Doping in sport

clear thinking

There is a great article on doping here:

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21581978-sportsmen-who-take-drugs-may-be-prisoners-different-game-athletes-dilemma

Just to quote the last bit:

'It may thus be that the real guilty parties in sports doping are not those who actually take the drugs, but those who create a situation where only a fool would not.'

Obviously it applies to all sports and in effect says that all sports do not test enough and that the disincentives are not severe enough to not dope and that there is tacit complicity of governing bodies who are fearful of loss of revenue, sponsors and fans. It also points to the fact that less tested sports will have more cheating.

Given the recent doping thing I'm putting this up for debate again on the basis that it is relevant to runners at elite and sub-elite level in Ireland.

Going on the research quoted in the article the 'hard medicine' of severe bans, constant testing which would be tough on clean athletes, and expensive for AAI - so is there any desire to see this in Ireland never mind worldwide?

As an add-on question - what level of doping control do AAI run / pay for in the run up to the nationals?

Peterx

I liked the idea of publishing all the test results, both negative and positive.

there is a thread on this in the cycling forum and one poster had taken an impressive amount of substances that I've never even heard of!

RayCun

clear thinking wrote: »

As an add-on question - what level of doping control do AAI run / pay for in the run up to the nationals?

according to the high-performance site, the following athletes must be registered for testing

The RTP is a list of elite athletes, agreed between the NGB and the ISC, who meet certain criteria (outlined below). The Irish Sports Council will notify in writing athletes that are included in the RTP.
Criteria for inclusion in the Registered Testing Pool
One or more of the following criteria is used to select an athlete for inclusion in the Registered Testing Pool:
Athletes on the carding scheme in the Contract, World Class and International categories
Athletes in the developmental category from high risk sports listed in the Council's Test Distribution Plan and other sports targeted by the Council
Olympic or Paralympic Qualifiers
....(more)

Peterx

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaa-drug-testing-regime-appropriate-sports-council-1.1472529

“That’s not an exaggeration. A form came in this week from an athlete taking 28 different supplements. No education is going to stop someone if that’s the way they want to go. It’s a personal judgement. No normal, sensible individual could possibly believe that it was actually necessary to take that many supplements but if someone is of that mindset it is a really big challenge in sport of how we deal with the issue of supplements.”

clear thinking

RayCun wrote: »

according to the high-performance site, the following athletes must be registered for testing

So it would be quite easy to dope up on EPO as a sub elite athlete and stop in plenty of time having reaped the benefit.

ecoli

Mod: Just to prevent this thread from derailing. This thread is a debated on drugs in sport and NOT the athletes taking them. NO speculation or referencing particular athletes, countries or training groups as a way of insinuation

Enough warnings have been given that there will be a zero tolerance rule and people will be immediately banned as opposed to just post editing

Mod hat off: When I opened the link my thoughts were immediately that it was a bad idea to publish negative tests. Simple fact is you would be supplying manufacturers and doctors with information of just how far behind the dopers testers are however the article does make some good points

Maybe one way of repairing the image of a sport is to report on the clean athletes rather than just the bad (although media sources will always gear towards negative and sensationalist stories to sell papers)

Like wise it would not only create better public image highlight the work anti doping agencies are doing and create more transparency. It also gives the testers a voice to highlight concerns regarding finance to stay ahead of the dopers (although it is a retroactive action by its nature). If there are not enough tests for lack of funding it becomes more apparent

Ultimately its a double edged sword but I think that questions about testing proceedure shows that public awareness is lacking behind so perhaps can be a good move forward

RayCun

clear thinking wrote: »

So it would be quite easy to dope up on EPO as a sub elite athlete and stop in plenty of time having reaped the benefit.

I would guess that athletics is in the high-risk category and so 'developmental' athletes are also registered.

pc11

That's an excellent article, it really highlights the conflicting and sometimes perverse incentives involved.

Publishing negative results would be reassuring in that it shows that people really get tested and demonstrates to athletes that their rivals are clean, though I agree it's conceivable that it could provide help to dopers.

Perhaps a halfway house would do: publish test dates and negative/positive only, no details of drugs tested for.

clear thinking

The fact that 'ahead of the curve' doping does not get caught presumably provides dopers or their doctors that information anyway?

I would have thought retrospective testing of old samples as technology catches up would be an added disincentive.

Lobbying for legislation for athletes who effectively defraud sponsors and organisers would also help. If jail time is a possibility you might be less likely to cheat. As would the follow on possibility of being sued for all your ill-gained assets.

YFlyer

clear thinking wrote: »

So it would be quite easy to dope up on EPO as a sub elite athlete and stop in plenty of time having reaped the benefit.

Yes as long as you don't be doing push ups at the end of a half marathon :cool: