Nobody talking about Ross Tucker v Paula radcliffe on twitter.... spat central!

Wow - you people need to get lives. All this crap about very little. The same people posting over and over saying absolutely nothing. This is the biggest "mountain out of a molehill" ever. I don't particularly like PR, but this is reaching if ever there was a situation. Leave her alone. The rest of the world has moved on and the top women are trying to get to that level, which will happen eventually. She was a pioneer, much like her idol before her Ingrid Kristiansen, for women trying to run long distances fast. Heck Jordan Hasay is running commensurately as fast because she too has found her event, just as Joan Benoit Samuelson did before her. Not everything is about doping. Hopefully none of you posters actually coach anyone.

The history of the sport is more about what people haven't done to become the best, less about the shortcuts (doping) that people are fixated on these days and in this thread. People like Ross Tucker do a disservice to the sport with this preoccupation. Having seen, and coached, people to a top class level with relatively little absolute ability it is more about getting it done in the face of things. I would say that 99% of the the people I have coached we're not really serious about the sport - but they (and too often their parents) have deluded themselves that they were. That is the fundamental problem. So people like PR should be lauded for actually trying to reach her potential instead of trying to find doping under every success.

All the excuses used by her in relation to the data and the suggestions of house searches and brain type lie detectors have imo undermined the anti-doping fight.

Athletes may trot out these various excuses for public consumption or worse still raise the stakes by demanding unnecessary tests such as brain type like detectors thereby undermining adverse findings in the view of the watching public.

This is contrary to her stated aims.

I don't for a minute believe she's clean either.

Nobody does.

"Hopefully none of you posters actually coach anyone." Oh...so you're a coach just because you say so? Yeah...sure and I'm Captain Marvel.

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

Again, Ramzi had an OFF-score of 157 and no epo was found. Same with the Russians. So Radcliffe popping out a non suspicious sample from the same Championships is rather meaningless.

All the reports indicate microdosing or modest reinfusions slip through the ABP without triggering anything.

And hyperhydration alters the markers of the ABP:

Everyone's looking for an edge wrote:

And hyperhydration alters the markers of the ABP:

http://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/new-study-shows-chugging-water-before-doping-test-alters-biological-passport-markers/

That's why Cyborg Makhloufi is never far from a drink bottle.

rekrunner wrote:

Slight correction: The Helsinki samples were retested in 2012, and this was announced in March 2013, in a press release.

In other words:

I didn't lie.

I didn't make stuff up.

Trolls will be trolls.

Oh really? That would be new.

rekrunner wrote:

The IAAF froze 2005 samples, Paula's and others' , and retested them in 2013 and again in 2015.

Ok, for you, almost half right is indeed quite good. Still, you made up that Paula's sample(s) were retested in 2015.

Keep this up, this is fun.

Letsrunpicks wrote:

3) I'd never seen this before:

http://www.drmichaeljoyner.com/the-biological-passport-the-paula-radcliffe-controvery/

That is typical for the Paula defenders, always leaving out the good stuff. For example:

"It is conceivable if you are very severely dehydrated which can raise Hb, but not % retics to get an abnormal OFF score (e.g. Hb going from 14 to 17, with retics staying at 1% causes the score to go from 80 to 110), but even that degree of dehydration produces a score still within the normal limits."

This ignores that Paula just raced for 67 minutes in the low 70s, speeding up at the end and winning by a large margin. Then her testing procedure began after rehydrating some 60 - 90 minutes after the race. Does not look like " very severely dehydrated" (which is why she made up a wrong temperature). It also does not explain how the RET-% could have dropped by over 20%, like the Hb was raised by over 20%.

Reading on:

" I looked up what the values were that raised suspicion in Paula. There were apparently three were between 110 -114. None of these are really that abnormal and all three have logical explanations. Apparently, they were correctly handled and found by experts to not indicate doping. "

This ignores that the first two came with a large increase within a few days, see above, and the third with a high Hb but normal RET-%, not a typical response to altitude, especially not considering Paula's baseline (which the expert did not consider).

Further, it ignores that the experts could not agree whether the third scenario was caused by doping or not, i.e. 1-2 thought it might have had natural causes and 1-2 thought it was doping.

Lucky for Paula, any not unanimous decision means no ban.

What are the thoughts on Actovegin? It appears that every time a doper is busted now they mention Actovegin amongst the haul of drugs. It's been mentioned s lot by former cyclists like Tyler Hamilton for its blood effects but Paula used this? Does this not go against her stated principles. There is also a lot of talk on here. Bout dehydration. Anybody know if the British team was using saline intravenously before it was banned at hot weather champs/races?

As far as I know, Paula's never commented (or been directly questioned?) on her well documented use of Actovegin. Which in itself is crazy. But despite its well documented shady use, you'd be hard pressed to accuse her of much around this, as it's (unfortunately) legal. It would be interesting to know her history of use of actovegin and whether she claims she has only used it to treat muscle injuries (allegedly it improves healing times) or more regularly (for its EPO-like properties).

People get obsessed about it, because if you start looking into these things, you find some very murky places. I think you're incredibly naïve to think that there is not a huge amount of doping going on in top level endurance sport. If we'd had your attitude, then we wouldn't have found out about Lance Armstrong and rampant doping in cycling, for decades. Or the systematic Russian doping in recent years - and stretching further back in time. Or the unbelievable corruption right the way through the top of the IAAF. You think that's it, that everything is now uncovered?

I too am a real person and have a life, and one to which I will return - too much Rekrunner is bad for the soul. But I got hung up on Paula Radcliffe's case in the last couple of years because there's just too much stuff that doesn't add up, that I don't believe, and I don't believe it's been thoroughly investigated. By this I don't mean so much the actual blood tests/scores and whether anything is 'proved' by these in themselves, but whether any of the claims associated by Paula can actually be substantiated.

For example, she was terribly sick and needed antibiotics in 2003 (in the 13 days between the Great North Run and the World Half Marathon Champs) which made her weak and resulted in her low off-score pre-race in Portugal. Except when pushed on this (in the interview with the Daily Mail), the test suddenly 'couldn't be right, there's no way it could have been that low'. I just don't believe it. Where's the evidence? It's really not that hard to get your medical records to substantiate that yes, she was issued antiobiotics on that date. Did the IAAF/WADA get this evidence for example. Despite their lengthy report, we have no idea. Like all these claims, nothing appears to be substantiated other than from the inner circle of herself, her husband and Gerard Hartman.

I don't believe that she got bit by a spider, I don't believe that she hurt her knee writing thank you letters, I don't believe that she got run over by a kid on a bike in Alberquerque, I don't believe she was injured whilst training in Kenya in 2012. I'm more than happy to believe in any of these things with a bit of evidence!

One more post before I go......

The mystery of the joyriders flinging up a stone, hitting Paula's knee before Athens.........

This for me, is the weirdest one of all - and it really stinks. Basically in Paula's autobiography she describes getting her injury pre-Athens as this:

'Gary and I went in the car to the cycle path from where I would set off.......warming up, I felt a tightness in the vastus medialis muscle in the quad of my left leg......As soon as the run was completed, everything changed for the worse. The leg seized up and we couldn't get back to Gerard quick enough'.

This story is repeated in interviews later that year (when the autobiography comes out) and for the next 10 years. Even in early 2015, there's an ITV documentary 'Sports Life Stories' which has an extensive interview with Paula and Gary about the build up to Athens and this injury. To quote Gary '‘On one of her last long training runs, her leg started to hurt out of nowhere….but of course I didn’t really know what was going on, so she kept going, she thought it was some kind of cramp…..’

Then in April 2015 Gerard Hartman comes out with a story that the injury was caused by joyriders (it intrigued me because it sounded so implausible. To quote the Guardian interview 'Then came a freak accident: she was running along the trails when a joyrider, going too fast, skidded down near her, sending a sharp stone flying into a knee. “A stone, like a bullet, had hit the side of her knee and it had turned black,”

This story now starts to gain currency, and it's repeated in various other media stories about Paula. Notably never by Paula herself (as far as I'm aware). Then the gaping chasm between the two stories is mentioned on here, and in social media.....and lo and behold, Paula is now talking about the stone!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05y5147

Listen here (33 mins), and you can hear her, very uncomfortably talk about the stone, or rather try not to talk about it, when it's brought up by the presenter.

Think about it. You'd remember being hit by a stone thrown up by joyriders, so hard that it apparently causes a haematoma, and turns your knee black. You'd mention it. And you wouldn't continue your long run, surely.

It's massive BS. But why? Maybe by early 2015 ARD/the Sunday Times were sniffing around? Doctors out there - is it really plausible to get a haematoma without having a trauma injury - and so did one need to be invented?

DHT123 wrote:

The mystery of the joyriders flinging up a stone, hitting Paula's knee before Athens.........

This for me, is the weirdest one of all - and it really stinks. Basically in Paula's autobiography she describes getting her injury pre-Athens as this:

'Gary and I went in the car to the cycle path from where I would set off.......warming up, I felt a tightness in the vastus medialis muscle in the quad of my left leg......As soon as the run was completed, everything changed for the worse. The leg seized up and we couldn't get back to Gerard quick enough'.

This kind of bizarre fact-shifting is easily the most entertaining aspect of dopers attempting to legitimize themselves.

It is simultaneously hilarious and weird that:

1. Stories change and no one seems to track any of them.

2. Stories themselves have quite specific details, yet totally inconsistent in other ways.

3. The athlete obviously stops caring about making the lies vaguely plausible or even consistent.

4. Mysterious injuries? Wildly inconsistent performance? No matter.

If you made up all the circumstances and claims and put them into a television show, no one would believe them.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen needs to look at the hemoglobin levels in his OWN altitude study that used US elite male and female runners.

J Appl Physiol (1985). 2001 Sep;91(3):1113-20.

"Living high-training low" altitude training improves sea level performance in male and female elite runners.

Stray-Gundersen J1, Chapman RF, Levine BD.

Abstract

Acclimatization to moderate high altitude accompanied by training at low altitude (living high-training low) has been shown to improve sea level endurance performance in accomplished, but not elite, runners. Whether elite athletes, who may be closer to the maximal structural and functional adaptive capacity of the respiratory (i.e., oxygen transport from environment to mitochondria) system, may achieve similar performance gains is unclear. To answer this question, we studied 14 elite men and 8 elite women before and after 27 days of living at 2,500 m while performing high-intensity training at 1,250 m. The altitude sojourn began 1 wk after the USA Track and Field National Championships, when the athletes were close to their season's fitness peak.

Sea level 3,000-m time trial performance was significantly improved by 1.1% (95% confidence limits 0.3-1.9%). One-third of the athletes achieved personal best times for the distance after the altitude training camp.

The improvement in running performance was accompanied by a 3% (actually 3.2% improvement) in maximal oxygen uptake (=VO2max) from (72.1 +/- 1.5 to 74.4 +/- 1.5 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)).

Circulating erythropoietin levels were near double initial sea level values 20 h after ascent (8.5 +/- 0.5 to 16.2 +/- 1.0 IU/ml). Soluble transferrin receptor levels were significantly elevated on the 19th day at altitude, confirming a stimulation of erythropoiesis (2.1 +/- 0.7 to 2.5 +/- 0.6 microg/ml).

Hb concentration measured at sea level increased 1.0 g/dL over the course of the camp (13.3 +/- 0.2 to 14.3 +/- 0.2 g/dl). We conclude that 4 wk of acclimatization to moderate altitude, accompanied by high-intensity training at low altitude, improves sea level endurance performance even in elite runners. Both the mechanism and magnitude of the effect appear similar to that observed in less accomplished runners, even for athletes who may have achieved near maximal oxygen transport capacity for humans.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11509506

Their hemoglobin levels of male and female elite US runners went from an average of 13.3 g/dL to 14.3 g/dL (7.5% increase) after 27 days of altitude training, which is a typical 5 to 10% maximum seen with altitude training. Their VO2 max levels increased by an average of 3.2%, and their time in a 3000m. This would be about 20 seconds of improvement for a 30:00 10000m runner. This is similar to other studies which I have seen.

A 1.0 g/dL increase in hemoglobin increases VO2max around 3.2 to 3.3%, which leads to ~ 1.1% increase in actual race time or time trial performance.

It turns out that Ms. Paula Radcliffe is not going to settle for a puny and pathetic increase of normal hemoglobin values from 13.3 g/dL to normal hemoglobin values of 14.3 g/dL after altitude training. Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe's hemoglobin value goes up to a way ABOVE NORMAL RANGE value of 16.2 g/dL after altitude training in Kenya.

The numbers from Renato Canova for Sondre Moen (male) had maximum hemoglobin values of 15.3 g/dL (OFF score 103) and 15.1 g/dL (=14.1 g/dL in a female) with an OFF score of 92 after altitude training.

Ms. Radcliffe is also not going to settle for a puny and pathetic 1.0 g/dL increase in her hemoglobin levels after 27 days of altitude training to a puny and pathetic level of only 14.3 g/dL.

There is NO WAY that Ms. Radcliffe is going to settle for such pathetic normal female human hemoglobin values.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/04/12/005A4F6F00000258-3303406-image-a-35_1446640504599.jpg

Part 2:

Ha Ha Ha:

Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe's hemoglobin level can increase by a massive 2.8 g/dL from 12.8 g/dL to an ABOVE NORMAL RANGE value of 15.6 g/dL in ONLY 2 DAYS...at the same time that her reticulocyte% is decreasing by 20% to a BELOW NORMAL RANGE value of 0.47% of RBCs. (ha ha ha)

Here is a math example using the numbers from the Stray-Gundersen study:

If a 1.0 g/dL increase in hemoglobin increases VO2max by 3.2% and performance by 1.1%, we multiply everything by 2.8 for Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe. Let's assume that Paula could of run a 2:20:00 marathon clean with normal hemoglobin levels for a female human...but she increased her normal female human hemoglobin levels by 2.8 g/dL IN ONLY 2 DAYS to an ABOVE NORMAL RANGE (= ABNORMAL=ATYPICAL=SUSPICIOUS=LIKELY DOPING) HEMOGLOBIN VALUE OF 15.6 g/dL FOR A FEMALE HUMAN...which increases her VO2max by (2.8 x 3.2%) = 9.0%...and increases her performance by (2.8 x 1.1%) = 3.08%.

A 3.08% performance improvement for a 2:20:00 marathon = 140 minutes x 0.9692 = 135.688 minutes = 2:15:41 predicted marathon time.

Actual World Record Marathon time for Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe = 2:15:25

OK.

It turns out that my marathon time prediction for Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe is off by...16 seconds.

It is just a Coincidental Synchronicity™.

Why does Stray-Gundersen think that Ms. Radcliffe having a hemoglobin level of 16.2 g/dL is normal in a female is normal after altitude training???

A hemoglobin level of 16.2 g/dL would of caused Ms. Radcliffe to be BANNED FROM COMPETITION IN CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING...and the equivalent 48.6% hematocrit (= 51.6% in a male) was also above the 47% cutoff hematocrit level used in female professional cyclists, which would of caused Ms. Radcliffe to be BANNED FROM COMPETITION IN PROFESSIONAL CYCLING.

He probably just looked at the OFF score of 109.35 and thought that it was just under the cutoff level. He probably never saw the actual 16.2 g/dL number. The OFF scores used in the ABP to avoid false positives (high specificity) sacrifices sensitivity (= lots of false negatives in the ABP), so it was only able to detect about 45% of EPO microdosing in the Scandinavian study under normal conditions. The detection dropped to around 11% by drinking 1000mL of water 1 hour before the test, which lowered the OFF scores by about 3%. Lance Armstrong was famous for evading testers and doing an intravenous saline IV to lower his Hct score to stay below the 50% cutoff in cycling. There are also cyclists who have been banned for using plasma volume expanders such as hydroxyethyl starch (HES) to manipulate Hct and hemoglobin concentrations on blood tests.

EPO and autologous blood transfusions also work well together. When the RBCs are removed, there is a dramatic decrease in RBCs and HB on the blood tests, which might be detected. An explanation of "sickness"..."antibiotic use" etc might be used try to explain the decrease in hemoglobin levels. The VO2max goes down and performance goes down after the blood removal. Lance and Tyler always complained about how tired they were in training after the RBC removal to store for their autologous blood transfusions, which they used for important competitions.

The lifespan of an RBC is about 120 days, so about 1% of RBCs have to be replaced with new RBCs, which are called reticulocytes, which have a normal range of 0.5 to 1.5% of RBCs (not total blood volume like hemoglobin). Reticulocytes are a marker of the process of erythropoiesis. They will have a small increase some with a hypoxic stimulus such as altitude, or a small decrease for about 3 to 4 weeks after altitude training because the hypoxic stimulus of altitude has been removed. The effect is much weaker than EPO use.

Reticulocytes increase a lot with EPO use to an above normal range value of up to 2 or 3% of RBCs, indicating increased erythropoiesis. The OFF score picks up EPO use 1 to 3 weeks after EPO is stopped. The athlete is OFF EPO, which is why the method has that name. The massive stimulus for erythropoiesis (rhEPO injections) has been removed. The body has an oxygen regulation system which involves Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha), which is a transcription factor for about 200 genes, including the gene for endogenous EPO synthesis by cells in the kidney which produce EPO. The EPO binds to EPO receptors in the bone marrow, and new RBCs are produced. When EPO use is stopped, the reticulocytes will decrease a lot, frequently to below normal range, but the hemoglobin level still remains high for weeks after the EPO use is stopped.

For example, a leaked OFF score of 135 with a hemoglobin level of 16.9 g/dL in Mariya Sharapova can be solved for the reticulocyte% score which gives the 135 OFF score = Hb x 10 - 60 (square root of the reticulocyte%)= 0.32% reticulocyte score, which is below normal range of 0.5 to 1.5%. EPO is also useful after the removal of blood to increase the speed of recovery of blood levels of RBCs, hemoglobin, and aerobic performance. Ms. Radcliffe did not use EPO before the 2003 or 2005 World Championships because her hemoglobin levels and OFF scores would be high pre-competition if she used EPO...and her pre-competition scores were 82 (with a hemoglobin level of 12.8 g/dL in 2003), and 92 (with an unknown hemoglobin and reticulocyte level) in 2005. These are normal scores within normal range...which rapidly increase in 1 or 2 days to ABOVE NORMAL RANGE hemoglobin levels of 15.6 g/dL in 2003, and 15.1 g/dL in 2005...at the same time that she has BELOW NORMAL RANGE reticulocyte scores.

This is evidence of an autologous blood transfusion by Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe at the 2003 World Championship and 2005 World Championship. These were races that were important. Blood transfusions can only be done a few times per year for major events, while EPO, HIF stabilizers such as FibroGen's FG-4592 (roxadustat), and xenon and/or krypton noble gas inhalation to increase endogenous EPO levels and stimulate erythropoiesis can all be used at any time during the year.

Some "very smart doctors with no integrity" like Dr. Michele Ferrari and Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes would even sometimes use EPO MICRODOSING close to competition to try to increase the reticulocyte% score, in addition to using a saline IV just before competition (to decrease the high hemoglobin value at the same time) in an attempt to MASK THE AUTOLOGOUS BLOOD TRANSFUSION (which can cause the reticulocyte score to decrease by the dilution from the old stored blood... which is seen in the 20% decrease of reticulocytes (from 0.59% of RBCs to a BELOW NORMAL RANGE value of 0.47% of RBCs) blood test results for Ms. Paula Radcliffe at the 2003 World Half-marathon Championships. The very LOW reticulocyte scores of 0.47% and 0.47% for Ms. Paula Radcliffe in 2003 and 2005, respectively, are not even close to the normal reticulocyte level of 1.0% used by Stray-Gunderson in his "examples."

Using an altitude chamber after coming back from Kenya (where she may have used EPO out-of-competition to raise her hemoglobin level to 16.2 g/dL) might keep the reticulocyte score higher than it would normally be after EPO use. The urine EPO test will be negative 3 to 5 days after subcutaneous administration and perhaps only around 16 hours after intravenous EPO microdosing.

The only way to detect EPO use is in out-of-competition testing because the athletes are going to stop EPO use before the competition. Rita Jeptoo and Jemima Sumgong were caught doping with EPO in OOC urine tests.

There were no ABP sanctions done by the IAAF before 2009, so they couldn't ban Ramzi (even though he had very abnormal blood test results with an OFF score of 157) until he had a urine test which was positive for CERA (3rd generation EPO with a half-life 20X longer than regular EPO) in 2008.

In conclusion:

1) Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe is a Brit-Doper-Cheater-Liar-Fraud™.

http://i4.irishmirror.ie/incoming/article6915888.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/PaulaMain.jpg

http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/2007+World+Athletics+Gala+bVvZN8YHBSjx.jpg

pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:

weakermind wrote:EPO AND PEDs DONT WORK

Yes, yes. It's weak minds that impair performance.

According to Canova, Kenyans of a certain kind are genetically distinct from other humans such that EPO doesn't work.

Netflix subscribers can watch Icarus. The documentary starts out with an aged cyclist who films getting into an HGH/EPO doping program with a legitimate doping doctor (all on-screen) and shows the **enormous** increase in power on a good program in the first part of the story.

That sounds interesting - I'll have to check it out.

The EPO/HGH sauce seems to be the multi-PED comb that some distance runners are looking for. This interesting case involves a high-profile female Ethiopian caught on camera discussing her program:

"After much discussion she settles on a 45-day programme, taking EPO and human growth hormone on alternating days. It is agreed she will tell the fictitious doctor who has devised the programme about her progress and she will stop taking both substances a week before she is due to compete in order to evade the testers."

I have some new studies about the timing of blood tests and the effects of dehydration on hemoglobin values in marathon runners in hot conditions versus more temperate conditions.

You remember the David Costill study from the 1970s with men that ran for 2.5 to 3 hours (probably with fluid restriction also) to cause dehydration with the loss of 4% of bodyweight (=6lbs in a 150 lb male). Hypohydration is defined as the loss of 2% or more of bodyweight, which can decrease performance. The average in that study was a hemoglobin increase of 1.6 g/dL. That is the largest increase that I have been able to find in a study. The other studies, including one with women that ran for 1 hour and 20 minutes showed very small changes including either small increases or even small decreases of hemoglobin levels of 0.2 or 0.3 g/dL after running with no 2 hour waiting period.

Here is a new study with male marathon runners running a marathon in 2 different temperature conditions.

Twenty-six Brazilian male endurance runners participated in this study and ran in both 26.2 mile marathon races.

Both races were commenced at 08:00 a.m. and fluid ingestion was allowed ad libitum during the race. Water was provided at every 2-3 km on the running course, sports drinks at 18 and 36 km, and potato or carbohydrate gel at 30 km. The weather parameters at São Paulo International Marathon in 2014 (HE) between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. were average TEMPERATURE of 31.4°C, maximum temperature of 35°C, and minimum temperature of 25.8°C; and average relative humidity of 30.4%, maximum relative humidity of 51%, and minimum relative humidity of 26% (National Institute of Meteorology, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply).

The weather parameters at the São Paulo International Marathon in 2015 (TE) between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. were average TEMPERATURE of 19.8°C, maximum temperature of 22.6°C, and minimum temperature of 16.7°C; and average relative humidity of 72.8%, maximum relative humidity of 86%, and minimum relative humidity of 61% (National Institute of Meteorology, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply).

In Hot Environment, the hemoglobin value increased by 0.2 g/dL while in Temperate Environment decreased by 0.2 g/dL after the race:

Hemoglobin (g/dL)

Before Immediately after

HE 15.4 ± 0.2 15.6 ± 0.2 (increase of 0.2 g/dL)

 TE 15.2 ± 0.2 15.0 ± 0.2 (decrease of 0.2 g/dL)

Hematocrit (%)

  Before Immediately after

HE 47 ± 0.5 46 ± 0.5∗

 TE 47 ± 0.5 46 ± 0.5∗

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29430287

Check out what is stated in this other study on World Cup soccer players who are being given blood tests for analysis at a WADA lab.

The quality of the analyses was at the required level as described in the WADA technical documents. The urinary steroid profiles of the players were stable and consistent with previously published papers on football players. During the competition, amphetamine was detected in a sample collected on a player who had a therapeutic use exemption for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The blood passport data showed NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE in hemoglobin values between out-of-competition and postmatch samples.

"Whole blood samples were collected from all the qualified players during the OOC tests and all tested players after the games. The WADA procedures for the blood tests, as described in the operational guidelines for the biological passport, were entirely applied, except for the 2 h delay before blood collection after the match. In the operating guidelines, the appendix A is dedicated to the blood sample collection requirements. “If collection occurs after training or Competition, test planning shall … ensure testing does not occur within two hours of such activity…If for some reason, the Sample was taken within two hours of training or competition, the nature, duration and intensity of the exertion shall be recorded.”

"For logistical reasons, the 2 HOUR WAIT after exercise was NOT FEASIBLE at the FIFA World Cup and, therefore, was not applied.

"In fact, antidoping tests in football right after the game have always been challenging because of the players. In principle, blood collection is not time-consuming, in contrast to urine sampling. For this reason, the antidoping authorities of FIFA collect the blood tests as soon as the player arrives in the antidoping collection room, directly after the game. Depending on the location of the antidoping room in the stadium and the duration of press interviews, the time after exercise can vary from 15 and 90 min, if the player was still on the pitch at the end of the game. Furthermore, the nature and the duration of participation in the competition were recorded.

"The main lesson learned from the FIFA World Cup 2014 were:

(1) meticulous organisation of antidoping tests on the field and well-controlled shipments of samples to the laboratory by the antidoping authority does not compromise the samples. This allows the accredited laboratory to provide valid results.

(2) No differences were observed between out-of-competition and postcompetition for hematological values."

It is just a Coincidental Synchronicity™.

Check out the names of all of the people on this study.

One of the names on this study is:

Dr. Martial Plan B Saugy = the (former) director of the WADA Lausanne, Switzerland lab...and the "blood test expert" for Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe.

The study was done at the Lausanne WADA lab during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Over 1000 samples were collected in total and analysed in the WADA accredited Laboratory of Lausanne.

Figure 9 shows that the parameters measured for the red cell lines are not significantly different between IC and OOC samples.

As observed in table 2, there is homogeneity in the blood data between the different groups, with no significant effect within the groups, if the collection was done IC or OOC.

Blood passport values of players depending on their position and the time spent on the field

Position and time spent on the field (minimum) In competition Precompetition

HGB RET OFF-score HGB (g/dL) RET (%) OFF-score

Defender 96 14.9 1.24 82.9 14.9 1.21 83.9

 0–45 45 14.8 1.25 81.1

 45–90 3 14.8 0.96 89.7

 90–135 48 15.1 1.25 84.2

Forward 78 15.1 1.26 84.0 15.1 1.22 85.4

 0–45 38 14.8 1.27 80.8

 45–90 19 15.6 1.31 88.4

 90–135 21 15.1 1.20 85.9

Goalkeeper4315.0 1.15 86.2 15.2 1.24 86.5

 0–45 26 15.0 1.11 87.4

 45–90 2 16.1 1.49 87.4

 90–135 15 14.9 1.18 84.0

Midfielder88 15.3 1.25 86.2 15.1 1.21 85.8

 0–45 42 15.2 1.26 85.6

 45–90 15 15.5 1.11 92.6

 90–135 31 15.2 1.30 83.9

Unknown156 15.1 1.20 85.5

Total/mean 15.1 1.24 84.6 15.1 1.21 85.3

Figure 10

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.

Object name is bjsports-2015-094762f10.jpg

Cumulative frequency distribution curves for haemoglobin (left panel) and reticulocytes (right panel) in the in competition (red line) and out-of-competition (black line) samples.

Check out the 2 to 3% reticulocyte levels seen out-of-competition indicating EPO use versus 3% rectiulocyte levels not seen in competition.

Check out the 0.47% reticulocyte scores for Ms. Paula Radcliffe on the frequency distribution curve.

Check out the 15.6 g/dL hemoglobin level for Ms. Paula "Pantani" Radcliffe which is at the same time as the atypical reticulocyte score.

Check out the frequency of a 16.2 g/dL hemoglobin level on the frequency distribution curve for MALES.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25878079

ha ha ha

Actovegin is not banned by WADA, putting it in the same category as protein powder, and isotonic drinks, and bananas and Coca Cola. I think it is not approved by the FDA, making its use problematic for Americans subject to their own federal laws, but not for Brits receiving therapy in Germany.

U.K. Interests wrote:

What are the thoughts on Actovegin? It appears that every time a doper is busted now they mention Actovegin amongst the haul of drugs. It's been mentioned s lot by former cyclists like Tyler Hamilton for its blood effects but Paula used this? Does this not go against her stated principles. There is also a lot of talk on here. Bout dehydration. Anybody know if the British team was using saline intravenously before it was banned at hot weather champs/races?

May not be banned but hardly role model behaviour for someone on the doping panel.....

'Actovegin made headlines from 2009 to 2011 when Canadian sports doctor Anthony Galea was charged with illegally providing professional athletes with a number of performance-enhancing drugs, including Actovegin.[2][3] As revealed by later testimony by riders, it was also regularly used by Lance Armstrong and the members of his U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team on the 2000 Tour de France to enhance their performance.'

'One study found that when tissues suffer from hypoxia caused circulation abnormalities, Actovegin helps capillaries improve circulation by enhancing the neogenic mechanism in blood vessels.'