In fairness she said in her video she googled whether it affects performance so surely she would use performance, athlete or words to that affect not just the drugs name on its own.Try doing that and not getting loads of banned results.
I fail to see why there are myriad people excusing a proven doper here. I thought this site was all about policing doping so that competition is fair. If it's on the banned list, it's cheating to take it.
After watching her video, I get the impression she took spironolactone knowing that it was banned but rationalized it by checking it wasn't a PED and her chances of being tested were very low.
count the number of edits during her open and transparent video. ask her to shoot it again in one take. ask her if she was forbidden to speak about her ban earlier. that said i still believe her and find her training journey inspirational. how does her medication compare as a diuretic to other common non banned diuretics?
If your name really is Fred Freewater then ok but if not, you're a coward hiding behind the wall of anonymity.
It's acne medication you fool.
Says you hiding behind a wall of anonymity.
Allie used a banned masking agent. Only the really naiive and gullible would believe her story of not knowing how to search. Because Allie used a banned masking agent, she very likely could have been using steroids and the USADA/WADA tests couldn't pick those up and ban her for much longer.
I ran in a few races that were subject to testing. If they USADA/USATF tested me, I would really question them (though I suppose random drug testing isn't really random is also what that says). Still, I went through the TUE process for a medication I take. So for a *professional runner* to not do the same is pretty mind blowing.
You getting a TUE as a recreational runner sounds like an exception. I'd bet most/maybe all others earlier in the thread that apparently have taken it or drugs that are banned under WADA but commonly used by the general public have never gotten TUEs. If you test everyone at a large road race, you'd probably get 100+ positives from people not trying to cheat because most hobby joggers just have no idea.
I agree, a pro should know better. Still, it's not mind blowing at all though. People have different personalities. I'd think people that have more geek tendencies (you for example, and me for sure) would be obsessive enough to really study and know what is in the rules and know to be wary of the got-yous that the general public aren't aware of. There's a reason that car forums or bike forums or tech forums, etc. are 90% guys geeking out about all the details of everything. The women in my life don't geek out about stuff in the same way at all, and the younger ones are fairly confident they know the gist of things without getting into the details all the time. Which works out most of the time and is actually an asset most of the time - they certainly waste less time online geeking out about the things I geek out over and are more productive in other ways. I feel like LR regulars are probably 10x more likely than the general public to know without studying the WADA lists that diuretics are banned, while that presumably that didn't ring any alarm bells at all for AllieO when reading about the drug.
For what it's worth, I did a search for just the drug on Bing (my usual search engine), and nothing in the first page of the results mentioned it being banned by WADA, in contrast to some other people's experience searching Google or Bing upthread. I'm not a drug expert and had never heard of this one before. The main thing I got reading the pages linked in the search was that it's a diuretic and a common off-label use for it is for female acne.
If you enter a usatf national championship race, there's a giant section as you're signing up about their right to drug test and how to find what substances are banned (for me, Albuterol) and how to get a TUE. Since Ostrander had signed up for the 15k championship the month before she failed her test, she should've known that.
If your name really is Fred Freewater then ok but if not, you're a coward hiding behind the wall of anonymity.
It's acne medication you fool.
Says you hiding behind a wall of anonymity.
Allie used a banned masking agent. Only the really naiive and gullible would believe her story of not knowing how to search. Because Allie used a banned masking agent, she very likely could have been using steroids and the USADA/WADA tests couldn't pick those up and ban her for much longer.
You were so brave in 2020 for refusing to wear a mask. A true patriot.
Longtime Allie supporter here. I have to admit this whole thing has me confused. I have so many questions...how is it possible for someone as intelligent as Allie to not know spironolactone was banned, especially because she seems to be so hyperaware of what she's putting in her body? I find it shocking that she would not search to see if this drug were banned. And why would she go to some "online pharmacist" instead of her regular doctor, who would surely know she is in the USADA testing pool and advise against using it. I really want to believe that she is being honest but the whole thing is just so strange.
Also, why did she not disclose this to her fans when her ban was initially instated instead of avoiding answering questions this summer as to why she was in Europe but not racing at Dolomyths and Sierre Zinal as planned. Surely USADA would not require that she not discuss it, so it had to be a personal choice or upon the advice of her sponsor. Honestly, I wouldn't care if she chose to keep it quiet because that is her right but she is always talking about authenticity and transparency, and has positioned herself as a public figure. So not disclosing it feels deceptive to those fans who support her and who also support her YouTube channel. I'd be interested to know her reasoning behind waiting to address it until it was already announced by USADA and Flotrack.
I would also be curious to hear what her sponsor Nnormal has to say about this. They would have been completely justified in dropping her when they found out but have clearly continued to support her. I'd also like to hear what other prominent figures and athletes in the running community have to say - as far as I know, all have remained silent. I know she is well liked.
I find it shocking that she would not search to see if this drug were banned. And why would she go to some "online pharmacist" instead of her regular doctor, who would surely know she is in the USADA testing pool and advise against using it. I really want to believe that she is being honest but the whole thing is just so strange.
The only reason for her to have used an "online pharmacist" instead of her regular doctor is because you can get "online pharmacists" to say whatever you want and give whatever you want as long as you pay the right price. Same reason why so many American athletes use "online doctors" to tell them they have asthma or ADHD when they don't so they can get PEDs and high on narcotics. What do you think Doc Brown is doing these days when he can practice medicine in person?
Just because you like someone doesn't make it okay that they failed a drug test. That said, she has nearly severed the entire suspension, a suspension which prevented her from racing Sierre Zinal, the most prestigious race on her calendar this year.
She can move on with her career now. The Western States ban is irrelevant. There is no way she is ever going to race 100 miles.