Marlins organization and baseball fans."

Generally the illegal substances in weight loss compounds are related to ephedrine.  Those drugs not only are related to meth, but to other 'psychostimulants' which reduce appetite.

It is baffling why a pro athlete would not consult with a trainer, or dietitian, or physician on weight control.

Will Connecticut elect the steroids WWE fighting-senator, Linda McMahon?

Voters in Connecticut decided to run WWE executive Linda McMahon against Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal.  Mrs. McMahon funded her campaign with generous amounts of cash from her personal fortune.

McMahon's husband Vince McMahon is the chief exec of the WWE and is a widely known and admitted friend and user of steroids.  Why not have Mrs McMahon join government as the steroids senator..we have at least one steroids governor in California...(the Wall Street Journal)

 Democrats picked the former mayor of Stamford as their best hope to win the Connecticut governor's mansion for the first time since 1986, while wealthy wrestling executive Linda McMahon will take on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in the race for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.

Mrs. McMahon will have a hard fight in this heavily Democratic state. But her vow to spend up to $50 million of her own money on her campaign will make her a formidable opponent to Mr. Blumenthal, who has had a strong but narrowing lead in recent polls.

The race will likely continue to receive intense national attention, as an upset by Mrs. McMahon in the race for the seat held by retiring Sen. Christopher Dodd would help tip the balance of power in the Senate toward the Republicans.

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.

Marion Jones's tainted Olympic gold goes to waste, rather than to Katerina Thanou

The New York Times says that Marion Jones's tainted gold medals from Sydney will in part be distributed and in part will rot in purgatory.

Greece's Katerina Thanou will not be elevated to gold, after her second place finish in 2000 in Australia.  Obviously Thanou's behavior in her native Greece  during the 2004 Olympics left a bad taste in the IOC's mouth.  Thus Thanou, who has never tested positive for steroids but whose behavior reeks of a PED cover up, will be ignored in the record books.  Interesting message from the IOC, and not entirely consistent with logic. (but check out Thanou's photo and one sees why she might fit in better with the men's 100M; those are impressive traps for a female)

However in the 200M, the Jones gold wil be awarded to that 2nd place finisher.

 The International Olympic Committee redistributed the medals won by the disgraced sprinter Marion Jones at the 2000 Olympics on Wednesday, but it refused to award her gold medal in the 100 meters to Katerina Thanou of Greece, who was barred from the 2004 Games because of a missed drug test.

Jones surrendered the medals when she admitted in 2007 to lying to federal investigators about performance-enhancing drug use. Normally, the other competitors are moved up in order when medals are surrendered, but Thanou’s later drug testing issues prompted the committee to leave the top spot in the 100 meters vacant. In record books, Thanou and Tanya Lawrence of Jamaica will be listed as silver medalists and Merlene Ottey of Jamaica, who finished fourth in the race, will hold the bronze.

Thanou did not fail a drug test, but she and her teammate Kostas Kenteris missed drug tests  before the 2004 Games in Athens and were kept from competing by Greek Olympic officials after it was determined they had staged a motorcycle crash to cover up their absence. Track and field’s international federation, the I.A.A.F., barred them for two years.

Jones’s gold medal in the 200 meters was awarded to Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas, with the silver going to Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka and the bronze to Beverly McDonald of Jamaica. Jones’s bronze medal in the long jump was given to   Tatyana Kotova of Russia.

Apparently  if the IOC can't catch a drug cheat the first time, they may make a statement some 10 years later...

The fate of the Jones relay medals remains tainted at this point.

The fate of the two medals won by United States relay teams that included Jones in the 2000 Games is still being decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. When those medals were stripped from the American teams by the I.O.C., the other members of the relay appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration, which is expected to issue its ruling by Dec. 18.

Jeremy Mayfield may be fighting speed, on and off the track

Top NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield was suspended form competition in early May.  However NASCAR releases almost no information on drug suspensions.  Mayfield, rumored to be positive for amphetamine fires back today.  Story at ABC News:

Suspended Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield has broken his silence, vehemently denying allegations of drug use and adamantly defending himself from recent NASCAR claims in an exclusive interview with ESPN.

It is Mayfield's first extensive public response since being suspended indefinitely from NASCAR competition on May 9, when NASCAR said he failed a random drug test the previous week in Richmond, Va. NASCAR later confirmed an ESPN The Magazine report that Mayfield had tested positive for methamphetamine.

A federal appeals court issued an injunction last week that lifted Mayfield's indefinite suspension. NASCAR appealed that ruling on Monday. Mayfield has not returned to the track.

Mayfield feels he was not given due process; he's mad and he's not taking it anymore:

"Every time there's an action [by NASCAR], there's going to be a reaction. From here on out," Mayfield said in a phone interview Wednesday from his home in Statesville, N.C. "I try to be nice. I try to be respectful to them. I try to do everything right. But I'm not getting drug through the mud no more."

Mayfield repeated his stance that he never took methamphetamine. He also said he no longer consumes alcohol, largely due to the fact, he said, his father was a "bad alcoholic." Asked if he had ever taken illegal drugs, Mayfield responded, "What are you calling illegal? I've drank beer. I don't drink beer at all anymore. I don't drink. Don't do anything."

He said he feels as though NASCAR is attempting to make an example of him.

"I feel like that's exactly what they thought I was going to be. Exactly. To a 'T,'" Mayfield said. "Now, all the sudden, Brian's [France, NASCAR's chairman] coming back saying, 'Well, we have positive tests all the time.' Well, if it's a zero-tolerance policy, how in the hell do you have people testing positive all the time?

"Then he comes back and says there's a list. I forget what big word he used -- an exhaustive list of drugs. Everybody in the world has asked him why the drivers don't have a list. What did he say? Now there's a list -- an exhaustive list. Right? Where's it at?

"It's bull----, man, and somebody needs to stand up and see through this. There's experts out everywhere saying the same thing I'm [saying]."

Mayfield points out inadequacy in the NASCAR drug testing policy:

To drive home his point, Mayfield cited quotes from a pair of drug experts, Dr. Gary Wadler of the World Anti-Doping Agency and Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Both have recently questioned NASCAR's policy of not releasing its list of banned substances.

"I sit here listening to Brian [France] on a daily basis, defending their policy and talk about how thorough, accurate and fair it is. Then you turn right around and look at what, say, like, Dr. [Gary] Wadler, for example. Quote: 'Their policy is way, way behind those of other sports.'

Should be interesting to see where this challenge goes; NASCAR has not  been challenged successfully over time.

Tennis pro Richard Gasquet suspended for cocaine

From the Telegraph, comes the story that French tennis pro Richard Gasquet is suspended after he tested positive for cocaine.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) have suspended Richard Gasquet after he tested  positive test for cocaine.

The sport's world governing body said an anti-doping tribunal should be assembled within 60 days to hear the case.

Gasquet, the world No 23, has admitted to returning a positive sample at the Miami Masters in March.

A spokesman for the sport's world governing body said: "Richard Gasquet is under investigation for a doping-related offence and in line with WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] rules has been provisionally suspended."

"He's suspended until the end of the hearing.

"We're now assembling an anti-doping tribunal. The ideal timeframe is within 60 days, but people have to fly in from all over the world for it."

Gasquet will now attend a hearing in front of the ITF's anti-doping commission on a date yet to be determined.

The Frenchman, who has vowed to prove his innocence, could face a two-year suspension if found guilty.

Weird 'doping photos' of ex-New York Ranger star Alexei Cherepanov

Last year, budding NHL hockey star Alexei Cherepanov collapsed and died of 'myocarditis' at a hockey game in Russia.  His demise seemed fishy at the time.  Russian news releases were not all that helpful in clarifying the situation.

Now, photos emerged from Russian showing the young hockey star receiving an iv infusion of something.  It is referred as an 'injection' however that is not an injection.  To the National Post:

Remember a few months back when Russian investigators said that New York Rangers draft pick Alexei Cherepanov was taking banned substances before his death during a game with Avangard Omsk last October? Well, now photos on a Russian Web site suggest that those examining the case might have been on the right track.

The photos, which you can see here, depict Cherepanov taking an injection of something, and while it's always best not to jump to conclusions, the events that came after these photos were taken are kind of damning.

Cherepanov died of cardiac arrest on Oct. 13 during a game between KHL teams Omsk and Vityaz.

Here is translated Russian:

Attorney [Cherepanovykh] asked to introduce to the matter of the photo 27.04.2009 15:33 The attorney of the family Of [cherepanovykh] Sergey [Amfiteatrov] sent to the consequence on business of death of the forward of " [Avangarda]" Aleksey Cherepanov three photographs,  reports Sports.ru. " These photographs granted the family Of [cherepanovykh], one of them - the last photo before the game, made on October 13, during the day of death of hockey player. We see on two others how someone carries out the unestablished procedure. I sent to their inspectors with the request to introduce to the materials of [dela]" , he said amphitheatres. The dates of the second and third photographs are unknown. They are named " [Narkomaniya]" and " Addiction of 2" by hockey player himself, who sent to their family.

Sprinter Justin Gatlin settles with anti-doping agencies in civil lawsuit

Beleaguered American sprinter Justin Gatlin settled out of court in a lawsuit involving anti-doping agencies.  Gatlin sued because the agencies suspended him over Adderall (apparently the anabolic steroids he also used didn't enter into the suit).  From Universal Sports:

Suspended American sprinter Justin Gatlin has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Track and Field (USATF) and the International Associations of Athletic Federations (IAAF) in a civil suit Gatlin filed claiming the four groups discriminated against him based on the Americans for Disabilities Act, Universal Sports has learned.

Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 100m and the 2005 world champion in the 100m and 200m, is serving a four-year suspension for testing positive for  testosterone in 2006.

Court documents show that Gatlin agreed to the settlement on Feb. 9 in the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Gatlin and his attorney, Joe Zarzaur, refused to comment about specifics of the settlement.

And some details:

It's unclear if the defendants admitted any guilt in the settlement.

“The fact that they settled has nothing to do with the merits of the case,” said John Collins, an attorney who has represented athletes against doping charges, including Gatlin. “You have to figure if the settlement is greater than the attorney’s fees, then there may be some admission of guilt. If not, than all they settle for is nuisance value.”

Gatlin filed a civil suit against the four groups on June 9, 2008, claiming they discriminated against him based on his disability, Attention Deficit Disorder. Gatlin tested positive for amphetamines from tests taken June 16 and June 17, 2006 during the U.S. Junior National Championships.

Gatlin claimed the drug Adderall, which he was taking for ADD, was the source of the amphetamines. He further claimed there were no forms to fill out at the junior national meet allowing him to declare that he was taking the medication.

More on caffeine as performance enhancing

Well written article, originally from the New York Times, but reprinted in the Arkansas Times-Democrat on the use of caffeine as a PED.  Notable was the opening paragraph discussing an episode where 'Let's Run' founder Weldon Johnson discovered the benefits of caffeine in running.

Weldon Johnson first tried caffeine as a performance enhancer in 1998. He was not a coffee drinker but had heard that caffeine could make him run faster. So he went to a convenience store before a race and drank a cup of coffee. For the first time in his life, he ran 10 kilometers in less than 30 minutes. "I remember being really wired before the race," he said. "My body was shaking." From then on, he was a convert. Johnson, co-founder of racenews aggregator letsrun.com, would avoid caffeine, even in soft drinks, for a few weeks before he competed in a race, wanting to have the full stimulant effect. "It may have been a huge placebo effect, but I swore by it," Johnson said. "Having a cup of coffee exactly one hour before the race was part of my routine." Or maybe it wasn't a placebo effect.

Caffeine, it turns out, actually works. And it's legal, one of the few performance enhancers that is not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Is caffeine a PED?

Exercise physiologists have studied caffeine's effects in nearly every iteration: Does it help sprinters? Marathon runners? Cyclists? Rowers? Swimmers? Athletes whose sports involve stopping and starting like tennis players? The answers are yes, yes, yes and yes and yes and yes.

Caffeine is a anatagonist of adenosine A₁ and A₂ receptors and a phosphodiesterase inhibitor (we originally said xanthene oxidase inhibitor, which is incorrect; caffeine is a xanthine compound, if anyone cares about that), which acts as a mild stimulant.  And why do we remember this obscure fact from school, although we can't remember 90% of anything any more?  The compound may act on dopamine receptors to produce stimulation.

Because of the morning Red Bull.  Caffeine also affects the muscles too.

For many years, researchers thought the sole reason people could exercise harder and longer after using caffeine was that the compound helped muscles use fat as a fuel...(however) caffeine increases the power output of muscles by releasing calcium that is stored in muscle. The effect can enable athletes to keep going longer or to go faster in the same length of time. Caffeine also affects the brain's sensation of exhaustion, that feeling that it's time to stop, you can't go on any more. That may be one way it improves endurance, Tarnopolsky said.

Be careful though, too much java and you may experience negative effects.

Albert Pujols, now and then...Juiced?

Newsday carries a piece on the Albert Pujols story.  Did he or didn't he (juice with steroids)?

In the meantime, Albert Pujols - considered the best player in baseball who hasn't been linked to steroids - denied ever using steroids or PEDs in an article in last week's SI.

Color me cynical, but I'm not ready to call him Mr. Clean. I'm not saying he's drugged up, not by any means, but we've been burned so many times by athletes that we are trained to scoff at their denials. Sad, but true: when someone denies, I shrug and move on.

What else is there to do?

Look at the cover of a recent Sports Illustrated.  Compare with a cover of Muscle and Fitness a few years ago.  Are people decelerating their muscle and fitness or is there another reason Pujos appears so svelte?  Dramatic change.

Positive cocaine test: Lebanese skier Georges Salameh claims saboteurs snowed urine sample

Lebanese skier Georges Salameh says sinister nasty enemies sabotaged his urine sample from a ski meet last month  That blows.  The New York Daily News carries the tale.

Lebanese ski racer Georges Salameh, who provided a urine sample containing traces of cocaine during last month's Alpine skiing world championships in France, blames his positive test on the work of mysterious saboteurs.

"I have enemies in Lebanon who may have pushed people to do this," Salameh said. "I never used these drugs. I don't know what happened."

The skier claims he was intoxicated the night before the race.  As if that excuses it all:

In an interview with the Daily News Friday, Salameh repeatedly claimed he was extremely drunk at a nightclub in the early morning hours before he provided his tainted sample on Feb. 12.

Salameh said he was approached by strangers while partying at Doudoune, a nightclub in Val d'Isere, a small and vibrant ski town nestled deep in the French Alps at the head of a dramatic glacial valley.

"I was so drunk," Salameh said, "and someone came to me and said I have something for you that will help. Really, I was so f---ing drunk and I took it."

Great pre-race training.  It get better though:

Salameh could not describe the substance he was given. The president of the Lebanese ski federation, Tony Kouhri, told the Daily News on Thursday that Salameh was handed a pill.

"A man who speaks Arabic came to me and said I have something that will wake you up," Salameh said. "I have a lot of enemies. Not just me, but the federation."

Salameh was out until dawn, but just after 10 a.m. he was scheduled to start 82nd of 105 racers in a special qualification race for the giant slalom. The qualification races are for low-ranked skiers representing their countries at the world championships.

After that race, Salameh told an Austrian reporter that he didn't feel good and hadn't slept. "I drank vodka and ate fish at 5:00 a.m," Salameh told the reporter from the Austrian Press Agency. "This was probably not a good idea."

No wonder this guy participates in a race for low-ranked skiers.

Batman -- John C. Oden -- minor league pitcher traded for bats, ends up broken

John C. Odom, the minor league pitcher traded for 10 bats, ended his life in Georgia more broken than any discarded bat in the clubhouse.  Odem, apparently hit right in the trademark by the fluky bat trade story, ended up overdosed and dead in Georgia of a mixed drug overdose (NBC News).

The medical examiner said Odom’s death in Georgia on Nov. 5 at age 26 was an accidental overdose from heroin, methamphetamine, the stimulant benzylpiperazine and alcohol.

The NBC story documents his life: pitcher in the Giants system, guitarist, free spirit, broken spirit.  Once rooming with Giants pitcher Tim Linecum who commented 'It really is sad".

Odom’s death had drawn little notice by the start of spring training this year. Now, former teammates, managers and club officials keep asking a question for which there is no satisfying answer.

“I guarantee this trade thing really bothered him. That really worried me,” said Dan Shwam, who managed Odom last year on the Laredo Broncos of the United League. “I really believe, knowing his background, that this drove him back to the bottle, that it put him on the road to drugs again.”

Shwam added: “There were some demons chasing him, they’d been after him for a long time. But there’s no way to really know whether the trade did it, is there?”

At first, Odom seemed to handle it well. He gladly agreed to interviews. He kidded about the kooky deal and said it would make a better story if he reached the majors someday.

Odem witnessed trouble during his life.  He was known as a long-haired guitar-playing loose hanging flake, with talent, but troubles.  After the bat trade, troubles magnified:

On June 5 in Amarillo, the “Batman” theme played while Odom warmed up for Laredo, and he tipped his cap to the sound booth. But he was battered for eight runs in 3 1-3 innings and mercilessly taunted by the crowd. Shwam went to the mound.

“The chants, the catcalls, they were terrible. I had to get him out of there for his own good. He was falling apart, right in front of our eyes,” Shwam said.

When Shwam noticed Odom becoming more withdrawn, he called a team meeting. The message: No more talking about the trade or the bats by anyone.

Odom pitched five good innings at San Angelo on June 10 in what turned out to be his third and last start. On the bus after the game, Odom said he needed to speak with Shwam the next day.

“He came in and said, ’Skip, I’m going home. I just can’t take it. I’ve got some things to take care of. I’ve got to get my life straightened out,”’ Shwam recalled. 

And with that, Odom disappeared.

Oden joins Angel pitcher Donnie Moore -- who could not live with the indignity of giving up a pennant losing home run -- on the mortality list.  Sometimes sports, misfortune, and street drugs don't mix.

1904 Olympic marathon winner Thomas Hicks kicked off modern era of doping with strychnine

The Boston Globe - perhaps jealous of all the publicity New York is receiving from the R-Roid scandals -- claims some Boston area fame today with a story on the infamous 1904 Olympic doping scandal.  Thomas Hicks, a Cambridge area athlete, doped with strychnine for the Olympic marathon.  Using a potent poison like strychnine sounds dangerous, however in the limited world of doping with stimulants, the compound represented one avenue of gaining an advantage over competitors.  Athletes never looked back from there.

While the media currently fixate on a pinstriped athlete from New York, it was a skinny townie from Cambridge whose chemically enhanced victory in the 1904 Olympic Marathon first sparked widespread debate about drugs in sports.

For athletes in the 21st century, the elixir of choice is steroids. More than 100 years ago, Thomas J. Hicks opted for a vile concoction of egg whites and brandy laced with strychnine, the active ingredient in rat poison.

And the scoop on strychnine:

And while reputed performance boosters from this era range from frighteningly dangerous to downright laughable, it was the supportive attitude of the American public that is most shocking.

"Back in those days, the use of performance-enhancing substances was not the awful thing it is today," said Daniel M. Rosen, the author of "Dope: A History of Performance Enhancement in Sports from the Nineteenth Century to Today."

Rosen said it was not Hicks's chemical consumption that caused the 1904 controversy. Rather, the outrage stemmed from the strychnine cocktails not being available to all Olympic runners in the searing, 90-degree heat.

"Hicks was kind of a hero for doing everything he could to win," Rosen said. "But he damn near killed himself in the process."

Strychnine doping continued after the leap...

New witnesses to be called in Barry Bonds BALCO trial, including Patroit linebacker Izzo

The Los Angeles Times delineates the list of potential witnesses in the Federal case against Barry Bonds for lying to the San Francisco Grand Jury about PED use.  A few new names surfaced including Marvin Benard, and football player Larry Izzo.

The government's perjury and obstruction of justice case against Barry Bonds includes plans to call witnesses who will testify that they saw the slugger "being injected" and heard him make statements "admitting his use of steroids," according to court filings Friday in San Francisco.

Among its 39 witnesses, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Northern California said it would call upon "the defendant's mistress," Kimberly Bell, former personal assistants and former teammates Bobby Estalella, Benito Santiago, Armando Rios and Marvin Benard, as well as other major league players...

Syringes, human growth hormone vials and documents pertaining to other athletes with connections to Anderson, including Estalella, Santiago, Jason and Jeremy Giambi and New England Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo, are on the government's exhibits list.

The Feds will also present relatively embarrassing testimony from Bonds's ex-girlfriend Kimberly Bell:

In its filing, the government said Bell "will testify that the defendant told her that he was taking steroids prior to the 2000 baseball season. [She] will further testify to personal observations regarding changes in the defendant's body [beginning in 2000] . . . including bloating, acne on the shoulders and back, hair loss and testicle shrinkage," which prosecution experts will testify is indicative of steroid use.

We could do without some of the images that paragraph invokes.

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.

Rugby star Matt Stevens positive for cocaine

The rugby athletes -- the guys with leather balls -- occasionally test positive for foreign substances.  England's rugby star Matt Stevens tested positive for cocaine following a December match, which earns him a possible 2 year suspension.

Interesting that cocaine, a recreational drug, will be treated as a PED.  The drug is a stimulant, but likely wasn't used that way as it is basic that testing picks up the drug easily.

The London Times reported the Steven's catch first; The Sun follows up with more details.

ENGLAND rugby star Matt Stevens wept yesterday after testing positive for cocaine and admitted: “It’s ruined my life.”

The 26-year-old prop confessed to having a “drug problem” as he was removed from the elite squad and suspended by his club Bath.

Matt said: “It’s pretty distressing talking about this. When you think about how much time people have put into my career — and I’ve thrown it away.

“It’s a very serious substance and something I’ve realised I have an issue with. I truly, truly am very sorry.”

South African-born Matt did not say which drug he took. But The Sun has learned he tested positive for cocaine in a random test after last month’s Heineken Cup clash with Glasgow Warriors.

Matt won fans off the pitch when he was runner-up in ITV’s X Factor: Battle of the Stars in 2006.

He faces a two-year match ban, ruining his hope of playing for the British and Irish Lions in South Africa this summer. Matt, who played in the 2007 World Cup, told Sky Sports he had begun drug counselling.

Russian officials ban executives and doctors for Ranger prospect Alexei Cherepanov's death

ESPN reports that Russian hockey officials -- Continental Hockey League KHL -- will ban team executives and doctors following the investigation of New Yok (York) Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov.

Cherepanov died last year during a hockey match.  Investigating the suspicious death of a 19 year-old professional athlete, generated reports that the young player took stimulants prior to his demise.  However now the Russian officials backtrack on that conclusion to implicate the executives and doctors involved with Cherepanov.  Something seems slippery here.  (ESPN reports)

Russia's Continental Hockey League has banned five team executives and doctors, four of them indefinitely, for at least two years for their roles in connection with the death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov.

The men -- including the former team president and general manager of Avangard Omsk and two team doctors -- were banned following a KHL investigation, which concluded that the parties involved "exhibited criminal negligence" in their duties and knowingly tried to treat Cherepanov's life-threatening heart condition on their own.

The league also clarified earlier media reports that Cherepanov had been using performance-enhancing drugs, explaining that what had been earlier reported as doping was in fact an attempt to treat Cherepanov's heart condition.

Cherepanov, 19, collapsed Oct. 13 while on the bench for the Omsk club Avangard in Russia's Continental Hockey League and died a short time later. The league said Friday that Cherepanov had suffered from chronic myocarditis and that the cause of his death was acute heart failure.

Interesting that the cause of death was acute heart failure.  In the end, everyone dies of 'heart failure'.  However in this case we find it suspicious that a 19 year-old with myocarditis died of heart failure.

We would suspect the athlete died of an arrhythmia, which caused the acute 'heart failure'...inability to pump adequate blood to the tissues. 

We also raises suspicious about the conclusion that the Russian hockey player did not use PEDs; the report says the drug found in the athlete was used to treat his heart condition.  No stimulant would be used to treat myocarditis, unless the drug were something like lidocaine, for severe ventricular arrhythmia.

The Russian report excoriated the doctors treating Cherepanov's condition.  It also addressed the PED issue this way:

Durmanov also addressed media reports last month alleging that Cherepanov had used performance-enhancing drugs.

"The team doctors of Avangard tried to treat Alexei on their own. What the press described as systematic doping, was an attempt to cure Alexei's heart condition," he said.

That's the unusual conclusion that is not believable.

It also appears the emergency crew sent to the hockey meet was not well prepared:

Following Cherepanov's death, prosecutors alleged the arena where Cherepanov was playing failed to coordinate proper emergency medical services before the game. Last month, Russia's federal Investigative Committee alleged a "row of gross violations was committed by the medical brigade" helping Cherepanov.

"Among them, doctors arrived on the scene a full 12 minutes after Cherepanov collapsed, and the battery on the defibrillator to attempt shock Cherepanov's heart back into life was drained," investigators said.

We do not believe the truth has yet emerged about the PED use, and the death of this young hockey star.  Can't the Russians inject some veracity into their reports?

Baseball doesn't pay attention to stimulant use, or does it?

The new MLB report on doping -- Performance enhancing drugs -- use in baseball reveals the number of Therapeutic Use Exemptions rose last year.  That increase concerns some experts, but not this blog.  If you know athletes you know that many exhibit symptoms of ADHD.  In fact an entire (yes entire) theory suggests that modern ADHD might be the "hunter-gatherers" who develop more physical skills but who flounder somewhat at pencil and paper task in a society where sitting on the arse at the desk takes up copious time.  To the LA Times:

The number of players approved to take attention deficit disorder medications under baseball's drug policy rose last season, even after the sport tightened its rules in response to criticism from Congress.

According to a report issued today, 106 therapeutic use exemptions for ADD drugs were issued last year, up from the 103 exemptions reported to Congress in 2007.

That 8% of players would require ADD medications dismayed Dr. Gary Wadler, a New York physician and adviser to the World Anti-Doping Agency. Wadler said the disorder is diagnosed in 3-5% of children and a smaller percentage of adults.

"There's nothing unique that would cause an epidemic of ADD in baseball," he said.

If we make up these rules on TUEs, then we can;t go around and criticize the players when they play by the rules.  As a physician who prescribes hundreds of drugs of ADHD, it doesn't surprise me int he least MLB player show ADHD.  Those players have every right to submit to medical treatments.  We agree with Manfred:

Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, said he was unaware of any study that indicated the prevalence of ADD among athletes and said baseball might fund one.

He said it made little sense to compare the diagnoses of ADD among the general population to those among young male professional athletes with access to high-quality medical care.

"That's just stupid," Manfred said.

The report continues on:

Of 3,486 tests administered last year, 19 resulted in a positive test, including five for performance-enhancing substances and 14 for stimulants, according to the report. The tests covered 1,348 players.

The issue of ADD drugs arose during a Congressional hearing last year, when it was revealed that the number of exemptions granted for those drugs had risen from 28 in 2006 to 103 in 2007, sparking concern that some players might be trying to circumvent a new amphetamine ban by using ADD medications.

In response, baseball tightened the rules covering exemptions, restricted team doctors from writing prescriptions for ADD drugs and refused to allow players to pursue an exemption after a positive test, even with a prior prescription.

Manfred said he was "encouraged" that the number of new exemptions -- as opposed to renewals -- dropped from 72 in 2007 to 56 last year.

"I think the changes we made have had some effect," he said. "We will look hard at the process again this offseason."

Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), who challenged baseball officials on the issue during last year's hearing, was not available for comment Friday, his office said.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), whose committee called for that hearing, applauded the public release of test results.

"I remain concerned about the large number of therapeutic-use exemptions given to players and hope that MLB will look carefully at the process for providing these exemptions," Waxman said in a statement.

"But overall, I am pleased with the steps taken by MLB and the players' union to strengthen their drug testing program and eliminate the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs."

We generally agree with those stances.  Make the rules, and play by the results.  Or what was it we said, we didn't pay attention...

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.

 

Aleksey Cherepanov, Siberian Express derailed: Ranger's Russian hockey prospect death may involve doping and inflammation

An ex-New York Ranger Russian hockey prospect -- Aleksey Cherepanov -- dropped dead at an extraordinarily young age in October.  An inquiry in to the 19 year-old's death revealed 2 pertinent issues (according to RT Sports):

• The report says that Cherepanov 'used stimulants'
• The hockey player suffered from myocarditis

Young ice hockey star Aleksey Cherepanov, who died of a heart attack during a game in October, had been taking performance enhancing drugs. That’s according to a report by the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor General's Office.     The 19-year-old collapsed during a Continental Hockey League (KHL) game in the Moscow region.

The official statement of the investigation committee says:

"No traces of alcohol or drugs were found in his blood and urine, however, tests for chemicals showed that Aleksey Cherepanov had been using stimulants for several months."
 
It was also discovered that Cherepanov, nicknamed the Siberian Express, was suffering from chronic myocarditis, which meant he should not have been playing sport. According to a post-mortem examination, the sportsman developed the disease approximately a year before his death.

There seems to be confusion in the Western press reportage. The New York Times reports that no drugs were named;  the Russian Times clearly says stimulants.  Stimulants can rarely be involved in cardiac events, in say a vulnerable heart.

The Times also reports that myocarditis 'does not allow enough blood to reach the heart'.  Really? 

Myocarditis means inflammation of the cardiac muscle (which is all of it, as the heart is one large muscle).  The word ending means inflammation, perhaps due to a virus, or even due to a connective tissue disorder.  Myocarditis could be bacterial, or parasitic, or allergic, or...you get it due to something that inflames the heart.  And saying the heart was inflamed says nothing about blood flow.  (where did the Times get this idea?).

To simplify the issue, the heart becomes inflamed, which causes a number of problems.  One would be enlargement of the organ.  When the heart enlarges it actually stretches the fibers that cause contraction.  The heart becomes less effective at pumping thus leading to failure...heart failure.  It is like the apparatus became stretch, flabby, and weak.  This condition often leads to a heart transplant.

The other issue in myocarditis would be electrical changes, reflected in the EKG.  This would cause electrical irritability, and sudden death due to an arrhythmia.  Boula!  A viral myocarditis is a frequent issue in young adult sudden cardiac death.

Investigators in Russia said Monday that Alexei Cherepanov, who was the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2007 draft, used performance-enhancing drugs for several months before he died during a Russian league game in October.

They also said that Cherepanov, 19, should not have been playing professional hockey because he had myocarditis, a condition that does not allow enough blood to reach the heart...

The federal Investigative Committee in Russia said in a statement that experts concluded from analysis of blood and urine samples that Cherepanov had “engaged in doping” for several months. A spokeswoman for the committee refused to specify which drugs were found in Cherepanov’s system.

We would not be so quick to say that myocarditis absolutely rules out athletic competition.  It's complicated, and one must exert caution, but nothing is absolute...like Lance Armstrong not fathering a child without sperm.

The Russian athlete could have suffered from something as common as a cold which affected his heart.  A Stimulant might have exacerbated the condition.  On the other hand a drug can cause myocarditis.

The Russian press reports other problems:

The investigation also found that: "the paramedics called in for Cherepanov committed a number of gross violations”.

The report says they “arrived 12 minutes after the call and did not have a properly charged defibrillator. In addition, the brigade's chief doctor wrongly diagnosed a ‘natural death’.”
 
The Omsk Avangard forward was one of the most promising hockey stars in Russia. A first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, Cherepanov was expected to move to National Hockey League.

The Prosecutor General’s Office says they will continue their investigation and warned that  the doctors involved in Cherepanov's treatment may face legal action.

One just cannot emphasize enough that stimulants, and steroids, and HGH, and EPO are DAMN DANGEROUS.   Don't believe the soft peddlers who essentially want an athletes to believe these drugs are like downing jelly-beans.  Dangerous in particular persons.  (that is a diseased heart on the right; it's ugly)

Mumbai terrorists use anabolic steroids, among other drugs, in deadly raids

From the UK's Mirror comes the story that the Mumbai (India) terrorists coughed up illicit street drugs including LSD, cocaine, and apparently anabolic steroids.  The Mirror notes that it is not uncommon for training terrorists to incorporate steroids in their workouts.

The Mumbai terrorists may have pumped themselves full of drugs to keep going during their murderous three-day rampage.

Indian police sources say tests on the bodies of dead Islamic fanatics revealed traces of stimulant drugs.

One said: “We found injections containing traces of cocaine and LSD left behind by the terrorists and later found drugs in their blood.

“There was also evidence of steroids, which isn’t uncommon in terrorists. These men were all toned, suggesting they had been doing some heavy training for the attacks

Cocaine is a 'stimulant'' drug that improves endurance and increases vigor with short term use.

“This explains why they managed to battle the commandos for over 50 hours with no food or sleep.”

The source said one gunman is thought to have injected himself with large doses of stimulant so he could keep on fighting after he was seriously wounded.

The one surviving terrorist discussed with police the rigorous training the group undertook:

Kasav is said to have told interrogators the attack was meticulously planned six months ago at a training camp in Pakistan. Yesterday the death toll was given as 172 killed, with 239 people wounded.

Major League Baseball to release reports on steroid and amphetamine use, or not

Major League Baseball reneged on it's previous statement that the number of positive amphetamine tests in MLB will be released says The New York Times.

Major League Baseball said earlier this week that the number of players who tested positive for amphetamines for the first time in 2008 would be made public in a report on its drug-testing program to be released in January. On Thursday, however, baseball said the number of positive amphetamine tests would not be included in the report.

Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations, said in a telephone interview Thursday that the commissioner’s office and the players union would withhold the number of positive amphetamine tests because, “under our program, first-time positive tests for amphetamines are treated as confidential, and because of that, those numbers will be kept private.”

Baseball officials said a misunderstanding in their office regarding the drug-testing policy led to the conflicting reports.

So baseball's front office doesn't know the steroid policy details?  Bet the union went ballistic on that one.

Baseball stated the doping tests should be more transparent, and accessible, however that remains to be seen; apparently amphetamine use will not be transparent (was a huge star caught?)

“The report will detail the number of tests conducted this year, the number of positives for steroids, the names of the substances players tested positive for and the number of therapeutic-use exemptions but will not include the total number of amphetamine positives,” Manfred said.

Australia cranks up record apprehensions for meth (ice) and steroids (juice)

Juice and ice.  Great combination served up if your in the Australian Customs service.  Reports from The Australian say that the seizure of ice (methamphetamine) and gear (steroids) advanced this year.

AUTHORITIES recorded a 16-fold increase in the amount of ice seized at the border in one year, fuelling concerns that Australia is in the grip of an epidemic of the party drug.

In its annual report tabled in parliament last week, Customs said 224.83kg of ice, or crystal methamphetamine, was seized in 2007-08, compared with 14.45kg in 2006-07. In 2005-06, a quarter of last year's amount, 55kg, was seized.

Customs national manager for investigations Richard Janeczko told The Australian that the rise was due to a range of factors, including better detection, an expanding market and a displacement effect, as criminals sought to import the drug whole, rather than the precursor chemicals.

The Customs report also records a marked increase in the amount of steroids intercepted by authorities. In 2007-08, there were 1457 interceptions of steroids, compared with 1100 the year before and 709 in 2005-06.

And cocaine seizures have been tracking upwards, with 649.29kg detected last year, compared with 609.95kg of cocaine in 2006-07.

Increasingly, crime syndicates are turning to illegal tobacco. Last year, 287,455kg of illegal tobacco and about 106.8million cigarettes were seized, compared with 67,422kg of tobacco and 39.8 million cigarettes held in 2006-07

Those that argue the US Congress not be involved in steroid regulation probably understand that the underground network who sells steorids also sells meth...to your kids.  No 'crystal' coating it...

Are doctors using performance enhancing drugs?

An article from the the Sacramental Bee, by Dr. Michael Wilkes, looks at the use of 'stimulants' and PEDs for physicians.

Doctors have long prescribed pills to help people concentrate, stay awake, go to sleep, remember facts, control their moods and enhance endurance in such tasks as flying and studying.

Now, doctors are also using these drugs – not to correct abnormalities but to enhance their abilities.

Advertisements for Provigil and other drugs promise that they will help doctors stay awake.   

The practice of medicine requires long hours, constant learning and a high level of dedication. Physicians work at all hours of the day and night, making life-and-death decisions.

Don't patients benefit if doctors take pills that will help them stay awake during a long overnight shift in the emergency room or provide better concentration to a surgeon doing a 10-hour operation?

Dr. William Cheshire, writing in the journal Virtual Mentor, asserts that the field of medicine has traditionally drawn a line between treatment (to restore or preserve vital functions) and enhancement (to provide abilities that go beyond normal function).

If the practice of medicine has been devoted to treatment, does that preclude doctors from dealing with enhancement? Certainly in some areas, such as plastic surgery, enhancement – not treatment – is the rule.

In some nonmedical fields, enhancement might provide a competitive and selfish advantage – e.g., working longer hours to impress the boss or taking steroids to beat other athletes.

I have spoken with doctors who feel that enhancing pills help protect their patients and society. For example, they ask, what if two patients urgently need surgery? Without a drug to stay awake, the surgeon could perform just one surgery. With medication, he could operate on one patient and then the other.

Wait a minute, though. Do we want doctors operating after they have taken these pills?

I have colleagues who say these pills are no different than a couple of cups of coffee – just a bit stronger. Is that true? What happens when the pills wear off, and what about the side effects?

There is little or no data on how these drugs affect a doctor's performance.

Until we have more data, doctors should not be allowed to take these medicines when on duty.

If doctors are tired, they should sleep. If they can't concentrate, they should explore why. Medicating our physician to work longer, harder and with superhuman concentration is just not in society's interest – at least not without substantial research.

   

As we say, one of the largest challenges in the new science age of the 21st century comes in determining the ethics behind performance enhancement: how far, how much, how moral.  This central question cuts across all ages, professions, and economic groups.

German TV tires of continous doping scandals in Tour de France, pulls plug on live TV

A German TV station pulled the plug on the Tour de France broadcasts.  The public station will not carry live coverage of the Tour in 2009.  (ARD.com)  Looks like Lance Armstrong may ride in the papers only in 2009.

COLOGNE, Germany -- German public broadcaster ARD has pulled out of the Tour de France and will no longer carry live coverage of the world’s most important cycling race.

ARD executives meeting in Cologne Thursday said the chronic doping scandals that have plagued the Tour made it impossible to justify major coverage.

The Tour de France was once a major ratings winner in Germany but doping charges -- in particular against German rider Jan Ulrich -- have tainted the event in the minds of many fans. This year’s event was a ratings flop.

Public channel ZDF, which usually shares the Tour rights with ARD, is expected to air the 2009 event but it is unclear if it will continue to provide live daily coverage as it has in the past.

Interesting development.  With all the doping (steroids and HGH) scandals in the US, not a single audible protest was ever heard from a commercial TV station.  Ratings talk louder than ethics.  (To Reuters)

"The sporting value of the Tour de France has dropped considerably due to the many doping cases," ARD chairman Fritz Raff said in a statement. "The value of the broadcast has similarly decreased."

The decision came a day after Austrian Bernhard Kohl, who finished as best climber and was third overall at this year's Tour, admitted using CERA, the new generation of the blood-boosting EPO.

Germany's Stefan Schumacher, who liked Kohl rode for the Gerolsteiner team, was one of a number of other riders to test positive during the Tour.

ARD and fellow public network ZDF pulled the plug on their Tour de France broadcasts in 2007 when it was revealed German rider Patrik Sinkewitz tested positive.

Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli banned 1 year for using stimulant

Nailed with a prohibited stimulant prior to the Olympics Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli was handed a 1 year ban from cycling.  The verdict indicates that the court meted out some leniency in her case.  The cyclist claims she was unaware the drug was in the weight loss supplements she used in training. (To the AP)

Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli was banned for one year by the Italian Olympic Committee on Thursday for testing positive for a banned stimulant.

Bastianelli, who won the women's road race at last year's world championships, was kept out of the Beijing Olympics after testing positive during July's under-23 European championships in northern Italy.

Bastianelli was questioned by the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor in August. The 21-year-old rider has said she did not knowingly use the drug but has acknowledged taking a slimming product that contained the banned substance.

Twenty years ago he injected the world with steroids, now he's writing a book: Ben Johnson's famous run not done yet

Twenty years ago, in the syringe shot injected around the world (unless it was oral), Ben Johnson's shocking positive test at the 1988 Seoul Olympics shocked a sleepy naive world to the reality of elite track doping.  The controversial test showed stanozolol (Winstrol) in the sprinter's urine.  Thus began a long road leading to the institution of the World Anti-Doping Agency, to the alleged Carl Lewis' sabotage, and to Johnson's inclusion as one of the most hated Canadians of all time.  The Globe and Mail interviews Johnson on the occasional of the infamous anniversary.

Twenty summers ago, Johnson ran to notoriety in front of 70,000 screaming fans in Seoul's Olympic Stadium and another billion on television. Canadians punched the air - one even told us he put his fist through a wall - at the spectacle of a Canadian becoming the world's fastest man ahead of U.S. favourite Carl Lewis.

But the awful truth of doping would make the glory short-lived and the stigma of cheating stick forever. As recently as a few weeks ago, he says, an International Olympic Committee functionary decreed that because of his lifetime ban from the Olympic Games, Johnson could not be used as a commentator in Beijing.

Johnson says he could have been angry.  About what?  It is clear from reading (his coach) Charlie Francis's book that Johnson was a chronic user of a variety of doping agents: anabolic steroids, HGH, &amphetamines.  Guess the anger is about getting busted, not being a drug cheat.

The fame, the money, the record all vanished with the dirty urine test. Whether or not anyone buys the conspiracy theory that Johnson was set up as a scapegoat for a field of drug-fuelled athletes, that all-consuming sprinter's life was over and a new one had to be reconstructed.

"I could have been angry. My mother always said to leave everything in God's hands and I'd get the courage to get through. It wouldn't be easy. It was hard, but I always believed," Johnson said.

The interview stresses how Johnson lost his riches -- sad isn't it?  Nonetheless, 20 years later Johnson is penning a tell-all book..perhaps named 'Cheetah'.

Twenty years on, Ben Johnson's eyes aren't yellow, the tell-tale side effect of the steroids that were in his liver. "I avoid rich foods, chicken instead of red meat, I eat more vegetables. I weigh about 190 pounds, within 15 of what I weighed in Seoul. I try to keep my stress level at zero."

His words, like his eyes, are more clear than they used to be. So are his thoughts. He's writing an autobiography entitled Seoul to Soul, which he hopes to have published before the end of the year."I'm trying to get the book done in the right way and clear up the negativity around me," Johnson said.

Who will join 'The Legion of the Damned': More Beijing Olympics doping cases looming this weekend

Prepare for more doping cases lagging from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to be announced this weekend following an IOC meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.  We reported on the suspected doping in judo wrestling and in the men's hammer throw; might there be more disqualifications?  To Monsters and Critics:

More alleged doping cases connected to the recent Beijing Games are pending, a Norwegian member of the International Olympic Committee said Thursday.

Gerhard Heiberg's remarks were made on the eve of a meeting of the Olympic movement's ruling body in Lausanne, Switzerland this weekend.

The cases concern 'several people from several nations' and several different events, Heiberg told broadcaster NRK, adding he was 'not surprised.'

'We had expected more to be caught during the games. Luckily there weren't more, but I said that more were due and we are going to consider them,' Heiberg said.

The number of doping cases discovered prior to the Olympics, as we documented, clearly reduced the positive tests at the Games.  For instance American swimmer Jessica Hardy might have tested positive at the Beijing Games if she hadn't been tested in the USA prior to heading to China.

The IOC member said he could not name the athletes but said the IOC would meet with the athletes suspected of doping. The cases were based on tests of both A- and B-samples.

Heiberg said the names likely would be disclosed after the IOC  meeting in Lausanne this weekend, the report said.

Any predictions on new Beijing positives?

• Judo: Tuvshinbayar Naidan
• Hammer throw: Belarusians Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan

The Tour de France 2008 is not finished: More testing for CERA EPO

So we thought the 2008 Tour de France was finished and in the books.  Typically there were cyclists like Manuel Beltran of Spain testing positive for EPO, and Dmitriy Fofonov of Kazakhstan testing positive for a banned stimulant.  The winner is in the books, and we all move on....right?  No.

Authorities report that the Tour will re-test doping samples for a more careful examination of the new CERA EPO.  To the AP:

Several Tour de France riders are having their blood samples retested for traces of the banned blood-booster EPO.

The head of the French Anti-Doping Agency told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the testing involved riders who were already under scrutiny for suspicious urine samples. Pierre Bordry declined to name the cyclists.

The new blood tests will look for CERA, a third-generation variation of EPO. Italian rider Riccardo Ricco tested positive for the substance during the Tour.

"I have decided that we will retest — with blood testing — all those who showed up as suspicious during the urine samples," Bordry said by telephone. "When we did the urine samples of those athletes, we had a serious suspicion that there was CERA. The laboratory could not say definitively. The same analysis will be done, but in the blood samples."

Bordry asked for the blood samples to be sent from Lausanne, Switzerland, where they were tested during the Tour.

"All the blood tests have been repatriated to France," Bordry said, adding that they are currently being examined at the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory, outside Paris.

Testing has already begun and could take up to two weeks, Bordry said.

CERA EPO developed as a medical advance -- a molecule large enough not to be sucked out of the kidneys as quickly as the other versions of EPO.  Cyclists thought the new version would go undetectable, however anti-doping agents were apparently almost ready for the drug.

As mentioned, Riccardo Ricco tested positive in the original Tour testing, while several other cyclists have suspicious results.

Bordry also said that Spanish rider Moises Duenas Nevado's "B" sample came back positive for EPO, confirming the original finding.

Also testing positive during the Tour were Manuel Beltran of Spain, for EPO, and Dmitriy Fofonov of Kazakhstan, for a banned stimulant.

Ricco and his teammate Leonardo Piepoli were fired by the Saunier Duval team — which also lost its sponsor.

Even though Piepoli did not test positive, he was released for violation of the team's ethical code. Spanish media later reported that Piepoli had admitted to his team that he took the same form of EPO as Ricco.

French cyclist Jimmy Casper tested positive for a banned steroid, but has since been cleared on grounds that he forgot to renew a prescription for a long-standing asthma problem.

Brazilian soccer player tested for stimulant to be extinct: Dodo Dopo

Brazilian professional soccer forward Dodo tested positive for a stimulant --  Fenpropex -- during a routine doping test.  Thus began a long series of maneuvers, the latest a ban from the sport.

"Fenpropex" must be Fenproporex, which is a fenfluramine type drug used for appetite suppression.  (Wiki says this:

Fenproporex (Perphoxene) is a stimulant drug which is used as an appetite suppressant. It is an amphetamine derivative which was developed in the 1960s and used for the treatment of obesity.^[1]

Fenproporex produces amphetamine as a metabolite,^[2][3] and was withdrawn in many countries following problems with abuse,^[4] but it is still prescribed in some countries mainly in South America.

So, on to the story from RTE Sports:

Brazilian forward Dodo will appeal against his two-year doping ban before the Switzerland Supreme Court after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld his original suspension earlier this week.

The 34-year-old former Botafogo striker returned a positive test for the amphetamine fenpropex during a routine test on 14 June following a game against Vasco de Gama and is set to be banned until November 2009.

Intially Dodo was banned, however a Brazilian court reversed decision; WADA AND FIFA then appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Dodo was initially banned for 120 days by the Brazilian Tribunal of Sport Justice (STJD), but was acquitted after an appeal following evidence supplied by Botafogo that the test was a result of contaminated caffeine capsules.

FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency both appealed against the decision and on Thursday the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the ban.

But Bichara Neto insists CAS do not have jurisdiction over STJD.

'According to the Brazilian laws the STJD is an independent organisation of the Brazilian Football Confederation, so CAS don't have any power to cancel that decision,' he added.

So soon, Dodo will be extinct from soccer for 2 years.

And now the 180 degree opposite of bulking up, and of the Adonis Complex: The anti-anabolic model skinny

The Wall Street Journal discusses the anti-steroid model club known as 'skinny'.  And no doubt many of these models use amphetamines and clen.

All week, next to the long snaking line for the make-your-own-Havaianas at Bryant Park, there was no queue at all to speak with Danielle Billinkoff and Dawn Paap next door at the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s “Health Initiatives” booth.

It’s a fair bet that there has been nary a runway show all week without the presence of a model with an eating disorder. The industry has begun trying to come to terms with the high prevalence of malnutrition among the six-foot-tall models who are asked to slip into size zero clothing samples.

One tell-tale sign of severe malnutrition is a blotchy mosaic of mineral deposits under the skin. At runway shows, this is visible on some models’ arms and legs from as far back as the third row. A fashion photographer told me recently that they use special software to digitize this effect out of photographs.

Everyone seems to be very concerned about the model's health.  When did this all pick up?  These women have been taking up less and less space all the time:

Several fashion industry groups in Europe have called for minimum body-mass indexes for models — putting the onus on the teen-aged models rather than on the grown-up designers who make the tiny clothing samples. In the United States, the CFDA hopes its members will voluntarily address the ill health of skinny models. Several hundred fashion professionals have signed a petition for the Health Initiative, including designers Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, and Tory Burch. (Check it out at www.cfda.com.)

The initiative asks, among other things, that models be at least 16 years old, be given regular breaks and healthy snacks at shoots, and be sent to treatment if they are identified as having an eating disorder. Talbots has given an undisclosed sum of money to help pay for treatment if models can’t afford it.

“Everyone can learn to not need to put girls’ health at risk,” says Ms. Paap, a spokeswoman for the Renfrew Center for eating disorders in New York City.

There is a simpler and more effective way to end the extreme pressure for models to look emaciated: show larger sample sizes on the catwalks and magazines.

“We see this as a first step,” says Ms. Billinkoff, the CFDA’s spokeswoman, of the signatures on the petition. “Depending on the reaction, it’ll be time to mobilize. Will the next step be to go back up in a sample size from a zero to a two or a four or a six — which is what it used to be?” –Christina Binkley

It is said that doping agents and PEDs are now more frequently used for appearance enhancement than for performance enhancement.

Miami not so pumped at Jose Canseco's steroid use: To remove the slugger's name from street?

Jone Canseco, once the pride of Miami, appears to be losing the luster.  Although Canseco always seems off on some half-cocked adventure, one Miami-Dade politician expresses annoyance at the former Bash Brother's juicing exploits.  And Commissioner Joe Martinez wants Miami-Dade to banish the Bash Bro.  To the Miami Herald:

Has Jose Canseco, the larger-than-life local boy whose indiscretions have almost certainly locked him out of baseball's Hall of Fame, finally committed an error so egregious that even his hometown can't accept it?

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez thinks so. And on Tuesday, Martinez will offer a resolution to permanently remove Canseco's name from the West Miami-Dade street it has swung over for almost two decades.

''I think it's an embarrassment. It runs through my district, right by my office,'' said Martinez, who drives Southwest 16th Street -- aka Jose Canseco Street -- a few times a week.

Martinez motors on Jose Canseco Street, which hopefully isn't as lost as Jose himself.

How did the former Coral Park High star, big league phenom and World Series champ reach this point?

Martinez said it wasn't the brawl in the bar on the beach. It wasn't the public dust-ups with his ex-wife. It wasn't even Canseco's prancing around in a leopard print Speedo on VH1's The Surreal Life.

It was the steroids, said Martinez, a former county police officer.

Canseco said he came clean in his book -- Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big -- telling the world how he, ''The Godfather of Steroids,'' introduced the drug to big league colleagues.

Martinez was not impressed.

''It's the fact that he did it, and he lied for such a long time,'' Martinez said. ``The book was just to make money.''

The vote comes up soon in the county business.  Note this isn't the first time the misguided slugger suffered the indignity of being stripped of an honor.  High school kids wanted the juiced player off their part of the street.

Though Canseco's name was taken off 10 blocks of Southwest 16th Street in 1997 after students at his old high school, Coral Park, complained to Commissioner Javier Souto, it still spans the road from 102nd to 107th avenues -- in Martinez's district.

Canseco survived an earlier attempt to have his name removed when commissioners failed to adopt a measure in 2003 barring the names of convicted felons from county roads. The move was prompted by Canseco's arrest on a probation violation charge related to the beach brawl.

Maybe Dade County can change the name to 'Roger Clemens Bull-evard'...

Astro pitcher Runelvys Hernadez juiced with amphetamines

Major League Baseball suspended Astro pitcher Runelvys Hernadez for abuse of amphetamines as a performance enhancing drug.  Apparently the drug didn't work -- Hernadez compiled a 0-3, 8.33 record for the 'Stros this year.  To the Houston Chronicle:

Runelvys Hernandez, who started four games for the Astros this year, was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball on Saturday after testing positive for amphetamines.

Hernandez, who spent most of the season at Class AAA Round Rock, will serve the suspension at the start of next season. Amphetamines are considered a performance-enhancing substance and are in violation of the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.

"We strongly believe in the commissioner's drug-testing program, and we are disappointed in the choice that Runelvys made,” Astros general manager Ed Wade said in a statement. “Major League Baseball and the 30 clubs have taken great strides toward eliminating the use of performance-enhancing substances in baseball, and we are fully supportive of all measures to ensure a clean game.”

Hernandez, 30, was 0-3 with an 8.38 ERA in four starts this year for the Astros. He appeared in 24 games at Round Rock, including 23 starts, and was 8-8 with a 4.91 ERA.

 

Hernandez, a non-roster invitee to spring training, was taken off the 40-man roster Tuesday. He was unlikely to return to the organization next year, but his suspension likely sealed his fate with the club.

Triathlete Francisco Pontano reported to test positive in Spain; Won Lake Placid Ford Ironman

Francisco Pontano, a triathlete from Argentina, reportedly tested positive for ephedrine in Spain a few months ago.  He went on to win the Lake Placid Ford Ironman. From "Where is the Limit" ,  And Slowtwitch:

A doping test of the top 3 male and female finishers by the Spanish National Anti-Doping Commission at the Zarautz Triathlon in the Basque region of Spain, resulted in a postive A sample, 3athlon.de reports.

The event took place on June 14, 2008 and 3rd place finisher Francisco Pontano from Argentina was found to have ephedrine, a sympathomimetic amine in his system. The athlete was made aware of the fact and it is reported that people close to him pointed at cold medications as a possible source.

5 weeks later, Pontano won the 2008 Ford Ironman Lake Placid in a time of 8:43:42. The result and release date of the B sample is not known at this time and it is also unclear what the WTC, NA Sports and the US Anti Doping Agency know regarding this matter. Slowtwitch is currently digging deeper into this situation and along those lines is inquiring with various officials to find out whether they have been made aware of the Pontano A sample and what testing was done in Lake Placid.

We'll update this story as more information becomes available.

Oussama Mellouli owes gold medal to FINA for keeping Adderall suspension to 18 months

Oussama Mellouli the Tunisian swimmer, who swam at the University of Southern California, should send flowers to FINA, the governing agency of swimming.  FINA meted out an 18 month doping suspension, rather than the standard 24 month ban.  Mellouli used Adderall to study (which itself is academic abuse) before a huge world meet.  He tested positive for amphetamine, which wiped out a world championship and wiped out  his career up to that point.  However, the 18 month suspension did allow the Tunisian swimmer to compete and win in the 1500 freestyle, at Beijing.

Swimming World said this at the time of the 18 month suspension:

Today, Ous Mellouli is both a fortunate and unfortunate athlete. But, weighing the possibilities that could have emerged, he is more lucky than not. Next year, he'll have the chance to compete at the Olympic Games and once again prove his worth on a major stage. Considering how close he was to not having that chance, he can count his blessings.

So Mellouli passed his exam and swam for an 'A' in the Cube in Beijing.  Pay attention to the Adderall from now on.

Oh yeah this headline over at Let's Run:  Enjoy the Olympics as the World May Be Ending Soon

Doping no help to Brazilian tennis player Marcelo Melo

Brazilian tennis player Marcelo Melo came back early from a doping violation to compete in the Olympics.  However, the outcome didn't go so well as documented by the Turkmenistan News.

Marcelo Melo, who with his partner Andre Sa, was blown off the court by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, has two rather well known incidents against his name.

First, last year he and Sa were engaged in a double matches lasting six hours and 13 minutes, making it the longest match at Wimbledon beating the 1968 singles clash between Pancho Gonzalez and Charlie Pasarell, which lasted five hours and 12 minutes.

Last year itself, Melo was also banned for two months for testing positive for the stimulant isometheptene at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Queen's Club. The ban, usually two years, was reduced because the International Tennis Federation ruled that Melo did not take the substance to 'enhance his sporting performance.' But he did forfeit his prize money.

New Yorker Sadam Ali cleared of doping, on US Olympic boxing team

Interesting piece in the Brooklyn Eagle looks at Olympians from New York.   Sadam Ali, a USA boxer was actually suspended for a time due to a doping infraction.   However, it appears he cleared the charges in appeal.

Brooklyn native Sadam Ali doesn’t want to be known as the first Arab-American in the Olympics or the only fighter to make the United States national team out of New York in more than two decades..

“It’s just great to represent New York,” said Ali, who spent some time beating .the bags at Gleason’s Gym in Downtown Brooklyn before departing for tonight’s opening ceremonies in Beijing, China...

And to think, this dream almost didn’t come true for Ali, whose path to the games was clouded by a doping controversy last year.

The two-time National Golden Gloves champion tested positive for the banned substance cathine, which is typically found in many cold medicines, following a second-round qualifying tournament loss in Chicago last fall.

After being put on indefinite suspension in November, Ali continued to vehemently deny the offense and was vindicated in February, when the International Boxing Association ruled that he had accidentally received the drug during a doctor’s visit for a cold he contracted in —- of all places — China.

Thanks to the doctor’s admission that he had made a mistake by giving Ali up to six different cold medicines, the former under-19 national champion returned to the business of getting ready for the beginning of what he hopes will be a storied career in the square circle.

Another Brooklyn nature discussed a brush with steroids, only his were therapeutic.  Fencer Keeth Smart took cortisol steroids (we presume) for a 'blood ailment'.  He is over in Beijing, having cleared the doping tests.

Also representing Brooklyn at this year’s Olympics will be former world No. 1 fencer Keeth Smart, who came within a point of bringing home gold in two events during the 2004 Athens Games.

Now entering his third Olympics, the 30-year-old Smart, who will be joined by his sister, Erinn, on the U.S. team, hopes to use his previous international experiences to capture his first championship and shake off a pair of gut-wrenching results from four years earlier.

“After Athens, I fell into a depression,” Smart admitted. “Maybe not clinically diagnosed, but it was such a heartbreaker to lose two opportunities for a medal, back-to-back.”

Smart lost his father to a heart attack in 2005 and his mother passed away from cancer this past May. He was diagnosed with a rare blood disease four months ago, making his journey to Beijing seem all the more improbable.

But Smart received a steroid-based treatment for his ailment and stayed away from competition until the substances left his body.

After passing six straight doping tests, Smart is ready to get his gold medal in memory of those who supported his lifelong quest.

Tunisian Oussama Mellouli swims in Olympics after 18 month ban for Adderall

Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli will compete for medal as he swims in the 2008 Olympics, even though he tested positive for amphetamines in 2006 (AFP).  Mellouli used Adderall before a world championship meet.  The Court of Arbitration for Sport bought his excuse of using Adderall to complete a paper at USC, two days before the meet.  Interesting, that academic cheating only earns an 18 month suspension.  Convenient that his 18 month ban ended in May of 2008, a couple months before Beijing.

Ousamma Mellouli, having just served out an 18-month doping ban, is the great Arab hope to claim a historic swimming medal at the Beijing Olympics...

Mellouli first feared he may miss out on his second Olympics when he faced a likely two-year doping ban.

The Tunisian claimed the positive result was due to him taking an "Adderall" pill two days earlier so he could stay awake to finish writing a university paper.

The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled said they were "surprised by the lack of perspicacity" on Mellouli's part in taking the drug so soon before a swimming event.

However, "if the swimmer was indeed guilty of negligence, such negligence was not sufficiently serious to suspend him for two years," CAS added.

CAS decided to suspend Mellouli for 18 months until May 29 just over two months before the Beijing Olympics and stripped him of all results obtained in the Melbourne 2007 world championships.

Mellouli lost a medal in the world meet, but will be allowed in the Olympics.  Nice.

But he was subsequently stripped of the gold medal after testing positive for amphetamines and only completed his ban in May.

With all the talk of Australian champion Grant Hackett, South Korean youngster Park Tae-hwan and Americans Larsen Jensen and Peter Vanderkaay vying for the medals in the 400m freestyle, Mellouli has slipped under the radar.

Mellouli, a graduate in media engineering from the University of Southern California, finished second behind Park in the 400m at last year's world titles before he gave up his medals through his drugs sanction.

Italian road racer positive: Marta Bastianelli tests for fenfluramine

Italian world road race champion  Marta Bastianelli will be gearing down now that she tested positive prior to the Olympics.  The young road race champ tested positive for the 'stimulant' fenfluramine on July 5.  CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee) declared her ineligible for the upcoming Beijing Games.  To VirginMedia:

World road race champion Marta Bastianelli has failed a doping test, the Italian cycling federation confirmed on Monday.

The Italian rider tested positive for illegal stimulant flenfluramine following a drug test on July 5 at the European under-23 championship in Verbania.

The sample will now be sent for a counter-analysis.

It is expected Bastianelli will be replaced for the Olympic Games.

These doping disqualification do not bode well for the Olympics and for the sport of cycling.  Maybe the cyclists simply need to strap on a LZR racing swim suit which easily passes the master of the Olympics, and may cut through air better than old cycling suits.

Gianni Petrucci, president of of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) was damning of Bastianelli, saying she had "betrayed" her colleagues.

"If the analysis is confirmed we will be inflexible. Marta Bastianelli has betrayed CONI, the federation and the world of cycling," he told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"We will also have to weigh up the eventual damage to the image of Italian sport, seeing as she had already signed the contract all Azzurri athletes heading to Beijing had to sign."

The president of the Italian cycling federation, Renato Di Rocco, was less harsh in his view of the outcome, and revealed the federation would request more tests.

"She has been incredibly naive," said Di Rocco. "She has tested positive for flenfluramine, which is a component in diet products. She only eats salad.

"Now we will immediately call for a counter-analysis. But the problem is not only the Olympics, which she as world champion was obviously due to take part in. The problem is for her image and for that of cycling."

Remember fen-fen, pulled for cardiac problems.  That drug concoction contained fenfluramine, which means it could be deleterious to the heart.

The distinctive valvular abnormality seen with fenfluramine is a thickening of the leaflet and chordae tendineae. Roth suggested a mechanism by which fenfluramine damaged the valves

Yahtzee! 2008 Tour de France racks up cyclist quatro, actually cinquième, on final day: Dmitri Fofonov fluffs up

The headlines scream 'Doping  Scarred 2008 Tour"  So what's so different about this year's pinnacle race of pro cycling?  Dopers caught?  Not different.

On the final day of the 2008 Tour de France, Dmitri Fofonov tested positive for a stimulant according in media information (ABC News)...heptaminol.  That would be #4 doper and #5 lost to drugs overall.

Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant, his Credit Agricole team said on the final day of the Tour de France

The 31-year-old, who learned of his positive test after finishing 19th overall in the race on Sunday, explained to his team he bought a product over the internet to fight cramps.

He has been suspended and is now facing the sack.

"He has failed to respect our basic team rules," Credit Agricole manager Roger Legeay said.

"No products can be taken by any riders unless they have prior authorisation from the team doctor.

"He has made a mistake, which can happen, but it's not good news for us or for him."

Fofonov is the fourth rider from the Tour to have tested positive for a banned substance.

Italian Riccardo Ricco, and Spanish duo Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas all tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) and were thrown out of the race.

The 31-year-old Fofonov, from Almaty, turned professional in 1998. Since 2000 he has competed with only French teams, picking up just three wins: the national time trial title (2000), a stage on the Tour of Catalonia (2002) and a stage on the Dauphine Libere earlier this year.

Oh yeah, Carlos Sastre won a very existential 2008 Tour.   (from the AP)

The final act Sunday was supposed to be a champagne-sipping, idyllic run to the Champs-Elysees for winner Carlos Sastre of Spain. Instead, it was yet another announcement of a positive drug test.

That the bust involved a Kazakh rider who was never in contention didn't matter. Once again, drugs left their mark at cycling's premier event.

Until Sunday's finale, the race had gone 10 days without a doping scandal — three others had already marred the three-week race.

This time, Dmitriy Fofonov tested positive for a "very heavy dose" of heptaminol after Thursday's 18th stage, said Pierre Bordry, the head of France's anti-doping agency. Fofonov was immediately fired by his Credit Agricole team. French police said he was detained for questioning

Race director Christian Prudhomme thought that the Tour persevered over dopers.