Call it as you see it wrote:
I agree with you. It helps to understand how the anti-doping programs works before judging it. To help move the discussion along, here are some facts about how often the USADA tests T&F athletes:
1) Shelby Houlihan turned pro in the summer of 2015. In her first 2 1/2 years as a pro, USADA tested her 5x. Most of these appear to have been in-season. She was not tested at all in 2015, 2x in the summer of 2016, 2x in the spring of 2017 and 1x that fall. That's an average of 2x/year. That schedule doesn't leave much opportunity for out-of-competition testing.
2) Jenny Simpson turned pro in January, 2010. In her first 6 years as a pro, USADA tested her 17x. That is just under 3x/year. In 2010/11/12, they tested her 4x/year. In 2013/14/15, they tested her a total of 5x. Many of those were in season, which means she had long periods with no tests.
Houlihan and Simpson were fairly typical; over the last few years, athletes tested average 2 - 3 tests/year. Most athletes who are tested are not tested that often. For example, in 2014, 500 T&F athletes were tested. Of those 500, over 300 were only tested once; another 80 were tested 2x. In other words, of those tested, almost 80% were tested just once or twice. Of the rest, only handful -- less than 30 -- were tested more than 10x. Galen Rupp was tested the most -- 21x. Next most tested were Gatlin and Meb, at 15x, followed by such names as Lagat, Jeter, Ritz, Teg, Goucher, Richards-Ross, Reese, Flanagan & Cain.
(Again, many of these tests undoubtedly came during meets, meaning USADA had less opportunity of testing out-of-competition, when doping actually occurs.)
I will let you decide whether these numbers are big or small.
The entertainment on here is ridiculous, considering every male tennis player in the top 20 was tested some 20 times in 2017 and Houlihan was tested 3 times.