Landis B Sample Positive

Well that teach the cheater for cheating won't it? Its only sad for the sport not for him. He is sad because he got caught ha!

Oh come on!

Landis got caught but how many other competitors in the Tour de France do you honestly believe are 'clean'?

Personally, I think the answer may be zero.

I wonder how much the fact that Landis is American and associated with Lance Armstrong has to do with him losing out. The sense of accrimony between the French and Armstrong was out of control last year & this may just be the natural conclusion to a well publicised vendetta!

Peter

Its pretty sad then really, when the criteria for winning or even competing in the Tour de France would seem to be based on what pills you pop and not how talented you might be. If the general view is that most of the riders are taking drugs,how credible is the Tour de France?
I did hear on the BBC News that a German Broadcaster is refusing to cover the race next year. Shame really!!!!

The shame is really how all the officials and atheletes put up this ridiculous sham as if every professional athelete isn't taking some type of performance enhancer. The science of beating drug tests is well-established and everyone knows it. Yet they act as if they're shocked. Please.

Female bodybuilding claims to be clean, I believe. Bulging eyes, square jaws, body acne -and they still claim to be clean?

Just one more area of hypocracy in this world. Why not? Look how well the hypocrites do.

Chayro
I have a keen interest in most sports and the main point I'm trying to make is that
competitors using performance enhancing drugs
eventually demean the sport and event they participate in. To be honest if I want to see pills running round the track or lifting weights I'd be better off going down to my local Chemist.I feel that a prestigous event like the Tour de France has lost a lot of credibility due to these winning cheats.As for
clean competitors,why should they get tarnished with the same brush.
Regards,Trevor

quote:

Originally posted by northpole:

Personally, I think the answer may be zero.

Peter

Sadly Peter I think it maybe the case.

Bodybuilders, bulging eyes, square jaws, acne - steroids, no doubt.

Diccus

Toby - I think the sport is more demeaned by the claim that other atheletes aren't using. Are there any totally clean pro atheletes? I'd like to say no, but i'm of the cynical nature.

The sport has been damaged but until the sport itself takes reponsibility nothing will happen. The typical response in these situations is for the rider to be sacked and disowned by the team, yet I struggle to believe they are not involved too.

The people who sponsor teams must also look at what they are doing, and at some point may decide that associating with this tarnished event is not in their interests. If the money withdraws then maybe things will change.

The 'war on doping' rather like the 'war on terror' or the 'war on drugs' will never be worn by enforcement, only by a cultual change.

Why cycling?

What gets me is how cycling is one of the better sports at 'outing' cheats but other sports who probably have just as much abuse do not get targeted by the media or their governing bodies (just look at Linford's appointment as coach - we now have athletics druggies training others who have just come off suspension)

Druigs have akways existed in cycling, and I guess always will (until the demands on the riders are realistic) but lets get some balance here and view all sports under the same microscope

And just to be argumentative, I prefer enhanced performance to the thuggish behaviour of the football "athletes" that seem to be held up as examples in this country - i known which one I find more offensive and idiomatic of decline in our 'heroes'

quote:

Why cycling?

What gets me is how cycling is one of the better sports at 'outing' cheats

....That does not make it any better. Cycling has a long estbalished 'culture' of doping, and is also one of the sports where performance enhancing drugs may genuinely affect results. It appears to be a sport in which doping is systematic and at a high level of sophistication rather than being the behaviour of the odd rogue.

I think the sprinters have had their fair share of media coverage recently too. Interesting to note that Justin Gatland had already failed for stimulants a year or so ago but succesfully claimed he had ADHD (attention deficit disorder). At one point a lot of sprinters had a note from a doc claiming they had either ADHD or narcolepsy (for which they could claim to be taken another banned stimulant called modafanil). It seems odd that two conditions that would appear to be a bad idea for a sprinter should be so commonly represented amongst that select population!

Bruce

Well I could eat the entire contents of a Chemist's shop and still fail to climb those mountains.

...I get the impression some of those guys have tried!

quote:

Interesting to note that Justin Gatland had already failed for stimulants a year or so ago but succesfully claimed he had ADHD (attention deficit disorder). At one point a lot of sprinters had a note from a doc claiming they had either ADHD or narcolepsy (for which they could claim to be taken another banned stimulant called modafanil). It seems odd that two conditions that would appear to be a bad idea for a sprinter should be so commonly represented amongst that select population!

Bruce

Interestingly, many of the Ritalin type drugs used for ADHD (Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder) have stimulant properties. The theory behind using them as a treatment for ADHD is to effectively slow that person down (though that is very simplistic). It works almost in reverse. If I was to take Ritalin I would be buzzing, the opposite is true for ADHD sufferers. ADHD as a condition cannot be diagnosed by a GP, it needs Specialist Psychologists/Psychiatrists to diagnose. Many GP'S often suggest a (particularly) young person has it but cannot diagnose officially.

So is Justin Gatland and his ilk suggesting they are taking modafil to slow them down as they are too god damn fast......... unlikely.

Diccus

Modafanil and Ritalin are both stimulants. I think the rationale is that they help starting times. Unlike the endurance boosting agents such as EPO/blood doping, and the anabolic drugs such as steroids I'm not actually sure that they have been proven to boost athletic performance. They are still banned though.

One of the disgraces of the whole doping 'industry' is the involvement of doctors at high levels behaving in unethical, and unprofessional ways.

quote:

Originally posted by Diccus62:
ADHD as a condition cannot be diagnosed by a GP, it needs Specialist Psychologists/Psychiatrists to diagnose. Many GP'S often suggest a (particularly) young person has it but cannot diagnose officially.

)

Thanks for putting me straight on that

I fully agree with everything Bruce has been saying.

To clarify what I posted earlier, I was not trying to excuse cycling - far from it.

I guess I love my bikes too much, and hate seeing it raked over the coals just because it is an easier target than some other sports - drugs in sport is a major issue and affct all sports.

To me, the sums involved and the desire of the organisers (of any sport) to have a unique event (hardest, fastest, biggest prize etc) and the desire to constantly improve performance (when in some sports we are pretty much at the limits already) are the key contributors to drug use.

I just find it a shame when I now get 'druggie' comments when I'm out riding.........

Only cycling?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/5255364.stm

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:

quote:

Originally posted by Diccus62:
ADHD as a condition cannot be diagnosed by a GP, it needs Specialist Psychologists/Psychiatrists to diagnose. Many GP'S often suggest a (particularly) young person has it but cannot diagnose officially.

)

Thanks for putting me straight on that

Rockin Doc

GP's though clearly have a very important role, as do other health professionals in passing on the signs and symptoms of ADHD or ADD (without the hyperactivity) as noted in DSM-IV1 or ICD-10 to Child Psychiatrist/Psychologist. I sometimes find though that ADHD is given as a cover all diagnosis by many professionals and lay people without proper investigation. We like labels!!!

Diccus