Steroid Nation

Still Marion Jones gently weeps

I look at the trouble and see that it's raging,
While my guitar gently weeps.
As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but aging,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.
(George Harrison)

Ex-Olympic gold medal winner, convicted perjurer, ex-con, and now not-so-contrite Marion Jones weeps for Argentina herself on Oprah.  (To Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) (Victor Conte cannot believe Marion Jones 'continues to lie')

Marion Jones appeared on Oprah Winfrey's television show Wednesday. It was a tearful interview, her first after serving time in the slammer for lying about steroid use.

She went to a minimum-security prison in Fort Worth, Texas, for six months because she lied to federal investigators about using steroids. Some say the cover-up was worse than the crime. That's false. By further tainting a drug-plagued sport that needed her to be the symbol of excellence and honor, she almost ruined track and field...

Jones couldn't mask her shame and sorrow Wednesday the way perverted science could mask the reason for her performances.

After her guilty plea came the long slide of the sport into dishonor and irrelevance, as NBC tucked track and field into obscure corners of its programming in 2008.

But in 2000, Marion Jones, powerful, physically attractive, dazzlingly swift, was the smiling, radiant face of track and field. She won three gold medals and two bronze ones.

On the Winfrey show, she still denied knowingly taking Tetrahydrogestrinone, or TGH, an almost undetectable performance-enhancing drug known as "the clear." Unconvincingly, she even forgot her alibi, that she thought it was flaxseed oil, until Winfrey reminded her.

Forgot her alibi?  Sigh....remind Jones and Barry Bonds about Flaxseed oil...

It took a lot of denial in Sydney to think she knew nothing about the activities of her husband in 2000, shot-putter C.J. Hunter. Revelations of his four positive tests for steroid use broke before the heats in the 200 meters, which Jones won. But denial is the stock in trade for a dirty competitor and for fans who love sports.

We have stated Marion Jones was likely led astray by a dishonest coach (Trevor Graham), a drug-cheat husbands, a sport gone awry, and perhaps her own naivete.  Nonetheless, her record is extremely checkered.

Sordid associations can be damning. Jones told Winfrey she knew of no one in the sport's drug subculture. In fact, she worked with a rogues' gallery of them - disgraced coaches Trevor Graham, Charlie Francis and Steven Riddick; her former boyfriend and the father of one of her two children Tim Montgomery; and Victor Conte of the BALCO viper's nest. As long ago as her high-school days, O.J. Simpson's murder-trial lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, got overturned Jones' four-year competition ban for missing a drug test.

She lived a lie for years. She wrote some too in a book called "Life in the Fast Lane." Finally, she came cleaner in 2007 than she had been in years on the track. She told Winfrey, "I didn't love myself enough to tell the truth."

She added, "I could say others who did as much [drugs] did less [jail] time." But some, like Graham, cooperated with investigators. Jones did not.

"I could say it was a bad judge," Jones said. "But it was me."

Of course Jones deceives herself.  We are to believe she didn't know about the injections of insulin, anabolic steroids, and HGH?  Don't think 'self-love' has much to do about drug cheating to gain an inherent advantage.

She sold her soul for fool's gold and the world's acclaim. She wept Wednesday for her children and the shame they will face. Others grieve for the sport, to which she did such damage.

Jones states to Oprah that she didn't need drugs to win.  Then why, Marion, did you dope and lie?

Distance runner Sussane Plumper and triathlete Lisa Huetthaler (Hutthaler) down the drain: Austrian track stars banned for EPO

Just as Joe the Plumber enjoys some fame in the United State for politics, Susanne Plumper (left) suffers a 2 year ban for doping in Austria.  Plumper tested positive for EPO earlier this year.  Fellow Austrian EPO user Lisa Huetthaler (or Hutthaler, Hütthaler,triathlete, right) earned a similar 2 year ban.  Huetthaler faces more charges because she attempted to bribe the anti-doping lab.  (The Canadian Press)

Distance runner Susanne Pumper and triathlete Lisa Huetthaler were each banned two years Friday by Austria's national anti-doping agency for EPO.

The bans apply retroactively as of March 2008. Pumper and Huetthaler can appeal the decision at the arbitrary committee of NADA.

The 38-year-old Pumper initially tested positive following a half marathon in Vienna on March 9. A second test on April 14 confirmed that result.

Pumper will appeal the decision because she disagrees with the testing method of her probes by the lab in Seibersdorf, her lawyer Clemens Gruenzweig told the Austria Press Agency.

Apart from her suspension by NADA, the 24-year-old Huetthaler also faces charges for attempting to bribe a laboratory employee to pass her doping test.

Huetthaler allegedly offered a lab employee US$31,150 on May 21 to guarantee that her "B" sample didn't return with the same result as her initial probe.

In July, Austria's parliament passed a toughened anti-doping law in an increased effort to eradicate doping after the 2006 Turin Olympics scandal, when Italian police raided the Austrian cross-country and biathlon team lodgings, seizing a large amount of doping products and equipment.

However, the country was hit by another doping scandal earlier this month as third-place Tour de France finisher Bernhard Kohl admitted he used the blood-booster CERA.

One wonders about the side effects of EPO in women.  EPO 'thickens' blood which can lead to strokes; women using certain drugs (estrogens) may be susceptible to blood clots too.  A lethal combination for someone?

Seven Russians -- including Yelena Soboleva -- banned for 2 years after doping scandal

In a major doping scandal, seven female Russian track and field athletes face 2 year bans for doping test irregularities.  The group includes world champions, and world record holders: Yelena Soboleva (left, world's top 1500M runner), Tatyana Tomashova (below right, 2 time world champ), Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (former world champion hammer thrower), and Darya Pishchalnikova (European discus champ) (AFP)

Seven high-profile Russian woman athletes caught switching urine samples in drug tests last year each received a two-year retroactive ban on Monday, according to the country's athletics federation.

The athletes banned were middle distance runners Yelena Soboleva, Svetlana Cherkasova, Yulia Fomenko, former double world champion Tatyana Tomashova and Olga Yegorova, hammer thrower Gulfiya Khanafeyeva - a former world champion, and reigning European discus champion Darya Pishchalnikova.

The IAAF, athletics' world governing body, suspended the athletes in August after   discrepancies in DNA results during controls pointed to sample irregularities.

Valentin Balakhnichev, the head of the Russian athletics federation, said Monday: "We suspended for two years all of the seven athletes involved in the case for violations of the doping code.

"The bans come into action from April or May 2007, the date when the samples were given for tests."

Pishchalnikova gave samples on April 10, Cherkasova and Soboleva on April 26, Fomenko on April 27, Khanafeyeva on May 9, and Tomashova on May 23. Yegorova's date would be determined later.

This is the bevy of women Russian athletes banned before the Olympics.  The amount of talent in this Russian group staggers the mind.  What PED did the group take, or was it a variety of drugs?  That information never came out.

Female Indian hammer thrower tests positive for doping

Interesting that female Indian hammer thrower, who appears to be a teenger, tested positive for doping.  The athlete competed at the 'Commonwealth Youth Games', where 'youth' does not mean 'clean'.  She was noted to be a rising star in the hammer throw in India.  The PED found in the doping test was not revealed.  Often anabolic steroids are utilized by field event athletes to enhance strength.

From the Saakal TImes:

Hammer thrower Kanika Kumari’s random dope test during the training camp in Patiala has returned positive for an anabolic steroid. The results of the tests reached the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) just in time for the team management to pull her out of the competition at the ongoing 3rd Commonwealth Youth Games.

Kanika was listed in the start-list for the women’s hammer throw event held on Wednesday, but in the final results she was mentioned as the one who ‘did not start’. The thrower was fit a day before and injury could not have been an issue to withdraw her name.

Having got the confirmation from the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL), New Delhi, which tested the urine samples collected in Patiala, the AFI officials at the Pune CYG saved an embarrassing situation for the hosts by her timely withdrawal.

Sources in the NDTL confirmed that Kanika Kumari had failed the dope test prior to the Pune games. In fact, Kanika was tipped as one of the medal prospect. Delhi girl Kanika, has represented her state in all major competitions in last three years and had attended the national camp for the CYG before leaving for Pune.

In Pune, the AFI Secretary-General Lalit Bhanot skirted the issue saying she was probably withdrawn for her past records - short of saying that Kanika’s urine sample returned positive. Chief coach Suresh Babu said it was the AFI’s decision to withdraw her. “I have not received any reason for her pull out, but it can be anything.

Without saying in as many words, Babu, however, wondered how Kanika’s performance had shot up in such a short span. “These athletes from North and the ones who train at certain centres have the tendency to take (performance enhancing drugs). We can not stop everyone, but I am happy that India has done well at the CYG and it was beyond our expectations,” Babu said.

Indian sports aficionados were surprised at the athletes rapid achievement;  she apparently enlisted extra help along the way. Of concern is some expert's attituds that women do not use anabolic steroids.  That would be a spurious position.

Kanika’s rise to the fame in a very short period had always raised suspicions, but she hadn’t failed a dope test till now. In fact, her record-breaking performance at a national level competition recently indicated that she was a certain medal prospect at the CYG.

According to a Delhi-based senior athletics coach, Kanika’s record-breaking performance of 50.80m during the School Games in Kolkata had impressed the officials of the Delhi Development Authority athletics academy, and she was inducted into its scheme.

Ex-world record holder Tim Montgomery will be running in place in jail a long time: Given 5 more years on drug charges

Once the world's fastest man, Tom Montgomery today will be facing 5 more years in a US federal penitentiary for drug charges related to heroin distribution.  This should slow him down considerably.  To the BBC:

Disgraced US sprinter Tim Montgomery has been jailed for five years by a court in Virginia for heroin dealing.

The former 100m world record holder had previously pleaded guilty to possessing more than 100 grammes of the drug with intent to distribute it.

He is already serving four years in prison for fraud and conspiracy offences.

Montgomery, 33, was banned from athletics three years ago after he was found to have used steroids.

That ban also saw him stripped of his 100m world record.

Another former sprint champion, Marion Jones - Montgomery's former girlfriend - was implicated in the cheque fraud.

She was sentenced to six months in jail for misleading investigators over the fake cheques.

Montgomery, once Marion Jone's spouse -- father to one of Jones's children -- continues his run through the underworld.  The IAAF stripped Montgomery of the world 100M record after his involvement in the BALCO doping scandal.  And, as mentioned, he is already serving a prison sentence for fraud.

Bulgarian runner Daniela Yordanova receives 2 year doping ban

Daniela Yordanova -- Bulgarian middle distance runner -- will not be running in competitive for 2 years, following the IAAF doping ban delivered to her today.  Looks like her testosterone spiked a little too much last summer; following the positive testosterone test she was forced to skip the Beijing Olympics.

Tordanova finished 3rd in the Euro championships in 2006 in the 1500M;  she also competed in Athens at 2004 Olympics and Sydney in 2000.  To ESPN:

Middle-distance runner Daniela Yordanova has been banned for two years for doping, the Bulgarian athletics federation said on Thursday.

Yordanova, 32, tested positive for testosterone or its precursors from an out-of-competition sample given on June 13 in Sofia.

"I'm really sorry that it's happening with Yordanova but I hope that she will be morally and physically strong enough to return to the track after the end of her ban," Bulgarian federation president Dobri Karamarinov said.

Yordanova, who finished fifth in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics and fifth at the European indoor championship in Valencia in March, was barred from competing at the Beijing Olympics, where she was expected to contend for a medal.

Her coach, Dimitar Vasilev, took responsibility for the drug test failure, saying it was caused by contaminated food supplements.

Bulgarian athletics has been marred by several doping offenses the past two years, with middle distance runners Vanya Stambolova and Teodora Kolarova, high jumper Venelina Veneva and hammer thrower Andrian Andreev all testing positive.

One more 'supplement' excuse.  Maybe WADA should conduct tests on supplements that make the approved list.

Greek hurdler Fani Halkia blames sabotage for positive steroid test

Resorting to the Ben Johnson sabotage defense, Greek hurdler Fani Halkia blames a malicious act for her positive M3 steroids test.  (Edmonton Sun)

Disgraced Greek hurdler Fani Halkia blamed a "malicious act" by unspecified people for a failed doping test that cost her participation in the Beijing Olympics.

The 29-year-old Halkia insisted that she never intentionally used banned performance-enhancing drugs.

"The action attributed to me is a malicious act by third parties that I was unaware of," Halkia said in written testimony to Athens prosecutor Costas Simitzoglou.

Her coach, Giorgos Panagiotopoulos, echoed that claim.

The 2004 Olympic 400-metre hurdles gold medallist was expelled from the Beijing Games after testing positive for the steroid methyltrienolone during an Aug. 10 out-of-competition test in Japan. She was the 15th Greek athlete caught this year for using the steroid.

M3 is a particularly liver toxic steroid.  Wonder how the third party injected the drug in her?

Suday steroid injections

1.  Dr. Charles Yesalis on PED use in the NFL.  (Wall Street Journal)

2.  Bangladesh bans weightlifter Satheesha Rai for life (The New Nation)

3.  Will VInokourov return to pro cycling after doping ban?  (Podium Cafe)

4.  Pro cyclist and Tour de France stage winner Ricco b anned for 2 years.  (The Star)

Presidential candidate Barack Obama disses anti-doping and steroid efforts in Congress

Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama took a huge swipe at anti-steroid activists today, perhaps tossing out some baby with the John McCain bathwater. From the WaPo:

...Obama suggested this morning there were more important things on which the government should focus.

"Kids are watching sports. They're modeling themselves on athletes," Obama said. "It's a serious problem, but it's one that you want to see the leagues themselves handle in a more appropriate way. We've got nuclear weapons and a financial meltdown to worry about. We shouldn't be worrying about steroids as much as I think sometimes we do."

However the candidate apparently wants government time spent on the NCAA D-1 football playoffs:

Although he says government should be more hands-off on steroids, Obama did suggest other sports areas in which his administration might meddle.

"I would have my attorney general investigate the possibility of instituting a college football playoff system through executive order. I'm tired of this nonsense at the end of every college football season," Obama said.

There is a fine use of government time.  Where do these candidates come up with their ideas (that had to be said tongue in cheek)?  Or perhaps this is all about taking a swipe at opponent Republican John McCain.

Let's remind the candidate about steroids and doping involved in the Mitchell Report, the Roger Clemens case, the San Diego Tribune NFL steroid scandal sheet, the on-going saga of Lance Armstrong, and the Olympic scandals.  Let's remind the candidate that often not much happens to combat doping and steroid use in the professional leagues (NFL, MLB) until the Congress becomes interested.  Let's remind the candidate that the US derives so much from Olympic involvement (generally the most benefit from the Olympics goes to NBC TV or whomever is broadcasting the event) that the country needs to get with the program in meeting IOC and WADA anti-doping standards.  Baseball will likely be eliminated because the leagues cannot meet WADA doping standards.

In most progressive European countries there are national anti-doping ministers at a governmental level.  Not the United State.  Most European countries also have passed sports fraud laws.  We sure don't hope that under an Obama administration doping and steroid awareness returns to the good old days of benign neglect or active ignorance.

Appearing on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" program, Obama did not mention the Arizonan by name. But the Democratic presidential nominee did make clear that he would steer a different course than McCain has in the past when he was asked "how much government should be involved with sports and performance-enhancing drugs."

"I gotta admit that seeing a lot of congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time," Obama said.

McCain has long been closely identified with efforts on the Hill to expose steroid use in baseball. In 2004, when McCain was chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, his panel held a high-profile hearing on the subject, and McCain's scrutiny helped force Major League Baseball owners to implement a new drug-testing policy.  McCain said the following year that the league "can't be trusted" to handle the issue on its own, and threatened to write legislation cracking down on performance-enhancing drugs. A House committee also held highly publicized hearings on steroids in baseball in 2007.

It does sound like Obama agrees with the opinion that Congressional time is better spent on 700 Billion dollar bailouts, which occur every day.  In fact that sounds like the more potent steroids are getting injected right into Wall Street corporate America.

Wish Senator Obama would read here about why Congress should be involved in steroid and doping issues.

Greek sprinter Tassos Gousis disputes doping with M3 -- methyltrienolone

Greek sprinter, Tassos Gousis, who found himself sent home prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing for doping, tells Greek courts his supplements must have been contaminated with the nasty anabolic steroids M3 -- methyltrienolone.  M3 appears to be as common with some Hellenic athletes as a Greek salad.  To the WaPo:

A Greek sprinter who failed a dope test days before the Beijing Olympics told a prosecutor on Tuesday he was not aware he was being given performance-enhancing drugs.

Tassos Gousis, 29, said he and disgraced 2004 Olympic champion Fani Halkia had presented a case against unknown individuals for putting their life in danger by administering the drugs without their knowledge, court officials said.

"Gousis said he didn't know anything about the supplements he was taking and that no athlete would put his career at risk days before the Olympics," a court official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Gousis had been due to compete in the 200 meters at last month's Games but failed a test conducted by the Greek anti-doping agency and had to return from a pre-Olympic training camp in Japan.

M3 in a supplement?  This steroid is particularly powerful and very nasty on the liver.  That would be huge news if M3 made it into a supplement, especially with so many Greek athletes testing positive for the steroid. Fani Halkia may show up at the trial too:

The prosecutor is expected to call Halkia and her coach to testify later this week, after their lawyer asked for an extension.

Jamaican Veronica Campbell–Brown turns tables: Suspicious of American Griffith-Joyner's records

We posted a host of stories casting doubt on various Jamaican sprinting records.  Today the tables are turned, perhaps the first time in a public way on Florence Griffith-Joyner's incredible 1000M and 200M records.  The astute athlete: Jamaica's Veronica Campbell–Brown.  From the Caymanian Compass:

Female athletes feel they are at a disadvantage to their male counterparts because many of their world records are out of reach, says Veronica Campbell–Brown.

The Jamaican star defended her Olympic 200 metres title in Beijing in a personal best of 21.74 seconds, which is 0.4 seconds slower than Florence Griffith–Joyner’s 1988 record. That is a huge margin in women’s sprinting, equivalent to around three metres. Many women athlete consider Flo–Jo’s times to be ‘men’s’ records.

“Everybody wants to watch a world record,” Campbell–Brown told BBC Sport. “The men enjoy all the glamour because they’re capable of breaking world records. Women don’t have that luxury.”

That does seem right: fans and crowds crave new records: bigger, stronger, faster.  More home runs, more speed, and a larger drop in the Dow Jones Average.

In Olympic track and field disciplines, the only women’s world records to have been set in the last 20 years have come in modified or recently added events.

Today’s competitors, in fact, are not even threatening the majority of records from the 1980s.

This has led many observers to suggest those records are suspicious and may have been achieved with the use of illegal, performance–enhancing drugs.

Of course the two records sitting out there are the glamorous women's 100M and 200M mark held by the equally glamorous Florence Griffith-Joyner, or Flo Jo.  It's been about 20 years since Flo Jo set the record in LA (with questionable tailwind), and 10 years since she died suddenly.  Those records stand, as opposed to almost all male sprint records which have fallen over the past 20 years.

Campbell–Brown said it was not for her to decide if any of the world bests were tainted by doping but acknowledged that serious doubts exist over the legitimacy of many women’s records.

Perhaps the most suspicious, and iconic, of those records is Griffith–Joyner’s 10.49 for the 100m.

The American smashed the previous mark by a staggering 0.27 seconds in the quarter–finals of the US Olympic Trials in 1988.  It was also a half–second faster than she had ever run prior to that season, and it came after a three–year break from the sport.

Aged 28 at the time, she would quit athletics two months later, shortly before the introduction of out–of–competition drug testing.

Ten years later, Flo–Jo died when she suffocated in her sleep following a brain seizure.  Her tragically early death fuelled the rumours of doping – rumours that have never been substantiated and have always been denied by her family and friends.

But there was another suspicious element to her remarkable 100m time, the long–held belief a faulty wind–meter failed to record a strong tailwind that would have ruled out her time.

Despite showing a helping wind of more than three metres per second for the rest of the day – a metre more per second than the legal limit – the anemometer recorded a wind of 0.0 m/s for Flo–Jo’s race.

“When I look at my personal best for 100m it’s 10.85,” said Campbell–Brown, the reigning 100m World champion.

“The world record is 10.49. For me that is very difficult to break. Rumour has it that the world record could have been wind–aided.

“The people in authority have the power to look at it. It’s been 20 years now and the closest anybody has come to it is 10.7 (the disgraced Marion Jones ran 10.65 at altitude in 1998).

“So it’s very difficult and I know a lot of people would like to see women break world records like the men do.”

Usain Bolt says he is clean. Answers Carl Lewis's criticisms

In a Reuter's telephone interview Usain Bolt says he is clean.  And who can argue with him?

The now famous Jamaican sprinter is enjoying the fame that comes with being the world's fastest man.  In this interview, Bolt addresses Carl Lewis, and details his future plans. (The Guardian).

Usain Bolt, who shattered the world record each time to capture Olympic gold in the 100 metres, 200 and 4x100 relay, dismissed speculation his sudden rise to supremacy was aided by doping.

"I know I'm clean. I work hard for what I want," the Jamaican told Reuters in a telephone interview on Friday.

Carl Lewis expressed his doubts;  Bolt answers.

"I'm still working with the fact he dropped from 10-flat to 9.6 in one year," American Lewis was quoted as saying.  "I think there are some issues ... countries like Jamaica do not have a random (dope control) programme so they can go months without being tested."

Bolt felt such speculation came with the territory.  "I know what he said," said the Jamaican. "To me it doesn't really matter what he said, a lot of people were saying that.  "When you run the 100 metres that's what you get. As long as you're fast they start saying that.  "It's like a trend. I'm trying to change that. It's a bad image for the sport.  "Carl Lewis can say whatever he wants. That's just his opinion."

Bolt says training for the 200 helped his 100 race.

Bolt said his 100 breakthrough was earned by hard training. "The 200 is also sprinting, that was key," he said. "The only thing I had to do was get my start right and I got my start right. "That's why my last 50 metres are so good because I've got speed and endurance."

Bolt also answers the doubts about testing.

The 22-year-old also rejected Lewis's comments about the amount of testing he had to go through back home.  "For sure we get tested in the Caribbean," he said. "They like to come to your house early in the morning."It's no  t cool getting up at six, seven in the morning when you're just trying to enjoy your sleep. But I know what it's for and it's fair. We get tested all the time.  "When you're in the top 20 in the world you get random tested. They get to know your whereabouts."

Bolt also discussed his future.

Bolt said he would continue to run the 100 and 200.  "In the future I'll probably step up to 400 metres," he said. "But it's a lot of work. I'm not ready for that kind of work."  Bolt also said he was looking forward to defending his titles at the 2012 Olympics.  "I'll be in London ... I hope it isn't cold," he said. "I'm looking forward to that.  "I can be champion again. I'll be 26 then. I have a lot of time on my hands. All I have to do is stay focused, train hard and be ready."

Thus, Usain Bolt answers his critics.  You have to like his straight-forward style, without dodging the issues.

Belarus suspends two athletes for doping: shot putter Yulia Leantsiuk and steeplechaser Irina Bakhanouskaya

As the Olympic world awaits a decision on the Belarusian hammer throwers, two more Belarusian athletes fell to doping suspensions yesterday: shot putter Yulia Leantsyuk (Yulia Leantsiuk) and steeplechaser Irina Bakhanouskaya. One used testosterone, the other Winny.   To PR-Inside.

Two Belarusian athletes were banned  for two years for doping after testing positive for banned  substances.

The Belarusian Athletics Federation said Tuesday the decision to ban shot putter Yulia Leantsyuk and steeplechaser Irina Bakhanouskaya was made last month.

Federation spokeswoman Nastassia Maryinina said tests taken from Leantsyuk on July 22 showed she had used testosterone. Maryinina said Bakhanouskaya had a positive result for stanozolol from tests taken July 21.

Both athletes competed in the European Cup in France in  June.

Kenyan 400M record holder Elizabeth Muthuka banned for nandrolone

Kenyon suspicions aroused when their champion 400M star didn't make the trip to Beijing were confirmed when it was announced that she was barred from competition for 2 years.  The runner tested for nandrolone.  To The Standard:

Sprinter Elizabeth Muthuka becomes the fourth Kenyan female athlete to get a doping ban after it was finally confirmed she failed a drugs test at the July 26 to 28 national championships.

Consequently, the athlete whose A and B blood samples tested positive for anabolic steroid Nandrolone, has been slapped with a two-year ban by Athletics Kenya (AK).

Also, her women’s 400m national record of 50.82 ran at the Olympic trials stands erased

This will hurt her in the pocketbook too.

Muthuka was also compelled to return the Sh10, 000 she was awarded for lowering Ruth Waithera’s record of 53.3 set in 1984 and all earnings from the track.

The athlete who had become the only female sprinter to qualify for Beijing raised eyebrows after her name missed from the 400m starting line-up as it emerged that she had not travelled to China.

"Yes, Muthuka tested positive at the national championships. We had to treat the matter in confidence because procedural things had to be done to avoid legal issues," AK secretary general, David Okeyo, said yesterday.

"At the national championships, six athletes were tested for drugs and only her results returned positive. We have forwarded her name to the IAAF. She now has to follow the full procedure if she wants to compete again," Okeyo added.

At the national championships Muthuka first lowered Waithera’s record to 51.56 to qualify for the Beijing Olympics before she set the 50.82 mark at the July 4 and 5 Olympic trials.

Muthuka is claiming nandrolone was part of a treatment, for which she apparently didn't obtain a TUE.

The secretary general added that Muthoka had taken a cocktail of drugs to cure her low haemoglobin (red blood cells) count but they contained the banned substance Nandrolone. "Higher haemoglobin count can also enhance performance and she did not apply to be permitted to take the medication." Road racer, Pamela Chepchumba was the first Kenyan female athlete to be banned for doping.

Others are Lydia Cheromei (Clomiphene) in 2006 and Susan Chepkemei (Salbutamol) last year.

It is true that occasionally nandrolone will treat anemia, but likely is not the first line of treatment.

Scandal trips the walking world: Five Russian race walkers stumble from EPO doping

One wonders if the high demands of elite race-walking haven't gone too far.  Like the Tour de France, race walkers are asked to endure physical pain and stress that leave them exhausted, broken and forever scarred from the incredible battles on the walk course.  So take this story in stride.

It must be because those Russians doped with super-PED, EPO.  This just-released banned list from the Guardian includes the world record holder Sergei Morozov, and the prior WR holder Vladimir Kanaikin.  (there was pre-Olympic talk about the doped up walkers and possible Olympic taint)

MOSCOW, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Five leading Russian race walkers, including a world record holder, have been banned for doping, the Russian athletics federation (RAF) said on Tuesday.

Sergei Morozov, who holds the world record in the 20km walk, Vladimir Kanaikin, Viktor Burayev, Alexei Voevodin and Igor Yerokhin were banned for two years each after testing positive for EPO.

"They all had failed a test for EPO and after a hearing by our federation's anti-doping board on Sept. 9, each of the five athletes was banned for two years," RAF secretary general Vladimir Usachyov was quoted as saying by the All Sport news agency.

(Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; editing by Pritha Sarkar)

It will be difficult for Morozov to just walk away from the world record...You can walk but you can't hide if you dope.

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.

Fani Halkia -- hurdler who used M3, methyltrienolone use -- to stand before Greek prosecutor today

1.  Fani Halkia -- elite hurdler -- will appear in front of Greek prosecutor in court for doping violations.  (Canadian Press) (The Guardian).  Many European counties will prosecute doping in the court system, or use sports fraud laws to combat sports doping.   (The United States uses drug enforcement laws, or money laundering to pursue drug-cheats).

Halkia tested positive in Beijing, suffering the humiliation of a send off from the Olympic Games.

Greek hurdler Fani Halkia appeared before a prosecutor on Monday in connection with her positive doping test at the Beijing Olympics.

The 29-year-old, who won gold in the 400 metres hurdles at the Athens Olympics four years ago, tested positive for the steroid methyltrienolone, better known as M3.

The prosecutor is investigating whether she and her coach George Panagiotopoulos, as well as sprinter Tassos Gousis -- who also tested positive in the build-up to the Games -- have broken Greek law by obtaining and using the steroid.

Following the hearing, Halkia said she had never deliberately taken performance-enhancing steroids.

"That is the one thing that is for sure. I know that better than anyone," she said.

Halkia was given until Friday to prepare her testimony. (Editing by Sonia Oxley)

The was talk of a Greek M3 conspiracy...

Beijing Olympics doping cases confirmed in Lausanne: Belarusian hammer throwers, and Polish kayak athlete await decisions on doping

Details of the International Olympic Committee dealings with residual doping cases from the 2008 Beijing Olympics have emerged.  As suspected hammer throwers from Belarus are under suspicion, as well as a surprise kayaking athlete from Poland.  To the IOC site:

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed of Thomas Bach (Chairman), Denis Oswald and Gerhard Heiberg, met today in Lausanne (Switzerland) on three pending doping cases from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The meeting was convened to deal with adverse analytical findings for Vadim DEVIATOVSKIY, Belarus, silver medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; Ivan TSIKHAN, Belarus, bronze medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; and Adam SEROCZYNSKI, Poland, who placed fourth in the men’s kayak double (K2) 1000m event.

The IOC Disciplinary Commission gave the two Belarusian hammer throwers the opportunity to provide further information until 17 October 2008. The decision by the IOC Disciplinary Commission will be taken once this information has been analysed.

The decision concerning the Polish canoeist will be issued by the IOC Disciplinary Commission on 8 October 2008.

The USA Today also carries the story about the Olympians in question:

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -The IOC has given two Belarusian hammer throwers more time to fight allegations of doping at the Beijing Olympics.

Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan, who won silver and bronze in Beijing, have until Oct. 17 to provide more information explaining why they tested positive for abnormal traces of testosterone after the Aug. 17 hammer final.

The athletes emerged after spending 3 1/2 hours Sunday with the International Olympic Committee's Disciplinary Commission.

"We are waiting and we hope," silver medalist Devyatovskiy said through an interpreter. "We know that we are clean but we are waiting for information."

The Belarus pair could be disqualified and stripped of their medals if found guilty of doping.

If disqualified, Devyatovskiy's medal would go to Krisztian Pars of Hungary, and Tsikhan's bronze would go to Koji Murofushi of Japan. Slovenia's Primoz Kozmus won the gold medal.

The 31-year-old Devyatovskiy faces a lifetime ban if found guilty of a second doping offense. He served a two-year drug suspension from 2000-02.

It would be a first offense for the 32-year-old Tsikhan, a three-time world champion and silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The commission heard a third case Sunday involving Polish canoeist Adam Seroczynski, who tested positive for clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent.

The 34-year-old Seroczynski was a bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games in the K4 class, but competed in the flatwater K2 class at Beijing. His 21-year-old teammate Mariusz Kujawski is not under suspicion. The pair finished fourth.

We don't know how this happened:

Seroczynski's legal adviser Ludwik Zukowski said before the hearing he would argue that the athlete did not know how the substance entered his body.

"We don't know how it could happen," Zukowski said. "The amount was so unbelievably small. Human beings don't use clenbuterol."

The disciplinary commission will rule on the Seroczynski case on Oct. 8.

The IOC carried out more than 5,000 doping tests at the Beijing Olympics.

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

EPO implicated in stroke study deaths

From the AP comes a report of a clinical study treating stroke subjects with EPO which found a higher death rate in the EPO group.  There will be a line in here about the link to sports doping with EPO; however looking at side effects in an elderly population suffering a stroke is far different than looking at side effects in an athletic population.

A blockbuster anemia drug made by a Johnson & Johnson company has been linked to the deaths of some patients in an experiment testing whether it could help stroke patients.with

J&J's Ortho Biotech unit said late Wednesday that it had learned of preliminary data from a study in which participants were being given its drug Procrit within six hours of suffering an ischemic stroke, in which an artery blockage limits the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain.

In the study, which was designed and initiated by a German scientist, more patients treated with Procrit died than in the comparison group receiving a placebo.

Johnson and Johnson released a PR statement, possibly to stem the criticism that pharmaceutic companies cover up deleterious side effects.

"Ortho Biotech chose to publicly communicate the results ... because of what we feel are potential safety implications," said company spokesman Mark Wolfe.

He said it is J&J's understanding that the idea behind the study "was based on data suggesting that patients suffering from stroke might benefit from epoetin therapy."

Epoetin alfa is the chemical name for the Procrit brand. The drug is also sold by another Johnson & Johnson unit under the name Eprex outside the United States, and Amgen Inc. sells it under the name Epogen in this country.

The drugs are all approved for treating anemia in cancer patients, people with kidney disease undergoing dialysis and some patients with HIV. They are not approved in any country for treating ischemic stroke patients. 

EPO, although frequently abused by athletes, is dangerous.

Strong warnings have been added to the package information for these drugs in recent years, as they have been linked to growth of existing tumors in some cancer patients and, at high doses, to heart complications and death.

The drugs work by stimulating production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Other versions, known as EPO, have been linked to doping by some athletes and banned because they boost endurance...

According to Wolfe, the study had been completed and preliminary data revealed a higher death rate.

Considering the report a few days ago of the ability of EPO to alter neuroanatomic structure, in conjunction with the information given above, this is a very interesting drug which appears to stimulate growth in a number of cell types.

Olympians in Beijing complain of spiked drinks: Where were Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson?

An Australian paper reports that at least one athlete claimed she fell ill in a Beijing bar with a spiked drink.  However, no evidence that the intent was to dope the athlete with a PED.

A number of Australian Olympic team members had their drinks spiked in a Beijing nightclub while celebrating the end of their competitions.

A female athlete - understood to be an archer - fell ill while at the China Doll bar, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has confirmed.

Another victim complained to Fairfax newspapers of suddenly feeling ill, vomiting and then passing out on a couch in the popular nightclub.

The attacks led to the AOC sending out a text message to all team members and staff, warning them to stay clear of the bar before the final weekend of the games, when most celebrations would begin.

"One athlete in particular thought she had her drink spiked in a bar and then the word went out that maybe we shouldn't frequent that bar," AOC spokesman Mike Tancred told Fairfax.

"It was fairly early on, but she had finished competition and that was the only reason she was in a bar."

As more athletes began celebrating the end of their Olympic campaigns, more reports of drink spiking emerged from the China Doll.

The AOC does not believe the alleged spikings were aimed at making the athletes fail anti-doping tests.

Paralympians last night received a warning about unruly behaviour, following the revelations of drink spiking.

We refer to the Ben Johnson charge that Carl Lewis spiked his drink with Winstrol.

EPO is BMOC in doping world

Erythropoietin (EPO) appears to be assuming larger and more important role in medicine, and in sports doping.  EPO, a natural hormone produced in the kidney stimulates (regulates) the production of red blood cells (RBCs).  RBC, by utilizing hemoglobin, carry oxygen loaded in the lungs to all the 'peripheral tissues' like heart, brain, muscles, gonads, etc..  Hemoglobin then captures CO2 --  a waste product from cellular metabolism -- to be carried back to the lungs where the waste C02 is exchanged for oxygen.

EPO can be abused by cyclists, and track athletes, based on the improvement of oxygen delivery to the muscles, and even the CNS.  However the use of EPO is dangerous, causing blood clots in critical vessels (like heart).

EPO became useful for the treatment of kidney failure.  Kidney failure can be caused by many diseases: hypertension, diabetes, genetic metabolic conditions etc.  Those patients suffered from anemia, treated with EPO.  From Medscape:

The use of erythropoietin (Epo) in treating anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has transformed the lives of millions of individuals.^[1] In the pre-epoetin era, patients had to live with the symptoms of severe anemia, multiple transfusions, and frequent hospitalization. Recombinant erythropoietin (rhEpo) was approved in 1989 for the treatment of CKD anemia. Widespread use of Epo in the management of CKD anemia ensued. Over the past 2 decades, the market for Epo has dramatically increased. It is now estimated that $22 billion worth of Epo has been sold.^[2] This vast market opportunity has not gone without notice in the pharmaceutical industry, and many Epo analogues and derivatives have entered the marketplace. These newer Epos are now grouped under the term erythropoietin-stimulating agents or ESAs. In addition, follow-on epoetins (FOEs), similar to the innovator epoetin, are now commonplace, particularly in emerging countries.

Here is a review of EPO's structure:

Epo is an acidic glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 30.4 kDa (Table ).^[3,4]       

The carbohydrate part of the molecule (approximately 40%) is composed of 3 N-linked and 1 O-linked glycan moieties. N-glycans are key to the biological activity of Epo; the addition of N-glycans into rhEpo increases the carbohydrate content and results in prolonged survival of the molecule. From a structural perspective, Epo has a basic structure like other cytokines (eg, the interleukins). It is composed of 4 amphipathic {alpha}-helical bundles. There are 2 domains located on Helix C and Helix D that are necessary for binding to the Epo receptor (EpoR). Following binding to the EpoR, a JAK2-mediated signal transduction cascade ensues (Figure 1). Epo's binding affinity is also critical to its action. Epoetin-alfa has a high binding affinity, whereas newer derivatives such as continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) have much lower affinities that are thought to contribute to the longer half-life of these molecules...

In the years following the launch of rhEpo, it became apparent that N-linked glycosylation increased the half-life of the Epo molecule. In 2001, darbepoetin, a longer-acting derivative of epoetin-alfa, was approved. In 2007, CERA, a derivative of epoetin-beta, received regulatory approval. Both darbepoetin-alfa and CERA have a prolonged half life compared with epoetin-alfa or epoetin-beta (Figure 2); these agents have been extensively tested in phase 2 and 3 programs and allow less frequent dosing of Epo in the management of CKD anemia...

If it means something to you, CERA is pegylated EPO:

CERA is a pegylated form of epoetin-beta. CERA is a 60-kDa molecule, approximately twice the molecular weight of epoetin-alfa.^[12,13] A large methoxy-polyethylene glycol polymer is incorporated into the epoetin molecule, essentially doubling its molecular weight compared with epoetin. This modification markedly prolongs CERA's half-life in humans to about 135 hours. In addition, CERA binds to EpoR more slowly than Epo. These 2 attributes result in CERA triggering the JAK2 Epo signal transduction cascade without being internalized. Consequently, CERA has more sustained biologic activity. CERA has been tested extensively and can be used less frequently than epoetin-alfa or darbepoetin-alfa -- it can be administered either once every other week or once monthly.^[14-16]

If you are a anti-doping agency you will not be happy to read that different ways to stimulate EPO are on the way.

Small-molecule Epo mimetic peptides (EMPs) provide a novel paradigm to stimulate Epo. EMPs are peptide sequences that bind and activate EpoR. For example, Wrighton and colleagues^[25,26] have identified a 20-amino-acid peptide (GGTYSCHFGPLTWVCKPQGG) that binds EpoR and has both in vivo and in vitro biologic activity. An example of an EMP that has entered clinical trials with much promise is Hematide (Affymax Inc., Palo Alto, California).^[27] This is a pegylated dimeric EMP that has no sequence homology to Epo but binds and activates EpoR. PEGylation enhances the stability and prolongs the half-life of the molecule (t1/2 of up to 60 hours). Hematide is now being evaluated in phase 2 studies both in renal patients and in patients with cancer.^[28,29] Other EMPs are also in the pipeline.

EPO can be a very effective performance enhancing agent.  Given the advances in the molecular pharmacology of EPO, it will be a formidable task to prevent EPO abuse in sport.

Jamaica Observer trashes Carl Lewis: Ad hominem to the maximun

Poor Carl Lewis.  He simply restates concerns about the new world records in the 100M, 200M, and 4 x 100M relay set by Usain Bolt.  Suddenly he is the butt of the ad hominem attack from a leading Jamaican newspaper, who accuses the Olympic champion and former world record holder of lying:

An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the man", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim. The process of proving or disproving the claim is thereby subverted, and the argumentum ad hominem works to change the subject.

It is most commonly used to refer specifically to the ad hominem as abusive, sexist, racist, or argumentum ad personam, which consists of criticizing or attacking the person who proposed the argument (personal attack) in an attempt to discredit tCathe argument. It is also used when an opponent is unable to find fault with an argument, yet for various reasons, the opponent disagrees with it.

Go to the Jamaican Observer to understand the ad hominem attack:

There's a measure of mean-spiritedness being exhibited by a few people in international track and field in relation to Jamaica's outstanding performance and, particularly that of Mr Usain Bolt, at the Beijing Olympic Games.

No sooner had the world slapped down Mr Jacques Rogge for his reprimand of Mr Bolt's celebration on winning the 100 metres in a new world record, we now have the xenophobic US Olympian, Mr Carl Lewis, raising doubts about the authenticity of Mr Bolt's outstanding achievements.

Catch the 'xenophobic' reference?...that's the begging of the ad hominem.  More...

According to a Caribbean Media Corporation report published in last Saturday's Observer magazine, Sporting World, Mr Lewis, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, raised strong doubts about Mr Bolt's performances in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay - all won in world record times - but cleverly stopped short of accusing the Jamaican sprinter of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

"When people ask me about Bolt, I say he could be the greatest athlete of all time. But to run 10.03 seconds one year and 9.69 the next, if you don't question that in a sport with the reputation it has right now, you're a fool. Period," Mr Lewis was quoted as saying.

Mr Lewis who, in the past, has used his stature as an Olympic champion to oppose the acceptance of Caribbean athletes, particularly Jamaicans, by American colleges, went further to try and smear Jamaica's drug-testing programme.

"Countries like Jamaica do not have a random programme, so they can go months without being tested," he fumed.

Then he delivered what he obviously believed would be regarded as some form of objectivity by saying: "No one is accusing Bolt, but don't live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect. How dare anybody feel that there shouldn't be scrutiny, especially in our sport."

Lewis's words are certainly not aggressive in accusing anyone of doping. He simply raises the question.  The Observer attempts to answer the question:

In fact, Messrs Bolt and Asafa Powell, as well as other leading Jamaican athletes, have said on more than one occasion that they do not fear being tested at any time. And even before they went into competition in Beijing, they were among the most tested athletes at the games.

In point of fact, Dr Herb Elliott, Jamaica's team doctor who is a member of the IAAF anti-doping commission and a man whose integrity has never been questioned, is on record as saying that he tested Mr Bolt 15 times between last November and December.

That doesn't really answer the 'testing question'.  What are the results?  And Dr. Elliott (right) appears to be a cheerleader for the athletes, not an objective observer.

Now the attack:

All this, of course, exposes Mr Lewis's lies which, we believe, are driven by envy and the fact that his own athletics career - during which he won nine Olympic gold medals - has been shrouded in suspicion.

Sometime ago, one US scribe wrote that Mr Lewis, despite his many triumphs, was never embraced by his country, neither did he become athletics' ambassador.

Probably his latest utterances, though baseless, are an attempt to grab a headline. Poor man.

Lies?  Lies?  What lies?  What suspicion on Lewis?  Good lord, ad hominem to the maximum.

Anyone distracted now?  Jamaica does not have a formal out-of-season testing program (although recent legislation may change this).  From the New York Times:

But Jamaica does not have an independent, out-of-competition testing program for its athletes, nor has it joined the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization.

Officials from the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field’s governing body, said they compensated for the country’s lack of testing by flying testers into Jamaica, where the I.A.A.F. conducted more out-of-competition tests than in all but four more populous nations: Russia, Kenya, United States and Greece.

Although no one was accusing Jamaican athletes of doping, many said the country should be doing more to ensure that its premier sport was clean.

“They need a testing program that starts with their juniors if they really want to play,” John Chaplin, the men’s chairman for USA Track & Field, said. “If you test, you will catch.”

Rather than strike back with ad hominem attacks, Jamaica should systematically test their runners.  Until then, expect more criticism.

Research shows EPO may improve cognitive functioning...but what about the short memories of doped athletes?

Interesting results from a medical trial at the Max Plank Institute found that cognitive functioning in mice improved with EPO, long abused by athletes for endurance tasks -- especially track and cycling.  EPO stimulates more blood cells allowing a greater capacity of the blood to unload oxygen in the tissues.  Apparently the drug, or a downstream affect of the drug enhances neuronal circuitry of memory functions.  To Barchester Healthcare News:

A drug which has been linked to athletics doping scandals may have positive effects on memory, according to a new study.

Research published in the open-access journal BMC Biology suggests erythropoietin (EPO) may improve memory due to a direct effect on neurons in the brain, as opposed to any effect it might have on blood production in the body.

According to scientists involved in the study, the findings could prove useful in the development of treatments for diseases which affect the brain, such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

The researchers revealed that treatment with EPO appeared to "increase the number of inhibitory circuits, which actually increases the efficiency of transmission of excitatory nerve impulses in specific neurons, resulting in greater short-term and long-term plasticity in memory pathways in the hippocampus".

Could the beneficial effects of doping with EPO have also improved the cognitive functioning of athletes who abuse the drug?  Seems their memories fail them at times, especially when they try to recall their drug use.  Must be the hippocampus, huh?

Hannelore Ehrenreich, of the Max Planck Institute, compared the enhanced memory function seen in mice with the dramatic improvement in endurance and muscular performance experienced by athletes who have used the drug.

 

Carl Lewis questions Jamaican dope testing, and questions Usian Bolt's 100M world records

Always controversial, Carl Lewis now questions the legitimacy of sprinter Usain Bolt's 9.69 100M world record Olympic sprint. From the London Times:

“When people ask me about Bolt I say he could be the greatest athlete of all time. But for someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don’t question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you’re a fool. Period.”

Like many others, Lewis pointed to Jamaica’s perceived lack of testing as the foundation for his suspicion. “I’m proud of America right now because we have the best random and most comprehensive drug-testing programme. Countries like Jamaica do not have a random programme, so they can go months without being tested. No one is accusing Bolt, but don’t live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect. How dare anybody feel that there shouldn’t be scrutiny, especially in our sport?”

As we pointed out several weeks ago, the disparity in testing among countries can be startling.  As the old East German doping machine demonstrated, a clever coach with a good lab can time the use of steroids or other drugs to aid performance, yet avoid detection.  Indeed, recent stories implicate contemporary Jamaican athletes with doping.

Lewis, who was allowed to compete in the 1988 Games in Seoul having been cleared by the IAAF after being accused of testing positive for banned stimulants, said that he was not singling out Bolt and also questioned the performance of Jamaica’s female sprinters. The IOC targeted the Jamaica sprinters for blood-testing when they were in Beijing and none of them tested positive.

Lewis also expressed his anger that Antonio Pettigrew, the American who testified this year to doping when part of the United States Olympic title-winning 4 x 400 metres relay team in 2000, had kept his job as a coach.

However, it is Lewis’s remarks about Bolt that will cause a storm in Jamaica. Herb Elliott, the Jamaica team doctor and a member of the IAAF antidoping commission, accused the US of peddling “condescending crap” at the Olympics. “They still think we don’t know anything down in Jamaica,” he said.

The issue is not what Americans think or do not think about Jamaica, the issue is enforcing integrity in a world that too often cheats.  The tracks records the past 40 years are clearly littered with drug cheating.  It's high time to clean track and field up.

Test the athletes, post the data online, and verify the trust.

Triathlon Olympian tests positive for doping: Dmitriy Gaag from Kazakhstan positive for EPO

Dmitriy Gaag, an Olympic athlete in triathlon from Kazakhstan  tested positive for EPO prior to the Olympics.  Interesting that Gaag tested positive at a meet in Des Moines Iowa on June 20th.  Apparently results banned the athlete from Beijing, although we are checking on this (He was listed in the pre-Olympic program).  (from Tri24/7)

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today announced it has imposed a two-year ban on Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ) after committing an anti-doping rule violation in an out-of-competition doping control test in Des Moines, United States on June 20th, 2008. The ban begins June 20th, 2008 and prohibits Gaag from entering or participating in any competition or activity authorized by ITU, its National Federations (NFs) and/or any other signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code.

Gaag's anti-doping rule violation was a result of an adverse analytical finding of recombinant erythropoietin (EPO), a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Following the notification of the adverse analytical finding of his "A" sample, Gaag exercised his right under the ITU Doping Rules to have the "B" sample opened. With the Olympic Games imminent, ITU opted to provisionally suspend Gaag, thereby forcing his removal from the men's triathlon competition start list.

The "B" sample was opened and analyzed using the ISO accredited methods. On August 19th, the analytical result confirmed the "A" sample and presence of recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) in the urine. In accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, ITU imposed the two-year ban on Gaag after he waived his right to a hearing. All of his results from June 20th to present will be removed. His prize money from the Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup was blocked and ITU administrative staff is currently contacting all affected athletes to make necessary prize money upgrades and adjustments.

Gaag was well thought of in Kazakhstan, maybe not any more.

Kazakhstan's primary Olympic sports are wrestling and boxing, so the 1999 world title in triathlon earned Gaag considerable recognition back home. He was named the "best sportsman" in Kazakhstan that year. His coach, Yuri Solovyev, was named the country's "best coach." Gaag received a special award, the order of "Parasat," by the Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev. With the award came a new car and a new apartment.

Drunken 'high' jumper Ivan Ukhov finds booze not equal to steroids

Russian high jumper Ivan Ukhov found that alcohol didn't improve performance in the high jump at the Athletissima meet.  Reportedly Ukhov downed Red Bull and booze during the meet, which did not improve his hops.  To IHT:

Track and field's ruling body wants Ivan Ukhov to explain his conduct at the Athletissima meet in which rival high jumpers said the Russian had been drinking vodka and Red Bull during the competition.

Ukhov failed with each attempt to clear the bar Tuesday before being asked to stop competing at the Swiss meet.

Ukhov was then stiffed by the meet organizers:

Meet organizers refused to pay Ukhov's expenses and have been asked to supply video evidence to the International Association of Athletics Federations.

"We will for sure ask for an explanation from the athlete about his behavior and ask that it is not repeated in the future," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said in a statement.

Alcohol is not classed as a performance-enhancing substance and is not formally prohibited in athletics competition.

That Red Bull, however may launch performance into another caffeine-induced universe...

Victor Conte's new book on BALCO and steroids not quite ready for injection

Victor Conte's new book promises to be an 'inject and tell' thriller about his BALCO days.  Called  "BALCO: The Straight Dope on Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and What We Can Do To Save Sports"  Conte plans to expose athletes like Marion Jones and Barry Bonds, as only he can.  Soon to be a major motion picture.  However, the New York Daily News reports a glitch in the Conte  mix.

Nasty legal warfare has broken out over Victor Conte's forthcoming tell-all book about his leading role in the world's biggest steroid conspiracy.

Skyhorse Publishing originally hoped to release "BALCO: The Straight Dope on Barry Bonds, Marion JonesTony Lyons. and What We Can Do To Save Sports" in September, but Conte's book may not hit shelves until 2009, said Skyhorse president

Conte has submitted the manuscript, but the imminent presidential election and other intervening factors have led Skyhorse to reconsider the timing of the book's release.

Intervening factors like defamation suits from athletes who might be named in the book:

Among the factors is an expensive barrage of defamation litigation launched against Conte by boxer Shane Mosley, one of the athletes whose BALCO doping regimens Conte promises to describe in detail, and Mosley's threats to sue the book's publisher.

Mosley's defamation suits have been a "distraction," says Conte, who has promised to retell anecdotes proving Mosley knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and EPO. (Mosley has said he thought BALCO's products were legal.)

Sugar Shane wasn't so sweet on the legal challenge:

In Mosley's corner is the aggressive New York attorney Judd Burstein, who narrowly escaped a hefty court sanction eight years ago for what a federal judge called "Rambo lawyering."

The most recent of Burstein's actions against Conte is a motion filed Wednesday asking a U.S. District Court in California to sanction Conte's defense attorney for submitting what Burstein called an "outrageous and entirely frivolous" motion to recover $75,654 in attorney fees from a defamation suit that Burstein initiated and withdrew.

Burstein showed the Daily News an Aug. 14 e-mail from Lyons in which the publisher floated the idea of canceling Conte's publicity tour and giving Mosley two or three pages in the book to "explain his side of the story."

"This is NOT a firm offer," Lyons wrote.

Burstein rejected Lyons' overtures. He has promised to sue Skyhorse and its insurers.

And you can take all this to the bank.

British 10,000m runner Kate Reed learns not to joke about drugs

Know how you cannot joke about bombs in an airport?  British 10,000K runner Kate Reed learned the hard way not to joke about drugs at the Olympics.  Her joke about morphine wasn't meant to be morfed into a problem; she found out that jokes about the 'sister' are not taken lightly. The Guardian tells us why:

The British 10,000m runner Kate Reed had her bedroom in Beijing searched on suspicion of possessing drugs, it has emerged. Reed, 25, finished 23rd at the Olympics and has blamed her performance on UK Athletics' insistence that she undertake a drugs and fitness test the day before the race after she had made a joke about using morphine to clear up an injury. It sparked the decision by British Olympic Association officials to search her room but no banned substances were found.

"Just two days before the 10,000m final she intimated to at least two members of the medical staff that she might take morphine to kill the pain," said UK Athletics in a statement. "It should be noted that this substance is on the banned list for in-competition testing.

"Both members of the medical team independently interpreted her comments to mean that she had morphine in her possession. Also, it should be noted that despite being asked on several occasions throughout the trip to declare her full range of medications, as is the norm, the athlete had failed to do so.

"Following discussions between UKA and the Chef de Mission, it was agreed that the athlete should undertake a doping test and her fitness be confirmed to alleviate further concerns."

Reed underwent a 2km fitness trial the evening before her 10,000m race. Reed said she had been talking to Neil Black, UKA's team physiotherapist, while having treatment. "I was not aware there were two medics there. We were just having a joke about my leg. I asked for a jab and we joked about taking morphine," said Reed yesterday.

Do not joke about morphine.  Do not joke about morphine.  Write that 100 times.

"It was said in jest. You would have to be rather stupid to [think] I wasn't joking. It wasn't until the next day at 10am that I was accused of carrying [morphine]. And I had not even said that in the first place.

"The doctor said he was in the room with me and Neil and said he overheard it. I said, 'For God's sake, it was hardly a sensible conversation and why didn't you ask me at the time?' "

The UK Athletics statement added: "Had the doping test, the room search and physical test not taken place to satisfy the various concerns around this case, Team GB would have been sending an athlete to the start line of an Olympic final with serious uncertainties and grave doubts."

As the Stones sang:

Here I lie in my hospital bed
Tell me, Sister Morphine, when are you coming round again?
Oh, I don't think I can wait that long
Oh, you see that I'm not that strong

Belarusian hammer throwers doping with testosterone? Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan under investigation for steroid use

The medals given out at the 2008 Beijing Olympics may not be totally settled.  Two Olympic medal winners reported tested positive for doping, and may in line for a major demotion.

RTE (and other media outlets) report that Vadim Devyatovskiy (below) and Ivan Tsikhan (left and left) -- Belarusian hammer throw athletes -- may see silver and bronze medals (respectively) go negative if their urine is positive.

The International Olympic Committee are investigating the Belarusian athletes who claimed silver and bronze in the men's hammer event in Beijing over alleged failed drug tests.

Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan tested positive for testosterone following the hammer final in the Chinese capital on 17 August.

The IOC will make an announcement on the pair after a decision has been reached by the executive board and disciplinary commission, who will meet at the end of the month.

Devyatovskiy, 31, could face a lifetime ban after already having served a suspension for a drugs offense in 2000.

For 32-year-old Tsikhan - three-time defending world champion, silver medalist in Athens and European champion in 2006 - it would be a first offence.

It appears the gold medal won by the Slovenian Primoz Kozmus is safe.

The gold medal in Beijing went to Slovenia's Primoz Kozmus (82.02metres), with Devyatovskiy 41 centimetres back on 81.61m and and Tsikhan a further 10 centimetres behind on 81.51.

Should the Belarusian pair be found guilty and disqualified from the Beijing competition, the Olympic silver medal would go to Krisztian Pars of Hungary (80.96m) and bronze to Japan's Koji Murofushi (80.71m).

                   

Olympian Delloreen Ennis-London, linked to HGH shipments, wins in Lausanne, Switzerland

Delloreen Ennis-London defeated Olympians Dawn Harper, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, and Lolo Jones at the pro track meet in Lausanne, Switzerland yesterday.  Someone check that girl for HGH.  Internet HGH to be specific.

Ennis-London has been linked to HGH and steroid deliveries to her house in Texas.  The Jamaican Observer says reactions to the news were mixed:

A news report on SportsIllustrated.com linking Jamaican Olympians Delloreen Ennis-London and Adrian Findlay to performance-enhancing drugs has received mixed reactions by readers of the website.

Mixed or not, someone should hold those Beijing and Lausanne blood samples on Ennis-London until a solid test for r-HGH becomes viable.  Look at her photo above.  Look at the typical bodybuilder photo to the right (Ronnie Coleman).  See the disturbing protruding abdomen in both track athlete and bodybuilder.  Suspicious.  (links between the protruding abdominal muscles of recent vintage bodybuilders and athletes are made to the internal organ growth supposedly caused by chronic HGH use).

The Observer comments more:

SI.com's readers were last night sceptical about the report.

"None of these people won medals... Keep digging SI," said one comment.

"Why is it that only America should win in anything. Why can't another country take home the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. America is not the only country with talented athletes. I do believe that had the American athletes won, this article would not have been written!" stated another.

Some readers were more ready to believe: "Bolt + Jamaica + HGH = Beijing Gold" one reader said, adding: "I said this looking @ Bolt's previous times. Tyson Gay was smoking him at the Worlds and then he shows up a year later in China knocking 1-2 seconds off his time? Hmmmm real hard to figure out. I never bought it, please.....".

Meanwhile, Llosa, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Toronto in Canada, is an investigative reporter for Sports Illustrated and told the Observer that he had been involved in a two-year investigation of the use of steroids in sport, especially baseball and said former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield had also been part of his investigations...

"The only reason I have the information is because I've been working for two years on the investigation about Internet doctors and pharmacies that sign prescriptions without seeing patient... these two are not the first," he added.

Internet PEDs...more on this connection to be exposed.

Two Jamaican hurdlers linked to doping -- HGH, estrogen, & androgenic steroids

Sports Illustrated linked two Jamaican hurdlers to performance enhancing drug deliveries (although the headline incorrectly says 'steroid ring'; the drugs including HGH which is not a steroid).  The hurdlers apparently trained in Texas:  Delloreen Ennis-London a female hurdler who finished 5th in the event at the Beijing Olympics, and Adrian Findlay, an alternate on the Jamaican Olympic team in the 400-meter hurdles. 

The revelation of any doping in Jamaican will bring people to thinking about the incredible performance of the Jamaican sprinters including Usain Bolt.  The logic is flawed: because Marion Jones doped we don't condemn Tyson Gay.

To the story:

Two members of the 2008 Jamaican Olympic track team received shipments of performance-enhancing drugs through an Internet distribution network, according to documents obtained by SI.

First, Delloreen London:

The documents state that between June 2006 and February 2007, two shipments of Somatropin (Human Growth Hormone, HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) were sent to Delloreen London, at a Texas address that traces to the athlete Delloreen Ennis-London; the birth date on the document matches the athlete's as well, though the document lists the person's gender as male. Ennis-London, 33, is a Jamaican hurdler who won the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2005 World Championships. In Beijing, she finished fifth in the event, but came within .01 of taking bronze. Though the information only pertains to receipt and not actual use of performance-enhancers, both drugs are banned for Olympic athletes.

Multiple attempts to reach Ennis-London through a variety of contacts, family members and organizations were unsuccessful. Ennis-London's husband, Lincoln, said Tuesday that his wife was racing in Switzerland and unreachable, but he confirmed she had ordered the drugs in June 2006 after consulting a physician over the phone about vaginal hemorrhaging she was experiencing. He said the shipment arrived when she was away at a competition and that she never opened the package. He added that the 2007 package arrived unsolicited and also was never opened. (Editor's note: Ennis-London was victorious in Switzerland on Tuesday, defeated Beijing gold medalist Dawn Harper of the U.S. with a time of 12.60.)

Fishy story.  No physician would prescribe an estrogen for a female without a pelvic exam, and probably a pap smear.  Too much risk.  HGH would not be indicated for hemorrhaging.

Now to Findley:

The documents also indicate that in November 2006, a shipment of Testosterone, Testosterone Aqueous, and Oxandrolone (an oral steroid) were sent to Adrian Findlay, an alternate on the Jamaican Olympic team in the 400-meter hurdles. The drugs were sent to a North Carolina address that traces to Findlay; the birth date on the document matches the athlete's as well. Findlay, 25, was also a member of the Jamaican team that placed second in the 4x400 meter relays at the 2008 World Indoor Championships. Findlay attended St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C.

Reached Tuesday in North Carolina, Findlay forcefully denied the allegations. "I've been running stable all my life," he said. "Trust me, I don't use steroids. I guarantee you it wasn't mine and I didn't order it. I have a theory how this was sent."

Sports Illustrated goes on to name the physicians who provided the scripts, although you gotta pay to talk to one (that's capitalism)

The prescriptions written in the name of Delloreen London were reportedly obtained through the Anti-Aging Group, a network of clinics that advertise HGH and testosterone treatments on its Web site. According to the document reviewed by SI.com, the prescribing physician was Victor Shabanah. On his Web site, Shabanah advertises himself as a "hormone therapist."

Reached through the Anti-Aging Group in Miami, Dr. Shabanah asserted, "Make an appointment if you want to see me," before abruptly ending the call.

Findlay's prescription was reportedly obtained through the South Beach Rejuvenation clinic, a Florida facility through which Major League baseball outfielder Jay Gibbons...According to the document, the prescribing physician was Daniel J. Hauser of Hollywood, Fla. Hauser did not return calls seeking his comment left at a home number and through South Beach Rejuvenation.

 

Greek athletes tried to cheat system with methyltrienolone: M3 Olympic conspiracy?

News from the AP today says that Greek athletes thought they could cheat the Olympic anti-doping system by using a little known -- but dangerous -- anabolic steroid called methyltrienolone or M3.  Early reports indicated Greek weightlifters used M3 to dope.  Later track athletes tested positive for the liver-toxic steroid (Halkia, Regas, and Gousis).  Although the Greek athletes thought they were cleverly cheating the system, they were really destroying their livers.

Over a dozen Greek athletes who failed doping tests prior to and during last month's Beijing Olympics thought a rare anabolic steroid would help them elude tests, a leading anti-doping expert said Monday.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had been on the lookout for cheats from Greece ever since the drug, methyltrienolone, turned up in the results of 11 Greek weightlifters in April, Don Catlin, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency's committee for science and medicine, told Ta Nea daily.

"The Greek case...involved the use of a particularly rare and dangerous anabolic whose use had not been officially recorded before," Catlin said.

"Whoever marketed it in Greece undoubtedly argued that it is not harmful and could not be traced, as only small quantities are needed for it to act."

In all, fifteen Greek athletes in three disciplines -- weightlifting, swimming and athletics -- have tested positive for methyltrienolone, severely embarrassing Greek authorities which on Monday tabled tougher anti-doping legislation in parliament.

Catlin is the UCLA endocrine wizard whose lab caught Victor Conte and the BALCO threat in the USA.  The Greek system appears to be acutely embarrassed, which may lead to reform.

"The (Greek) state wants clean athletes," Michalis Liapis, the Greek culture minister responsible for sport, told reporters.

The new regulations cut rewards for successful athletes to discourage drug cheating and toughen sanctions against providers of banned substances, corrupt anti-doping officials and sports officials.

The doping outbreak has already sparked a preliminary judicial probe here.

Among those caught is Fani Halkia, the women's 400m hurdles at the Athens Olympics, whose coach George Panagiotopoulos has now been sued by the IOC for causing damage to its reputation.

Can the athletes and coaches be this naive about the side effects of the drug, and the ability of the anti-doping effort to detect at least the more obvious of the steroids?

Do Jamaica and Caribbean nations feel cheated by other doping athletes?

A piece on steroids from a Caribbean chemist indicates that he doesn't consider Usain Bolt's records tainted, but holds some about past steroid-tinged Olympic records. That is an interesting twist on current speculation about doping in the setting of these records in track...and with some justification.   Here in the Jamaica Gleaner:

The games of the 29th Olympiad have just concluded, and what a magnificent spectacle they were! An abundance of world records, a super medal haul and the incredible performance of our athletes, especially Usain Bolt, made these Olympics extra special for Jamaica.

Results like these are probably long overdue and many fans feel that athletes were cheated in the past by competitors using banned drugs. Technology is levelling the playing field, however, and the detection of illegal substances is getting easier. From the list of banned substances, steroids are oftentimes the drugs of choice.

As part of my chemistry PhD studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, I made and used steroids. Not for biological use, however, as they were never taken into the body (verified from my 'not very muscular' 5' 11', 160-lb frame). Rather, my research focused on using steroids to study new reactions. The results of such studies can lead to new medicines and materials.

The author, a Ph.D, doesn't really discuss the effects of anabolic steroids on performance, but does add this:

As an aside, if one superimposes the steroid rings on to the Olympic rings, a rather snug fit becomes apparent. A Freudian slip? By design? Your guess is as good as mine.

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.

Ukrainian pentathlete Lyudmila Blonska banned for infinity

Tainted Ukrainian pentathlete and long jumper Lyudmila Blonska suffered a lifetime ban from track and field today.  Blonska, who blamed her coach/husband for the methyltestosterone in her urine was given the IAAF boot.  To the BBC:

Ukrainian heptathlete Lyudmila Blonska has been handed a lifetime ban after testing positive for an anabolic steroid at the Beijing Olympics.

The 30-year-old, who had already been stripped of her silver medal, was given the stiffest punishment because it was her second doping offence.

She was handed a two-year ban in 2003 after traces of the banned substance stanozolol were found in her system.

Blonska's coach and husband Serhiy Blonsky also received a life ban.

The heptathlete was thrown out of the Olympics after both her A and B samples had tested positive.

At the time she described herself as "shocked" by the positive result, and that she did not understand how the substance had ended up in her body.

Sounds like her hubby also suffered the major boot.

The heptathlon silver medal went to Hyleas Fountain of the US, who was moved up to second, with Russian Tatiana Chernova climbing into the bronze medal position.  (Superathletes)

Precious medals: After the USA disqualifcation, Nigerians mine gold

(Ed Note: Our former intern Jesse Temple contributed this great piece to the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World)

The 2000 Sydney Olympics featured great track athletes including Marion Jones and Michael Johnson.  Johnson's incredible athletic ability won medals for the US, cruising for the gold in the 4x400M relay with Antonio Pettigew, Jerome Young, and the Harrison twins.  Evan as there were wings on their feet, there were and chemicals in their veins...subsequently Nigeria will be known as the 2000 Sydney Olympics men's 400x4 gold medal winners.

The original silver medal in that race went to the Nigerians, a relatively unknown team with Jude Monye running a leg.  Here is his story:

The first thing visitors notice inside Jude Monye’s apartment is the large flat-screen TV resting on a shelf in the living room.

It’s not the TV itself that is so intriguing, but rather Monye’s reaction to what is playing on-screen, seemingly in a continuous loop.

It’s 2 p.m. on a scorching-hot August afternoon in Lawrence, and Monye has folded his 6-foot-3 frame into a sofa chair to watch the Olympic track races...

And as you watch the races with him, you get the feeling that even if these weren’t the Olympics, even if these races were taking place at the Kansas Relays, Monye still would be watching. He tells you as much.

“I just love track,” Monye says...

Jude Monye just wanted to run. He hadn’t even heard of the Olympics when he discovered his talent at 7 years old. His friends would dash across the dirt roads in Benin City, Nigeria, running until their little legs couldn’t take it anymore. Nobody in town could touch Monye in the sprints, though.

“Everybody would go look for somebody from the next street or block,” Monye said. “And I would beat everybody.”

He watched the great American sprinter Carl Lewis win four gold medals in the 1984 Olympics. Monye was 9 and spending the summer in Lagos with his Uncle Susu, a professor at the University of Lagos.

Cut to Sydney:

Nigeria’s runners qualified easily for the Sydney Olympics in the 4x400 relay. They were fast. Maybe the fastest relay team in the history of Nigeria. They won their semifinal heat in Sydney and bounded into the final with great confidence.

The finals were set. Nigeria would be in lane four, with the heavily favored United States team of Alvin Harrison, Antonio Pettigrew, Calvin Harrison and Michael Johnson in lane five. Monye would run the second leg of the relay, going up against Pettigrew. Nigeria’s team consisted of Clement Chukwu, Monye, team-leader Sunday Bada and Enefiok Udo-Obong, who would run the final leg.

Monye said the mood during the warm-up was strangely calm. Chukwu, Monye and Bada all figured this might be their last Olympic race ever, and they wanted to go out on top.

“I’ve never seen a group of guys be so determined to do something,” Monye said. “When I saw the four of us just playing around, so relaxed, in my mind I knew something special was going to happen.”

When Chukwu handed the baton to Monye for the second leg, though, Nigeria stood in fifth place. The U.S. already had made up ground on the outer lanes and took over first.

Monye broke down to lane one at the beginning of the back straightaway, slowly but surely closing the gap on fourth place. Pettigrew didn’t give any ground and maintained the lead for the U.S. In Monye’s final meters, he had come nearly even with both third-place Jamaica and second-place Bahamas as he handed off to Bada. But when Bada passed the baton on to Udo-Obong for the final 400 meters, a medal seemed out of reach. Michael Johnson was on his way to pummeling the competition. Jamaica’s Danny McFarlane — the same person Monye watched on TV in Beijing — had taken over second, and Bahamas’ Chris Brown held third place.

Monye’s mother, Priscilla Egbe, watched breathlessly back home in Nigeria as the stretch run unfolded.

“I saw that Nigeria was in fourth place,” said Egbe, who is staying with her son in Lawrence. “By my screen, I knelt down. I said, ‘God, I want them to get a medal. Let them take third at least. I don’t want them to be the last loser and finish the race in fourth.’”

And just like that, her prayers were answered.

Udo-Obong passed Brown two seconds before the finish line. Then, he blew by McFarlane at the line, dipping his head across one-tenth of a second faster.

Nigeria had captured a silver medal.

All four Nigerians embraced, joyously celebrating the accomplishment. They had finished the race in 2:58.68, a full two seconds behind the U.S., but good enough for the best time any African country ever had run.

“We all ran the race of our lives,” Monye said.

The Nigerians ran the race of their lives, and 8 years later were rewarded with the honor of their lives: the gold.

(more on why after the BALCO jump)

Follow-up on Olympic dope testing: Julien Donkley, and horses, and horse steroids

The Jamaican Observer reports Jamaican sprinter Donkley's 'B' sample came back as positive for Equipoise (boldenone).  Dunkley's positive tests are pointed out by Jamaican officials as evidence of an effective drug testing program.

The 'B' sample taken from Jamaican sprinter Julien Dunkley has returned positive, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) medical commission member, Dr Herb Elliot, has confirmed to the Observer.

Dunkley was implicated weeks before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after returning a positive 'A' sample from routine doping tests done at the National Senior Championships in June.

Dunkley, who placed sixth in the men's 100m at the championships, was subsequently withdrawn from Jamaica's Olympic team. He denied knowledge of any wrongdoing.

He was given five days within which to respond and request a testing of his 'B' sample, which has since returned positive for the anabolic steroid 'Boldenone', which was developed for veterinary use, mostly for the treatment of horses.

Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) president, Howard Aris, said that though he could not comment on the case itself, said the initial procedure had been followed.

2.  Another horse appears to be doped at the Olympics.  'Harmony's Mythilus' was given a banned anti-inflammatory drug like Alieve.  To the Denver Horse Examiner: 

The US rider Courney King-Dye's horse 'Harmony's Mythilus' tested positive for Felbinac (an NAIDs type drug - like Alieve). It is normally applied topically.

Upon first arriving into Hong Kong for the games the horse was treated for atrial fibrillation - because of the stressful trip.  He was treated by the US Equestrian Federation vet in the sanctioned clinic.

Courtney says she and her vets at home  had never even heard of the drug.  When notified, they spent all day Googling the name and trying to figure out  how it could have gotten into Mythilus' system. The only thing they can think of is that he came in contact with it during his treatment in the Olympic Horse clinic.

In other equestrian Olympic doping news,  the 'B' tests from the capsaicin scandal have also come back positive.  The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has scheduled a three member panel Tribunal for September 5-7 to decide if all of these horse and riders and their results will be 'deleted' from the Games.

   

Trelawny Yams may deliver a 9.0 second 100M to Usian Bolt, says Texas company

Usain Bolt's father says a steady diet of Trelawny yam must be the world record holder's secret.  And this Denton Texas company is right here to jump on the development.

Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt's father may be right -- an exotic yam called the Trelawny yam may be his secret to superhuman speed. According to researchers at USPlabs in Denton, TX, there is enormous scientific credence to Wellesly Bolt's claim that the Trelawny yam is in part responsible for his son's electrifying speed.

"Scientists have known for years yams contain high amounts of steroidal glycosides, which are naturally occurring steroid alkaloids," said Jacob Geissler of USPlabs. Scientists such as Russell Marker actually used the yam to first synthesize testosterone back in the early 1930's. They were able to do so because the chemical structure of the yam is identical to human testosterone. And, of course, all anabolic steroids are then developed from testosterone.

However Yam seems to be more the source for estrogen steroids.  If yams are a source of a steroid base, that compound should be converted to an strong anabolic testosterone-like biologically active steroid.  We digress...

Steroid like claims about yams, however, are nothing new. Bodybuilding companies have advertised yams in bodybuilding magazines as "natural steroid replacements" for years. But according to Geissler, these products never worked anywhere close to their steroid claims. "The problem for scientists is that we could never liberate all those powerful steroid alkaloids and make them usable, until now."

Geissler also claims "activating specific steroidal glycosides" are the "wave" of the future. "We just got finished with a clinical trial study on naturally occurring steroidal glycosides and the results were staggering. In just 30 days test subjects gained close to 7 pounds of lean mass and increased their strength by up to 30%. And these stunning results were achieved by very experienced lifters with past steroid use.

"What we were able to do is cleave the sugar molecule off the steroidal glycoside and liberate its enormous nitrogen-retaining effect," Geissler went on to proclaim. "And as everybody knows, steroids dramatically increase nitrogen in the muscle cell making it bigger, stronger and faster."

And of course this supplement delivers huge steroid benefits, without side effects:

So how is this new compound called USPLabs Prime working in the real world? According to expert trainer and conditioning coach to over 400 professional athletes, Jon Doyle (www.BaseballTrainingSecrets.com), USPlabs Prime is far superior to anything he's ever seen. "I'm using it on some of my pro ball players and they're getting huge steroid-like results with no steroid side effects. Some of them are getting so big and strong their agents have phoned me swearing up and down I'm giving them real juice. I had one young player who gained 13 pounds of muscle in 30 days and lowered his 60 yard dash time by .3 seconds!"

USPlabs is the first and only company to discover the extremely detailed process that activates these natural steroidal glycosides. USPlabs Prime requires a precise 37-step process in order to get it just right. "Mess up even one step in the slightest and you are left with an ineffective product. We've spent years researching this and we finally have it down to an exact science."

"I'd love to see how fast Bolt could run on USPlabs Prime. Maybe he could go 9 flat!"

A 9.0 100M from yams...better hope WADA doesn't include the yam on a banned substance list?  (more after the break)  But a 9.0 second 100M seems a bit more PR than justified at this point.

Daily steroid dose: Austrian hurdler banned

1.  Ex-hurdler Elmar Lichtenegger was banned for life Wednesday by the Austrian athletics after testing positive for doping twice since 2003.(IHT)

2. Briefing on male infertility, and steroids.  (C-Health)

3. Usain Bolt wants to get back on the track again (The AP)

The Marion Jones chess game: Secretly moved to San Francisco for the Trevor Graham trial

In a very interesting revelation, the New York Times today says that Marion Jones occupied a fine suite in the federal pen near San Francisco, just in case she was called on to testify in the spring Trevor Graham trial.  Queen to King's pawn.

Marion Jones was moved quietly from a Texas penitentiary to the San Francisco Bay Area in May by federal prosecutors who feared that her former track coach, who was on trial for making false statements in connection with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative investigation, would take the stand in his own defense, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Trevor Graham, the former track coach, never took the stand at the trial but if he had, prosecutors were prepared to call Jones in the hope that she would rebut his testimony.

As we know, the government earned a conviction in the Graham trial on one count of the three counts.  However, the prosecutorial team appears to have worried about the verdict, secretly relocating Jones to the Bay Area.

It is often risky for a defendant to take the stand in a criminal trial. But if Graham had decided to testify that he never set his athletes up with drugs, Jones, based on her plea agreement with federal authorities, would have provided a contradictory story.

Jones was one of the biggest stars Graham trained. When she pleaded guilty in October to making false statements about her use of performance-enhancing drugs, she said in court that Graham had provided her with a steroid from September 2000 until July 2001.

Jones, who won a record five medals in track and field at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, which were held in September 2000, said she thought it was flaxseed oil.

Although Jones said in court that she had never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs, her testimony could have proved embarrassing because she would have been open to more questions about her use.

Lucky for Jones, Angel Heredia's somewhat faltering testimony was enough for a conviction; further, Graham did not take the stand in his own defense.

Heredia testified in Graham’s trial that from 1997 to 2000, he provided growth hormone, a blood-enhancing agent and insulin for Jones and advised Graham and Jones’s husband at the time, C. J. Hunter, on their use. Heredia testified that he never talked with Jones directly, but he provided prosecutors with a fax from Graham’s home with Jones’s blood tests.

Testimony by Heredia and a statement by Hunter, which was described at trial by a federal agent, placed Jones’s drug use at least one year earlier than she has acknowledged. In addition, Dennis Mitchell, a sprinter who advised Jones in 1997, testified that Graham had talked with them about performance-enhancing drugs during that year.

The government prosecutors worked on the case long and hard, preparing briefings on Jones to rebut any possible Graham testimony.

Jeff Novitzky, the federal agent leading the steroid investigations, testified under cross-examination that he prepared a 29-page special agent’s summary report on Jones last year. The details and full extent of her involvement with banned drugs have never been made public.

Daniel C. Richman, a professor of law at Columbia University and a former assistant United States attorney, said that prosecutors always wanted to be prepared for the rare circumstance in which a defendant decided to testify.

“In an effort to rebut a defendant’s testimony, the government will often consider calling someone with the kind of baggage that Marion Jones brings to the stand in a last-ditch effort to attack the credibility of the defendant,” Richman said. “The government may also have brought her to the Bay Area just to try and deter Graham from taking the stand.”

Chess game isn't it?

The Tuesday Morning Steroid Dope: Joe Biden on steroids, WADA on Bolt, and life coaches on the Olympics

1.  Some people are not happy that anti-steroid crusader Joe Biden will be the Democratic candidate for Vice President (Anthony Roberts) (The New York Times)

2.  On the other hand some natural bodybuilder don't endorse steroid use.  (Natural Strength)

3.  The WADA general director David Howland, of New Zealand defends world record holder Usain Bolt.  (Stuff)

4.  This guy promotes HGH over anabolic steroids (Eumay.com)

5. Life coach says Olympic Games should ban any country with cheating athletes (Life Coaching)

It is for that reason that I propose drastic changes to the IOC policy on doping. I believe that the only way to ensure a clean, fair Olympiad is to disqualify any country who puts forward an athlete who tests positive for any drugs.

Some may call this idea extreme, but if having the responsibility for an entire nations olympic hopes being squashed is required to stop the ongoing problems of doping, then that is what what should be done.

6.  This ethicist is happy the Olympic are over. (Udo Schuklenk's ethics blog)

7. Marines selling steroids on base. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Why is Usain Bolt lightning fast: Drugs, doping, genetics, diet, training, slavery, or the lack of NFL scouts?

A number of journalists, experts, academics, and other contributors chimed in last week as Jamaica's Usain Bolt dominated the track world with 3 gold medals 3 world records, as a ton of electrons and ink discussed his Beijing Olympics performance and antics.  Here are some of the candidates for performance enhancement:

1. Diet: Chicken nuggets, and yams.  (The Mirror)

After the race Bolt gave the credit for his incredible stamina not to a scientific high-protein regime meticulously planned by a team of dieticians - but plenty of chicken nuggets.

He said: "I woke around 11am and decided to watch some TV and had some nuggets.

"Then I slept for a couple of hours more. Then I got some more nuggets and came to the track." Bolt's diet is typical of his laidback attitude summed up by the slogan on his nation's yellow and green strip that reads "Jamaica - No Problem."

Bolt's father gave credit to a childhood diet of yams.  However, Coed magazine says Bolt enjoys a Red Bull and a beer too.

2.  Environment: Train at home (Jamaica) and do not train in the stinking corrupt USA.  The Jamaican Gleaner.

GOOD HOME training - like good home cooking - never hurt anyone. And veteran track coach Dennis 'DJ' Johnson believes that developing track talent in Jamaica is the main reason for the country's remarkable showing at the Beijing Olympics.

Most of Jamaica's successful track athletes at the Games, including triple gold medallist Usain Bolt, train locally. At previous Games, that was not the case; many athletes came up through the college circuit in the United States.

"Here, they have better instruction, we have resources, sponsors," Johnson told The Sunday Gleaner. "The most important thing is, they're home where they're comfortable."

So BALCO shut down those nasty US colleges (no one ever reported BALCO supplied drugs to NCAA athletes).  (Also note Merlene Ottey tested positive for non-BALCO steroids).  Furthermore,  MVP trains athletes outside of Jamaica.

Some of Jamaica's greatest athletes, including Herb McKenley, Donald Quarrie, Bertland Cameron, Merlene Ottey, Juliet Cuthbert, Grace Jackson and Deon Hemmings, came up through the competitive US college ranks.

But, Johnson pointed out, the stench of drugs in American athletics has alienated sponsors and administrators in that country.

"Track and field in the (United) States is not what it used to be. The drug thing has scared a lot of the colleges," Johnson said...

Traditional track powerhouses like San José State (Johnson's alma mater), University of Oregon, University of Nebraska (Ottey's old school) and New York Tech have either shut down or scaled back their programmes in the aftermath of the BALCO drug scandal that resulted in bans for high-profile athletes like Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.

3.  Doping: Speaking of BALCO, Victor Conte suspects something fishy in those Island runners:

On December 12, 2007, I advised WADA's Dick Pound to routinely send disguised drug testers to Jamaica, and to begin doing so immediately. I had received information about a specific drug supplier - WADA received this person's name, address and phone number - who was allegedly working with elite track athletes. I also explained to Pound the importance of "offseason" testing and that testing at competitions is ineffective. The offseason is when athletes use anabolic steroids in conjunction with intensive weight training and develop the explosive strength base that serves them throughout the competitive season.

Bolt and the Jamaicans claim (complained) they have been extensively drug tested...at the Olympics Games.  Note that Jamaica didn't have  national drug agency until days ago.

(More on the Jamaican Need for Speed after the jump:  Genetics, Slavery, and Choice of sport.  However we would note that the doping controversy will continue until the IAAF and the IOC actually schedule the tests (including random off-season testing), then publish the results for all competitors..which won't eliminate the untestable drugs like HGH)

Brazilian Maurren Higa Maggi, once banned for anabolic steroids, wins womens long jump at the Olympics

Ah, the comeback trail, some love it some hate it.  Comeback from a steroid or doping suspension and your country cheers you but the competition jeers you.

Brazilian Maurren Higa Maggi (below left) lived through a suspension in 2003 when she tested positive for the anabolic steroid Clostebol.  However Maggi fought the suspension, claiming the drug entered her body through a hair removal cream, or a doctor's ointment.  She lost to the IAAF, which derailed her training.  However the Brazilian athlete started training again, which was rewarded by a gold medal in Beijing 2008 in the long jump.  This is not popular with her competitors, including the UK's Jade Johnson (below right).  To the Guardian:

Jade Johnson, Britain's No1 long jumper, was left angry and frustrated after the Olympic gold medal was won by a woman who has previously tested positive for drugs. Johnson was never in touching distance in the final, finishing seventh with 6.64m as the Brazilian Maurren Higa Maggi triumphed with 7.04m from her first attempt.

Five years ago, Maggi, 32, failed a test for the anabolic steroid Clostebol, although she was later cleared by the Brazilian Athletics Federation. She claimed that the substance was in her hair-removal cream. The International Association of Athletics Federations refused to ratify the acquittal and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but Maggi, who had been sentenced to a two-year suspension, did not attend the hearing and served the suspension. "The more annoying thing for me was that she came back and won the Olympic Games," said Johnson. "That is the most annoying thing for me - ever.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed back, regardless. I still would only have come sixth but the girls a few down the line would have got a medal. I was hoping anyone would beat her.

"People should be banned for life if they take drugs. Simple as that. Two years is not long enough. I am sure you must still have it in your system and you must still have benefits.

"It's really frustrating when you train really hard. I didn't give my best today but if I was the girl in fourth place I would be really angry right now. You train really hard, you put everything in, you make sacrifices in everything."

Johnson's point is legitimate.  Again, there is evidence that the use of an anabolic steroids causes long term changes in the musculature.  Therefore a doper's advantage continues over the years.  Maggi answers this way:

"You know what, doping happens," Maggi said. "It was a bad accident for me. I knew I still have things to do. Today I came with gold, it is unbelievable."

Bad accident, or  a scheme for cheating.  Should athletes caught doping be banned for life from sport?

USA government hands off Marion Jones from a Fort Worth prison to a San Antonio community center

Marion Jones is being relayed from the federal pen in Fort Worth to a more community based center in San Antonio.  Interesting that Jones's transfer occurs during the last few days of the 2008 Olympics.  Existentialists may reflect on the paradox that 8 years ago Jones enjoyed absolute adulation in Sydney during the 2008 Olympics. 

Over the course of her years she passed around 160 doping tests with only one 'A' sample positive.  Jones steadfastly denied use of performance enhancing drugs for years, even initiating lawsuits against accusers like Victor Conte.  However Jones apparently used anabolic steroids, HGH, insulin, T3, and EPO.

In the performance intensive world of Olympic sports we should all keep Jones's progression in mind, when thinking if certain athletes dope or use steroids.  In 2008 how many adults would have said Marion Jones was a doper?  To the AP.

Former U.S. track star Marion Jones has been moved from a federal prison in Fort Worth and will serve the remainder of her sentence in San Antonio.

The disgraced Olympic star was sentenced to six months in prison in January for lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and a check-fraud scam.

Jones also was ordered to do 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley says Jones was transferred to a community corrections center in San Antonio on Tuesday.

The Dallas Morning News reported Friday the transfer is part of the process toward the Sept. 5 scheduled release of Jones. She entered prison in early March.

President Bush has not acted on requests, on behalf of Jones, to commute her sentence.

Jones repeatedly denied that she used performance-enhancing drugs, then admitted last October she lied to investigators in November 2003.

The lazy bum leaves the lid up and underwear on the floor too: Disqualified Lyudmila Blonska blames husband/coach for steroids

Damn those men.  Damn those husbands.  Sleep all day.  Watch porno.  Leave the lid up and clothes on the floor.  Banned Ukrainian heptathlete Lyudmila Blonska blames her coach her husband her coach her husband for her steroid mess.  (to ESPN)

Lyudmila Blonska was stripped of her Olympic heptathlon silver medal Friday, the highest-profile athlete kicked out of the Beijing Games so far for doping.

Blonska, who blamed her coach and husband for the positive test, also was dropped from Friday's long jump final after finishing third in qualifying earlier in the week.

The 30-year-old Blonska faces a lifetime ban for a second doping offense. She was suspended from 2003-05 for using the steroid stanozolol.

Blonska's backup "B" sample came back positive Thursday.

The IOC also reserved the right to take sanctions against Blonska's coach and husband, Sergei Blonsky.  (or Sergei Bonska)

As Hillary Clinton's problems stemmed from Bill, Lyudmila's stem from Sergei:

The IOC said she expressed "shock" at the results and couldn't understand how the banned substance wound up in her system. Though she apologized and said she felt ashamed, Blonska blamed her husband, who has served as her coach for five years, for the failed doping test.

"She expressed that she trusted him to take care of her training and diet," the IOC said. "She indicated that they had expressly agreed that she would not take any prohibited substances. However, her relationship with her husband was currently conflictual."

The 'other women 'chime in:

Blonska's expulsion was welcomed by Carolina Kluft, the 2004 Olympic heptathlon champion who finished ninth in the long jump Friday.

"She doesn't deserve my thought," the Swede said. "I am just happy she got caught and is out of the sport forever."

Britain's Kelly Sotherton, who moves up to fourth in the heptathlon results, had complained for months that Blonska should be barred from the Olympics because of her previous doping record.

"It's great news, even if it's quite negative," she said. "It's great news for my event and the other girls, especially as there was a medal on the line and hopefully that's the last of her. I won't have to talk about her again or compete against her again."

Maybe Sergio just wanted to inject some spark into the marriage again...(androgens increase female libido)

Morning Steroid Dose: Testosterone surprisingly makes males men

1. The New York Times reports that the difference between men athletes and women athletes is testosterone.  Incredible.

2.  Chinese super gymnast He Kexin is really 14.  Another surprise.  (Stryde Hax)

3.  It's official, IOC strips Lyudmila Blonska, of her medal that is.  (Fox)  Blonska was humble in response.

Blonska, who blamed her coach and husband for the positive test, also was dropped from Friday's long jump final after finishing third in qualifying earlier in the week.

Too much testosterone?

4.  Father Raymond De Souza remembers the 1998 baseball season.  No confession given.  (The National Post)

5.  Just in, the IOC gave birth to a 16 year-old Kexin He.  (Fan IQ)

Thursday evening steroids injection: Media never satisfied with dope testing, Liudmyla Blonska again

1. ABC News is complaining about the few positive dope tests in Beijing 2008.  How about all these athletes who were culled out before the Olympics?  (ABC News)

With four days to go before the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, only five athletes have tested positive for doping.

By comparison, 26 athletes were caught cheating at the Athens Games in 2004. And International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge had predicted that 30 to 40 athletes would fail doping tests during the 2008 Games.

To the optimists, this year's figure looks like progress.

But to the cynics -- and several anti-doping researchers -- it's an indication that the dishonest athletes may simply be getting better at avoiding detection.

2.  The Globe and Mail awards their excellence in doping to the Ukraine's Liudmyla Blonska.

Kudos to Ukraine as it shoots to the top of our Excellence in Doping medals table. Its star heptathlete Liudmyla Blonska (sometimes: Lyudmila) stands to lose her her silver medal after testing positive for a steroid.

What am amazing achievement for Blonska, a supremely skilled performance-enhancer, who has been busted not once but twice. She was given a two-year international athletics ban after she was caught taking a steroid in 2003 and yet, through sheer strength of will, managed to resurrect her doping career in time for Beijing. Now that's a story worthy of an NBC athlete profile in soft focus with tinkly piano music in the background.

A few grumps have raised the question of why she was she allowed to take part in the Games. The IOC has been urged many times to ban doping cheats for life from Olympic events, but has failed to do so.

3.  Not to butt in, but the Times of India asks 'Why do our athletes bring up the rear?'

German Olympic sprinter cynical about Superhuman Usain Bolt

German Olympic sprinter Tobias Unger appears not to buy what Usain Superman Bolt is selling.  Unger put down a 10.46 in the first round, then a 10.36 in the second.  Needless to say that was not in the same stadium as Bolt's 100M times.  (BILD.DE)

German sprinter Tobias Unger (29) called the Olympic 100m men’s final a “farce” and cast doubt on the legitimacy of superstar Usain Bolt’s win.

Unger voiced his complaints about the Jamaican sprinter to BILD sport, saying: “Bolt didn’t even warm up for the semi final. He showed up in shorts and jogging shoes, did his pickups and practice starts, put on his spikes and then ran the 100m in 9.92 seconds.

“Bolt ran a time of 9.8 seconds in May and again at the end of September. He showed no tiredness during training,” an annoyed Unger added.

“They do whatever they want on their island. Nothing happens to them. I’m the only one here at the Olympics who is registering with the doping controllers.”

Bolt apparently didn’t even know how to fill out the doping forms. The American sprinters’ coaches actually laughed when they heard about German doping controls.

Unger, who was cut in the semi-finals, threatened to quit: “I just don’t have the desire anymore.”

Sour grapes, or right on?

Unger studied sports science in Germany, so he knows a few things or two.  His 100M PR is 10.22, and 200 is 20.20

One, two, three strikes may not be out, at the Olympics doping game

A significant number of Olympic athletes compete in 2008 even after serving doping suspensions in the past.  The athlete most visible this week, the Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska(left) served a 2 year suspension for using stanozolol (Winstrol), however apparently repeated her error only utilizing methyltestosterone this Olympics.  Blonska won the silver medal in the heptathlon; she also positioned herself to medal in the long jump.

Although the UK's Kelly Sotherton spewed particular vitriol for Blonska, joined by her countrywoman Denise Lewis, the Ukrainian comeback is not isolated.  We count many Olympians competing despite past doping and steroid violations.  In some athlete's cases the violations are (somewhat) explainable; in other's the athlete simply served time.  Many won medals.

Britain's Christine Ohuruogu served one year of a possible two year ban, and overcame the lifetime UK Olympic ban on doping athletes.  Ohurugu won appeals in the UK, and with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Tunesia's Oussama Mellouli, who swam at the University of Southern California, should send flowers to FINA, the governing agency of swimming for giving him only an 18 month bad for a positive Adderall test.  Mellouli claimed he took Adderall to study for a test at USC (with Reggie Bush?).  Mellouli swam to a gold medal in the men's 1500 freestyle.

American's Demu Cherry (100M hurdles) and Torri Edwards (100M) back from doping suspensions made their event finals, however did not medal.  American triple jumper Kenta Bell finished in the top 15 in long jumping.

Katerina Thanou, long associated with presumed doping, and a scheme to miss a doping test in Athens 2004, was scheduled to attend Beijing, then sent home for a long time out.

Valariy Borchin won gold in race-walking when his fellow countryman, the world record holder tested positive for EPO.  Borchin himself served a one year suspension for ephedrine.

Five years ago Brazilian Maurren Higa Maggi, 32, failed a test for the anabolic steroid Clostebol' ; she won the long jump in Beijing.

Many athletes slip under the steroid radar after their first offense.  We found a number of Americans Beijing 2008 Olympians who used PEDs ranging from a mild cold medicine, to meth, to an anabolic steroids.  Who said no one never gets a second chance?

Sadam Ali           Male        USA	Boxing	        Cathine
Torri Edwards	    Female	USA	Track and Field	Niketamide- Stim
Damu Cherry	    Female	USA	Track and Field	nandrolone
Kenta Bell	    Male	USA	Track and Field	Methylprednisone (3 Mo)
Hazel Clark	    Female	USA	Track and Field	Pseudoephedrine- Stim
Amber Neben         Female      USA     Road Cycling   19-norandrosterone
Steven Lopez        Male        USA     Judo(Light/Welterweight) meth
Oussama Mellouli    Male	Tunisia	Swimming	amphetamines- Stim
Merelene Ottey	    Female	Jam/Slov Track and Field Nandrolone (although won appeal)
Christine Ohuruogu  Female      Great Br Track and Field Missed 3 Tests
Peter Cousins       Male         GBR     Judo           Missed 3 tests
Marko Strahija      Male        Croatia  Swimming       Loves HCG (twice)
Natalya Sadova      Female      Russia   Field events   Caffeine, anabolic steroid
Eric Lamaze         Male        Canada   Horse          Cocaine, twice
Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim Male     Malaysia Weightlifting  Anabolic steroids
Marcelo Melo        Male        Brazil   Tennis         Isometheptene (2 Mo suspension)
Andrew Bree         Male        Ireland  Swimming       Vick's vapor (warning)
Ali Saidi-Sief      Male        Algeria  Track, 5000    Nandrolone
Maurren Higa Maggi Female       Brazil   Track, LJ      Clostebol

Note: In some cases the former doping may significantly affecting future events, if an anabolic steroid was used.  There is evidence that the benefits of anabolic steroids extends well past the use period.