Doug Logan (ex-CEO of USATF) publicly endorses PEDs

Just one of the MANY issues I have with allowing the use of PEDs:

Where is the scientific evidence of long-term health risks involved in the use of PEDs? I don't know of any. And all use of PEDs is done under the table, so none of it is documented. Our best evidence would probably be from back in the Iron Curtain days. Those freaks documented everything.

Banning PEDs is for the benefit of the athletes, especially in a world where winning is everything. Our bodies regulate EPO/ hemoglobin/ blood volume for a reason. And our bodies could give an F less how fast we run. Survival is the main concern.

And yes, Doug Logan is a complete idiot. How in the world does anyone take this guy seriously??? C'mon guys, we are all smarter than that. Let's continue to do what we need to fight the use of PEDs. It is well worth it!!!!!!!

One statement: WWF Wrestling! (let's make drugs a free for all...and all sports will turn into WWF....)

Logan's implied message is worth hearing. Either we engage in a full court press to limit PED's, or we do virtually nothing at all. Any middle ground is far too susceptible to manipulation. Although there have been significant strides made in term of doping, given the geographic and enforcement variances, we are in a slippery middle ground now, which creates nothing but frustration.

The sport has already suffered. Most all of the women's world records are drug induced jokes. I am trying to remember when I last took world class performances seriously. My guess is sometime in the mid-70s'.

do you really think that there arent "semi-serious local-level competitors" doing that now? It's just not noticed because they are the average joe schmoe.

poster1 wrote:

We shouldn't legalize PEDs in sports, but he's right when he says we should leave the regulations to law enforcement. Athletes who use PEDs are committing fraud. This is a crime, these people are criminals, and they should be persecuted by the police. We throw white collar criminals in jail, so why shouldn't athletes who cheat others out of prize money face the same consequences? If drug users were threatened with jail time and financial restitution, a lot more would hesitate to use PEDs.

Do you seriously think the government will prosecute (or persecute?) someone for violating the rules of sport because that is "fraud." I've never heard of such a prosecution. There have been some perjury prosecutions of a handful of major athletes (Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens) with very mixed results (plea bargain for Jones and Bonds and Clemens basically walked), but none just for breaking the rules of a sport. Maybe Armstrong will be prosecuted, but that would be for fraudulently getting money from the government (his sponsor - the US Postal Service), not breaking the rules of a sports organization.

The police have enough trouble keeping up with actual violent crimes and robberies. Prosecuting people just to enforce the rules of sporting organizations simply wouldn't happen.

He didn't publicly endorse PEDs. He said that fighting the battle against them is a losing fight. That is very different than endorsing them.

They should. If you are taking it without prescription it is illegal, assuming you're in the U.S., and you should be prosecuted by the law. Face the same rules as any banned drug. Dont forget those people also lied in Congress.

wejo wrote:

People want sports to be about who is the best athlete, not who has the best doctor.

Salazar ended that notion.

Gamera wrote:

I think making athletics into a PED free-for-all would be a death-knell for the sport - maybe most sports. If you dreamed of being an elite runner, even trying to succeed without taking PEDs would be pointless when you knew the competition had such a large advantage. There would no longer really be the issue of having to resist the temptation to cheat. It would just be standard procedure. ....

.

People used the same arguments against professionalism in T&F and allowing athletes to get paid.

Anyone within sniffing distance of Mexico can get PEDs, steroids are for sale on the counter just like buying aspirin. Then there's the 'net..

GabbaGabbaHey wrote:

I agree with A Duck too.

We are also counting on the BroJos too, to continue to hammer the cheaters, as they have done from the beginning, and to ostracize the cheaters.

I don't know who the "99%" of people who use drugs are. But the issue here is not about medicines that do nothing for athletic performance. The athletes all know what the performance-enhancing drugs (as opposed to medicines) are.

It's about knowing who the best man, or woman, is on a given day, and not about which drug works best.

Approving PEDs would cause a major breakdown in Track, all competitive distance running in general, as well as many other sports (XC skiing, cycling, etc).

Don't give the Brojo's so much credit.

The selectively hammer the cheaters they want to hammer, turn a soft eye towards the others (Jamaica/Puma athletes) and permit the smearing of athletes who've not be convicted of cheating.

And they completely skip encouraging you to make your vote known with the IAAF/WADA about harsher penalties etc.

mdmd wrote:

themanontherun wrote:

But it's already about so much more than who has the best talent and work ethic. Who has the best coach, the best strength program, the best (legal) recovery aids like altitude tents, protein shakes, electrolyte replacements, underwater treadmills, training camps, trips to altitude, sponsors, agents, etc.

None of that is even necessary to be successful. Seriously, you think protein shakes and electrolyte replacements are some of what it's about? And very few people even have access to altitude tents and underwater treadmills.

For that matter very few people have the chance to be descended from long multi century long lineages of people born and raised in the Rift Valley running barefoot in the snow to and from school ten miles every day yadda...

All things are never going to be even. But bio passports, and draconian penalties could shut the door on EPO and other abuses.

He has this bizarre idea that there's a zero-sum game at work here: Because there are pedophiles, tax evaders, and other crooks out there, trying to fight drug use in sports isn't worth it. Does he think everyone with the USADA can just quit and go into law enforcement?

I agree that violent crimes are a more pressing issue than athlete PED use. But I also think the legal system has some use in the case of athletes who cheat to win. Let's use an example. Let's say that runner A, who has used PEDs to supplement his training, comes in first place in a major marathon and wins $50,000. Let's then say that runner B, who does not use PEDs, comes in second place, and walks away with only $30,000. I think it's safe to say that runner B was just cheated out of $20,000, and I also think it's fair that this person seek legal assistance in recovering his financial loss.

photofinish wrote:

He didn't publicly endorse PEDs. He said that fighting the battle against them is a losing fight. That is very different than endorsing them.

Exactly. Title of this thread is BS.

80% of letsrun users are ignorant bullshitters

Under that situation, if you went down to your local police station, told the police you suspected the winner of taking EPO, and swore out a complaint, I think the chances are virtually zero that the police would investigate and issue search warrants to figure out if the winner had doped in a way that had violated USATF rules (or whatever the applicable rules are) and bring charges.

As a practical matter, if WADA, USADA, and the other anti-doping organizations don't enforce the rules, no one else will.

Logan's just completely wrong, and his stance is an indication of his utter failure as the head of USATF.

The fight against drugs isn't working perfectly, but the biological passports have been important progress. Ask Turkey's Alptekin. Kenya and Ethiopia have been pressured into getting serious about pursuing drug abusers. I'm not going to be Pollyannaish about this, but Logan ...whose contributions at USATF were nil ... is a hack who failed and now wants to make failure universal.

ataglance. wrote:

Gamera wrote:

I think making athletics into a PED free-for-all would be a death-knell for the sport - maybe most sports. If you dreamed of being an elite runner, even trying to succeed without taking PEDs would be pointless when you knew the competition had such a large advantage. There would no longer really be the issue of having to resist the temptation to cheat. It would just be standard procedure. ....

.

People used the same arguments against professionalism in T&F and allowing athletes to get paid.

Anyone within sniffing distance of Mexico can get PEDs, steroids are for sale on the counter just like buying aspirin. Then there's the 'net..

Not sure I understand how allowing PED's is similar to debating allowing professionalism. At least on the surface, running for prize money is simple and fair - if you win the race, you get the prize money, etc. The system does not have an inherent bias against the poor, the technologically less-advanced, etc, and does not present any obvious health risks. In fact, people from "poor" backgrounds seem to do quite well in the professional running marketplace.

And I believe there is a gross misunderstanding among people who think that because PED usage already exists, ending the ban on PEDs wouldn't make much difference. Currently, PEDs are at least somewhat hard to get as far as I can tell - and obtaining them carries some risk. Plus, you get tested for them at the elite level. Maybe you can beat the test, but that's usually by not having them in your system at the time of the test. All these things limit the amount of PED usage and their effectiveness. Surrendering the fight against PED would be like opening the floodgates - top athletes would be seriously doped up all the time. No more tapering doses before competition, no more need for masking agents, no more doping only in the off-season or at opportune times. Doping would go on all the time, year-round, with assistance from medical professionals for those with resources. That's a lot different than maybe being able to buy some steroids down in Mexico that may or may not be legit and that you're not sure how to use.

+1 again. Sport is basically dead anyway