A question for those posters living in Europe

[Jangle]

We here on this side of the pond and Jamaicans in particular, because T&F is so close to our hearts and pride, see these drug "bust" as a big thing. How is this latest news being viewed in Europe where T&F is more popular? Did the latest news about American baseball drug bust receive much air time? Why are we hearing about drug "busts" in football where the money is heavier? Is there a different banned substance list from WADA regarding the various professional sports?

[Jangle]

Gay, Powell positive tests shot in arm for anti-doping program


Renowned sprinters face suspension for positive drug tests

The Associated Press

Posted: Jul 15, 2013 8:58 AM ET

Last Updated: Jul 15, 2013 9:34 AM ET


Tyson Gay, left, and Asafa Powell, right, face suspension from the IAAF for positive drug tests. (Alain Grosclaude/Getty Images)



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Canadian trainer linked to drug raid on Jamaican sprintersGay, Powell test positive for banned substancesPHOTOS: IAAF Diamond League


Track and Field stars fail doping tests1:32
The International Association of Athletics Federations says the credibility of its anti-doping program has been "enhanced, not diminished" after high-profile sprinters Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay returned positive tests for banned substances.
Gay, a former world champion who won the 100- and 200-metres at U.S. nationals last month, said he would pull out of the upcoming world championships.
Powell, who held the world record in the 100 until Usain Bolt lowered it in 2008, and Olympic gold medallist Sherone Simpson also face suspension after failing tests at the Jamaican championships last month.
Suspended Sponsorship

Adidas has suspended its sponsorship of Tyson Gay.
The sportswear giant acted a day after Gay disclosed that a banned substance was detected in an out-of-competition test in May and he had pulled out of next month's world championships in Moscow.
"We are shocked by these recent allegations, and even if we presume his innocence until proven otherwise, our contract with Tyson is currently suspended," Adidas said in a statement.
The 30-year-old Gay, the American record-holder in the 100 metres, has been backed by Adidas since 2005.
"During this time, he has been a great ambassador for the sport of track and field and our brand," Adidas, which is based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, said.
The shoe and sports clothing maker is invoking the clause in Gay's contract relating to doping.
"Adidas has a clear policy on doping and drug use," the company said. "Each of the agreements with our athletes include a clear clause which states that the agreement shall be terminated by Adidas if the athlete is found guilty of the possession or use of drugs or any other prohibited substance by the relevant governing sports body having jurisdiction over the athlete."
— The Associated Press

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said the governing body for track and field does not comment on pending cases, but added that the fight against doping "is enhanced, not diminished, each time we are able to uncover a new case."
"The IAAF's commitment to anti-doping in athletics is unwavering because we have an ethical obligation to the majority of athletes who believe in clean sport," Davies said in a statement. "The fact that we are able to detect and remove from the sport athletes who have breached our anti-doping rules should be seen in this context."
The sport was thrown into turmoil on Sunday when news emerged of the failed tests by such high-profile athletes.
The 30-year-old Powell called for an investigation into how a stimulant called oxilofrine entered his system.
"I am not now — nor have I ever been — a cheat," Powell posted on Twitter.
Simpson, who tested positive for the same stimulant, said she "would not intentionally take an illegal substance of any form into my system."
The positives recorded by Powell and Simpson are part of a bigger doping crisis hitting Jamaica, the home of Bolt and a country which has dominated sprinting medals at recent Olympics.
In Sunday's editions, The Gleaner newspaper of Jamaica reported that five athletes had tested positive. Paul Doyle, the agent who represents Powell and Simpson, confirmed to the AP that his sprinters were among them. Shortly after Doyle's confirmation, Powell and Simpson each released statements acknowledging the positive tests.
The news came a month after another Jamaican Olympic gold medallist , Veronica Campbell-Brown, tested positive for a banned diuretic.
Campbell-Brown is being suspended while a disciplinary panel reviews her case. She has denied cheating.
'I was let down'

Gay, who won world championships in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay in 2007, previously took part in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's "My Victory" program, in which athletes volunteer for enhanced testing to prove they're clean, and his results never raised red flags until an out-of-competition test on May 16.
"I don't have a sabotage story," Gay said in a telephone interview. "I don't have any lies.
"I don't have anything to say to make this seem like it was a mistake or it was on USADA's hands, someone playing games.
"I don't have any of those stories. I basically put my trust in someone and I was let down."
Neither Gay nor the USADA revealed the banned substance at the centre of the positive sample.

[Jangle]

Does something sounds familiar here:



From ESPN, the magazine (July 31, 2006, page 10)
http://mag.espn.go.com/ActiveMagazin...ection=ESPN_AM

Pound lost an election to replace the retiring Samaranch as IOC leader in 2001, Since then, it's not hard to see him as an increasingly bitter man. Over the past couple of years, he's made a number of provactive - even outlandish - statements. He caused a meltdown in the NHL in November by suggesting that a third of its players had used drugs without offering proof. After Italian police raided the rooms of Austria's Nordic skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Pound told reporters that blood-doping gear had been confiscated. He spoke too soon; the Austrians were cleared, and one coach sued Pound for defamation.

In 2004 scientist at a WADA-accredited French Lab were studying a new way to detect oxygen-boosting EPO in urine, using frozen samples from the 1999 tour. When some turned up positive, Pound demand coded numbers for the athletes who had provided them, even though WADA rules stipulate that specimen-givers remain anomyous.

Information on the positive tests were leaked in the spring of 2005 to a reporter for L'Equipe who printed the findings in August after matching the codes to Armstrong. In October 2005 cycling officials tapped Emile Vrijman, former head ot the Netherlands anti-doping agency, to untangle the mess. His report, made public May 31, describes two major problems with Pound's role: First L'Equipe was able to get the story only because Pound demanded the codes (A UCI officer reportedly leaked them). Second, even as he was denoucing Armstrong, Pound had to know the findings were scientifically shaky: There wasn't enough urine to complete the required backup test. Wada doesn't recognize retroactive testing anyway and there was no "chain of custody ... [or] protection against samples have been spiked with r-EPO ..."

Suggesting the results showed evidence of doping, concluded Vrijman was "irresponsible."

Pound dismissed the document, calling it "so lacking in profressionalism and objectivity that it borders on the farcical." But no one who reads it carefully can possibly agree.

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[Jangle]

Drug cheats vs true athletic potential

Published: Sunday | August 19, 2012 3 Comments



Glenn Tucker , Contributor
The entire diaspora is still excited about the performance of our athletes at Olympics. Unfortunately, some persons, like former International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive Dick Pound and Olympian Carl Lewis, insist on pouring cold water - and some mud - on our athletes and the sports programme.
Dick Pound, a lawyer by training, claims that Jamaican athletes are "difficult to find and test". A Canadian, he was still celebrating Ben Johnson's victory three days later when his boss, the president of the IOC, Juan Samaranch, burst into the celebration room shouting, "Dick, Dick, did you hear what happened?"
"What?" Pound replied. "Someone has died?"
"No, worse. Ben Johnson has tested positive."
Pound took Johnson aside and after being assured by Johnson that he was innocent, he decided to be his legal representative. But the evidence was too overwhelming and Johnson was found guilty. There are those who claim that the experience left Pound an incurable cynic.
Historians hail Carl Lewis as one of the greatest athletes in the world. He is known for his records in running and the long jump. In 2003, however, long after the medals and endorsements, a former medical director of the US Olympic Committee released documents proving that Carl Lewis had tested positive for banned substances - repeatedly - before the 1988 Olympics.

'WHO CARES?'
Lewis claimed the results were caused by dietary supplements and was forgiven. What they failed to ask him was how his training partners, Heard and DeLoach, tested positive for the exact same substances.
When approached for a comment nearly 25 years later, his response was, "Who cares I failed a drug test? There were hundreds of people getting off." And that was true.
The same report revealed more than 100 hushed positive drug tests between 1988 and 2000, plus 18 positives from Olympic trials that did not disqualify athletes from advancing to the Games. All this happened when Dick Pound was vice-president of the IOC.
While Lewis was carting off the gold medals and endorsements in the men's category, a superwoman was working wonders in the women's section. Florence Griffith Joyner (Flo Jo) shocked the world by her appearance in 1988. In a short space of time, her physique had changed dramatically, showing marked gains in muscle mass and definition. Her performance also improved dramatically, too.
Shortly before the 1988 track season, her best times in the 100m and 200m, respectively, were 10.96s and 21.96s. This was improved by .47s and .62s in a flash. Flo Jo had become Flo Joe!
She increased her appearance fees 25 times what they were before. When she broke the 100m world record, the Association of Track and Field Statisticians stuttered, "The run was probably strongly wind assisted but is recognised as a world record." This despite the fact that during the race the wind meter measured 0.0m per second. She ended her career abruptly at her peak the following year.
SUDDEN DEATH
It would be mischievous of me to suggest that this had anything to do with the imminent introduction of out-of-competition testing. When she died suddenly at the age of 38, the coroner requested that her body specifically be tested for steroids, but was informed that she did not have enough urine in her bladder.
The Lewis-Flo Jo era eventually gave way to the Justin Gatlin-Marion Jones era. They carted off all the gold medals until it was revealed that they, too, were using drugs.
I think it is typical American temerity that with such a rich history of drug cheating, the most successful of the drug cheats is going around the world casting unwarranted suspicion at other athletes. The possibility that a small, poor country, relying entirely on its own resources, could humble the richest country in the world is unthinkable to many.
Lewis cannot accept that success can come in any way different from how he achieved it. An ironic gloss to the Ben Johnson saga is that the gold medal was taken away and awarded to Lewis - the man who spoke scornfully about Johnson's drug use even before he was caught.
I have observed, sadly, that we are preoccupied with the claims of Johnson and Pound. When are we going to realise that there are some tremendous lessons that London is teaching us about ourselves and our potential?
Glenn Tucker is a former coach at Holmwood Technical. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and glenntucker2011@gmail.com.

[Jangle]

Pound fears Beijing will be most tainted Olympics since Ben Johnson

Last updated at 13:30 30 April 2007

Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has warned that the success of the Beijing Olympics next year will be judged by how well the Chinese deal with their own country?s growing problem of performanceenhancing drugs in sport.
Pound, a former Olympic swimmer who, as a member of the International Olympic Committee, was instrumental in turning the Games into a multi-billion dollar enterprise after he took charge of TV and sponsorship deals, will be travelling to China this autumn to spell out his concerns to the Beijing organising committee and doping control unit.
Scroll down to read more:
Cheat: Ben Johnson wins the 100 metres at the 1998 Seoul Olympics before being disqualified

At stake could be the credibility of the Olympics. Pound fears that the movement is in danger of experiencing its worst moments since Ben Johnson brought shame on himself and his sport 19 years ago in Seoul.
"China has a problem," said Pound. "You can go on the web and get human growth hormone, EPO, steroids, you name it, and they?re coming from China. There?s been systematic doping in their schools, they?ve hired a bunch of former East German coaches who have brought their notebooks with them, and it?s clear that the whole success of the Games will be measured on how good the anti-doping programme is."
Suspicion of Chinese sport is not new. Back in the Nineties a coach called Ma Junren produced a host of world championship winning athletes and famously insisted that their success was down to herbal medicine and turtle blood. The scientists suspected otherwise and just before the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, six of his runners were among 27 Chinese competitors who tested positive for banned substances.
Since then, despite other positive cases, Chinese sport insists it has cleaned up its act. Pound,however, remains to be convinced.
"If they have a thousand athletes nobody?s heard of and they end up winning everything at the Olympics,then the Games will be a failure," said the 65-year-old Canadian.
"If their top 100 metres runner improves his time from 10.1sec to 9.8sec then I?m afraid it will be too good to be true. I?m going to reinforce this message in Beijing in September. Central government is aware of this, but they don?t reach further than the outskirts of Beijing and the provinces are a rule only to themselves."
Pound also fears that gene therapy, the latest threat to drugs-free sport,will start taking effect at the 2008 Games. He clings to the hope that a watertight testing procedure, currently unavailable, will have been perfected by then.
The process, in which genes are inserted into muscle or bone cells and their proteins fed directly into the tissue,was designed initially for muscle-wasting diseases, but Pound,a powerful figure in global sport, predicted as far back as 2002 the threat it would pose to sport.
"Genetic manipulation is prohibited," he said. "We have plenty of evidence that says sport is turning to this, a currently undetectable process. I met some of the world?s leading genetic scientists five years ago and asked them to provide a test. In 2005, they were confident a test would be ready soon.We don?t have it yet, but I?m hoping we will before gene therapy gets out of control."
As befits a man who has a can labelled "Bullshit Repellent" sitting on his office shelf, Pound pulls no punches. The way British sport handles those who fall foul of the doping laws does not escape criticism and Pound highlights the case of Christine Ohuruogu.
The 400m runner missed three drug tests in 18 months and was suspended by her sport for a year.
But she is also banned for life by the British Olympic Association, although an appeal may see that overturned.
"I thought she was lucky to get only a year," said Pound. "But I also want to see harmonised rules around the world. Britain?s policy of imposing permanent Olympic bans goes beyond the WADA code, which the BOA are meant to have adopted." Pound will leave his post in November and he hopes what he refers to as his "WADA swansong" will be the ratification in November of an increase of the ban for drug cheats from two to four years.
"Two is not enough," he said. "You can get the benefits from steroids four years after taking them.We have an ongoing consultation process on this but it would be a nice way for me to bow out with the code improved,and it looks like this will be the case."
Another tactic he hopes will be used more extensively in the war against drugs is the clumsily named "nonanalytical positive" ? shopping your team-mates, in other words. Although former world 100m champion Tim Montgomery had never failed a test, when fellow American sprinter Kelli White revealed how Montgomery had admitted taking drugs to her, the evidence was enough to earn Montgomery a ban.
"We?ve hanged people on evidence like that," said Pound. "I see non-analytical positives as the future. We need some truth and reconciliation here. We need people to come forward and admit to having wrestled with their conscience for the past 10 years or so, either about themselves, or someone else.
"I accept that most won?t ? there are either too many highly-polished halos out there, or too many still in denial ? but the Montgomery case showed us the way."
Pound?s wrath is not reserved for the mainstream Olympic sports. Cricket and rugby, in particular, have disappointed him by their apparent unwillingness to adhere to the WADA code on drug-testing and the punishment of offenders.
He is so disappointed by cricket?s attitude towards the positive tests of two Pakistani fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, that he has referred it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Despite their positive tests for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, the Pakistan Cricket Board overturned bans imposed on the two players because they claimed they were unaware of the contents of supplements they were taking.
"The ICC have not acted upon this so we?ve appealed to the CAS," said Pound. "Cricket has undoubtedly got a problem. Don?t think two Pakistani bowlers are the only cricketers in the world cheating."
And as rugby prepares for the World Cup this autumn,Pound lambasted the game, claiming: "It lends itself to performance- enhancing drug abuse and there?s plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest it has a problem. Some of the players have thighs as big as the mast on HMS Victory."
Clearly while his days at WADA are almost at an end, Dick Pound is not a man looking to go quietly.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/oth...#ixzz2Z8qor800
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[Dunny]

We here on this side of the pond and Jamaicans in particular, because T&F is so close to our hearts and pride, see these drug "bust" as a big thing. How is this latest news being viewed in Europe where T&F is more popular? Did the latest news about American baseball drug bust receive much air time? Why are we hearing about drug "busts" in football where the money is heavier? Is there a different banned substance list from WADA regarding the various professional sports?

Jangle the feeling here is one of great disappointment and shock, that is because of the athletes involved. Powell and Blake are two of the most popular and likeable athletes and were always perceived as clean athletes so this is seen as a huge blow for the integrity of Track & Field.

[Willi]

Over here it big. Baseball is not covered here much but track is front and centre. In England nuff mouthing gwaan. Less so on the continent but we get looks here still.

[Jangle]

Again I ask:


Why are we hearing about drug "busts" in football where the money is heavier? Is there a different banned substance list from WADA regarding the various professional sports?

[Willi]

Because track does not have good top management. Dem throw out the baby with the bath water!

[Willi]

Not everybody get fooled.
Tue Jul 16, 2013 03:49




On local radio here the interviewed Matteaus Camber, the head of Swiss doping control and i will summarize what he said below.

By tomorrow the audio file should be here;
http://worldradio.ch/wrs/shows/national/index.shtml

When the interviewer tried to back him into a corner saying the current reports prove there is a huge problem, he said no, it coincidence. Different athletes in different countries at different times. He sai in the case of the Jamaicas, it seems likely that it's a tainted supplement as its a very light stimulant that is legal outside of competition. Not likely a big issue.

In the case of TG, who most people, including the Lausanne Meet director acknowledged was NOT thought to be doping and never highly suspected, this seems to be a bigger matter concerning HEAVIER drugs. OOC tests go after higher class of PEDS. He said since we dont know the substance, we have to wait and see.

The big point he raised is that thise high profile busts are all over the news when the REAL BIG STORY is about the huge turkish bust that hardly got any coverage at all!

Is like the man said all the points we covered here.

Thank God not everybody drink the propaganda coolaid.

Now look how dem distract us from celebrating the WONDERFUL achievemy of the YOUTH team in the UKRAINE! tHE POOR PICKNEY DEM BARELY GET ANY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, and almost no time to reflect and bask in their deserved Glory.

Hail Jamaica Youth team, all who watched the live stream video feed recall your Glory forevermore!