Asking chatGPT about the intent of someone's substance use may be the most moronic thing I've seen today on this site. Of course, that's mainly because I haven't seen any GlitterBombTurbo posts yet.
I'm sure it was just prescribed for a condition she had. I use inhalers and my doctor told me that I'd probably fail a test. It certainly doesn't make me any faster.
If an athlete wasn't required to be in a testing pool prior to a competition, as she almost certainly wasn't, the athlete has an opportunity the first time they're selected for in-competition testing to submit an application for retroactive TUEs. That said, supplements contaminated with substances sold over the counter but banned by WADA are super common according to USADA testing. It can be deliberate (like a "water retention" tea that contains a diuretic that's not advertised on it) or accidentally (like from failing to clean machinery well between runs of different meds/supplements). USADA urges athletes to avoid or be very careful with supplements for that reason. I'd definitely assume a non-elite masters athlete encountered a contaminated supplement and doesn't have money or reason to fight it.
I have to believe this was unintentional. Otherwise it would mean A. she was doping and B. she used the diuretic as a masking agent.
That looks like way too much effort for a hobby jogger.
Well maybe for you. But for her, who knows? Rojo's downplaying aside, she apparently finished on the podium and got prize money in a trail race of such importance that the AIU showed up. I can easily see an ambitious, unethical person taking two drugs to achieve this.
A female who runs a 1:21 half isn't a hobby jogger. In the US, she could be on her way to an OTQ.
1:21 is nowhere close to the 1:12 you need for an OTQ. 40 seconds per mile. That's an eternity. She's a hobby jogger. Firmly subelite, not even in elite territory. My ex gf ran a 1:21 at Indy half and was like 53 of 55 in the elite category or something like that. She's barely a sub 3 marathoner.
I'm sure it was just prescribed for a condition she had. I use inhalers and my doctor told me that I'd probably fail a test. It certainly doesn't make me any faster.
It certainly does!
If you only need an inhaler to enable fast running, you don't have asthma that needs medicating.
tbh idk what's worse: - using a masking agent to run 1:21/3:00 & do trail races - a journalist posting someone else's article and throwing in some ChatGPT to do the leg work
When that pro was busted a few months back for a diuretic, I did a deep dive into AI to see what might be happening. Here is the gist;
Some banned substances, like testosterone and some anabolic steroids, can be detected for up to three months. Diuretics flush out those substances and makes them undetectable in 2-5 days. It appears that what some people are doing is taking a banned substance with a long half life (T, steroids, etc), giving them a day or so to do their magic, and then flushing them out with a diuretic. The banned substance is no longer detectable, but the masking agent might still be detectable for another 2-5 days.
Also, a bit of trivia. This diuretic - lasix (furosemide) - apparently isn't the best to flush out drugs, but lasix is commonly prescribed for various illnesses and the other drug (can't remember it's name) isn't used as widely.
Of course, this was all from AI, so it could be wrong...
tl;dr: Drugs that are detectable for 3 months can be made undetectable in a couple of days by taking a diuretic, but the diuretic itself can be detected for another 2-5 days. That's why althetes get bans for diuretics.
EDITED TO ADD: What's really odd to me is that they'd do drug testing at a race where only 61 people participated. I wonder what the deal is with that? Spain cracking down on ultra runners? Someone dropped a tip?
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
Reason provided:
Added a point.
A female who runs a 1:21 half isn't a hobby jogger. In the US, she could be on her way to an OTQ.
1:21 is nowhere close to the 1:12 you need for an OTQ. 40 seconds per mile. That's an eternity. She's a hobby jogger. Firmly subelite, not even in elite territory. My ex gf ran a 1:21 at Indy half and was like 53 of 55 in the elite category or something like that. She's barely a sub 3 marathoner.
Well, your ex was in the "elite category". Also this lady here is an trail/ultra/mountain runner. The 1:21 was a rare half for her, out of trail training. This year, she competed in the Spanish Cross Country Championships (9.86 km, she was an also-ran). The race where she got popped had 2500 m elevation over 33-34 km. Last year, she won a trail marathon with 1870 m elevation, and came 2nd in a 22 km trail with 1500 m elevation. It's not that she is just lazily jogging around 2-3 times a week.
On Wednesday, **no need to mention an amateur's name** of Oviedo, Spain, was handed a provisional suspension by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after testing positive for the banned diuretic furosemide following a 34-km trail race in October. Álvarez placed 29th out of 61 participants, but third woman, making her eligible for prize money–and an anti-doping test. Furosemide is typically used as a masking agent to hide the presence of other prohibited substances. It has been listed as a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2004. The 27-year-old is a recreational trail runner and marathoner who competes for the Asturian Club of Mountain Runners in her hometown. Earlier this year, she also ran a half-marathon personal best of 1:21:20, at the Azkoitia-Azpeitia Media Marathon.
Chat GPT seems to think she wasn't trying to get an edge, writing:
Furosemide is widely used for non-doping medical reasons, including: 1. Medical conditions Common reasons a doctor prescribes it include: High blood pressure (hypertension) Swelling/edema (from injury, travel, sodium retention, etc.) Congestive heart failure Kidney issues Certain hormonal/menstrual-cycle-related bloating Ascites or liver conditions These are very normal—tons of non-athletes and casual athletes are on furosemide. 2. Accidental ingestion / medication mix-ups Rare but possible: Taking someone else’s prescribed pill accidentally Pharmacy dispensing error Confusing it with another medication (pill swap) 3. Contamination (less likely but not impossible) Furosemide contamination has happened: In supplements (very rare but documented) In weight-loss or “detox” products In mislabeled diuretic teas or drops A recreational runner is more likely to use supplements casually, so contamination is possible—though still typically uncommon.
What do you think?
so she could be prescribed this for a legitimate medical condition
Really curious if we tested the “top amateurs” how many would fail tests. Obviously there are some people cheating but I wonder if there would be a lot more failed tests from people not trying to cheat the system.
I’m always skeptical with the “tainted supplements/tainted meat” excuse but maybe it’s sort of easy to accidentally fail a test?
More likely that amateurs take things without considering drug testing. Random banned supplements that a pro would know not to mess with.
As a masters male several minutes slower than the woman in question, I’d probably fail a drug test too. I’m not trying to cheat my way into the top 100 masters in the Turkey Trot. The only place I’m trying to get an edge is in bed.
My recommendation is to not finish the containers, leave a good spoonful in, seal, tape the purchase invoice and a note of period/how you took said complement. Store in a cool dry place for a year.
Years ago a friend of a friend got popped but got out of jail free because she was too lazy to do an Excel of her supplements and just kept them in a pile in her pantry with the invoices (to price track) and had a paper note book with her food/supplements training.
As a masters male several minutes slower than the woman in question, I’d probably fail a drug test too. I’m not trying to cheat my way into the top 100 masters in the Turkey Trot. The only place I’m trying to get an edge is in bed.
There’s usually 4, unless you have one of those round water beds with a mirror on the ceiling.