I heard somewhere she had become an Infantry officer and got her Ranger tab. Rumor and apparently some statistics out there are that the military especial the front lines and special ops hit the roids hard to keep alive as like hey if you can dope to get from point A to point B with 100lbs on your back like 2 seconds faster you stay alive vs getting pumped full of bullets. No idea if this has anything to do with the positive result but she hasn’t run crazy fast in ages and has moved on to other professional pursuits so it just might make more sense. As this result seems like such an unintelligent thing for someone who is so insanely bright.
I could have sworn she said in some interview in late 2020 that running was going to be just a hobby behind some bad ass military pursuits; Ranger school? HALO? Combat diving? Jungle warfare? The Q course? Sapper? Helicopter flying? From what I’ve known and seen of her; if it was hard she wanted to do it. Some of us said she was like a female David Goggins; made her loved by some and disliked by others. Much of the military, especially the infantry, is still the all boys club so, she, not conforming to the status quo discovered that brought her more than a handful of resentment from others. The relevance being she is now focused on missions far beyond those of achievement in sport as her top professional priorities.
Doping for sport vs doping to survive war and fight better on the frontlines for your battle buddies and country and even for heaven sakes to fight off those creepy #metoo’ers lurking in the chain of command (all my military people you know what I’m taking about); they are different apples to oranges morality comparisons. Sport is about a level playing field while war is not. In war you are expected by your units to take every possible advantage you can create to have an edge over the “other side” in order to be effective and in order to get all or your men and women home alive.
My confusion with this is that Scherf was always very diligent about knowing and following the rules; like a human encyclopedia. Believe me people in the military find her very interesting (as people like her don’t just join and put their lives on the line when they have so many other things going for them; this is normally a poor uneducated man’s game) and others asked her all about her athletics even anti doping stuff (and her education too; I mean HARVARD, no one in the military knows anyone who actually went there, West Point maybe but not Harvard). She stood out being a PT stud, not to mentions being a land nav and AR code memorizing savant and impressively being able to explain on a microscopic level how the covid vaccine is actually designed to work to a bunch of thick skulled soldiers and have them actually get it. The one thing she most strongly was in my opinion was insanely NICE to everyone even those who where you know what bags to her; of which there were far too many.
Other military people around her, compliments of looking her up on the internet, asked her about this ban from sport from her 2007 anti doping case. What she said when asked was something to the tune of the USADA TUE coordinator who told SCHERF to ask about drug testing with the Gold Coast Marathon elite athlete coordinator and she also told her “if there isn’t going to be drug testing at the race you don’t have a problem,” a fact that was, to my understanding, never in question.
The Gold Coast marathon elite athlete coordinator told her “NO drug testing was planned” (lying to her) but he later admitted in the CAS hearing that that line of questioning from SCHERF prompted them to call in testing services specifically to test her and misleading her in spite of her stating that USADA told her to make inquiry. The elite athlete coordination stated in the CAS trial when questioned by the CAS arbitrators that he never bothered to make a call directly to USADA to confirm or refute the truth of SCHERF’s inquiries with them before contacting ASADA (Australia’s anti-doping agency) to arrange for SCHERF to be tested. Nice advice USADA; even to someone like myself, if I were the race director/elite athlete coordinator, I too would think this sounds “suspect.”
Her earnest attempts at being diligent landed her in the situation, where she per USADAs guidance, would race with an outstanding/pending TUE application only as long as no drug testing was going to take place at the event. Therefore she said she never had an advance plan for what she would do if she where to be asked to submit to doping control; as she was assured that would not happen at that event.
USADA really dropped the ball on handling her case in 2007; on like 10 different levels from not knowing their own rules (she didn’t actually need an international TUE for this event, her already in place USADA TUE would have been sufficient), to having broken information links for months on end on their website (it was noted on the date of the CAS hearing months later the same web links in question were still down; really not a good look USADA), to failure to process TUE applications in accordance with their own published processing timelines (she submitted the TUE 9 weeks in advance where the promised processing turn around was 3 weeks), and giving really poor advice for an athlete to follow (asking a race director/elite athlete coordinator about drug testing for what proved to be false assurances). But they, USADA, are the established “good fight/clean sport governing body” so you listen. Maybe well intentioned but competent or reliable isn’t supported in any of the case evidence. Some of the facts summarized here: https://www.doping.nl/media/kb/690/CAS 2007_A_1416 WADA & IAAF vs USADA & Lindsey Scherf (OS).pdf
I don’t see her risking her reputation, as she values this greatly, too much so to intentionally dope for sport and ruin what she values more than sport; which is being a good person. She said her biggest hurt from this 2007 blemish on her record was not the ban itself, it was how it hurt those people closest to her and how it made people question her character and integrity. And she said she would have given up ever having competed or ever doing so in the future in sport if doing so could undo the hurt that this situation had on loved ones and how other’s viewed her character as diminished from this because people negatively pre judged her on the headlines only, which they never read beyond. Seems like the 2007 situation would be just about the strongest experience that one could have to prevent them from actually considering REALLY doping for sport.
I’d like to hear from her as this whole situation seem very mysterious and I don’t think we have faintest idea what the REAL story is. I think there is more to the story. Does anyone else here actually personally know what the real story is or any other factual pieces of it? Any other people know her from running, military or other professional or social circles?
One thing I can say for sure is this is one tough as nails woman, and they don’t come more selfless than SCHERF. I’ve personally seen her not think twice putting herself, her professional self interests, and personal safety on the line to keep other soldiers safe and stick up for them when nobody else would simply because it was the right thing to do. Strong as steel moral compass and as brave as they come.
I scratch my head thinking nothing makes sense with this situation; but I do not question SCHERF’s integrity as it’s something I have seen first hand not just read a headline about. Maybe in writing this I provide some actual facts in the middle of a whole lot of uninformed speculation. But I have to imagine someone else has more insight then me. Just fed up with every one butchering the facts of the past or making up ones about the present and calling a good person a bad one on this non-factual basis.
Me, former high school XC and track runner, continuing hobby jogger and Army Helicopter Pilot. SCHERF if you’re reading this and if you haven’t figured it out already you should know who this is by now. Any other veterans or active servicemen or servicewomen on the message board (not WCAP; we still appreciate your service but it’s not the frontlines; different life or death risk level) have any informed comments about steroid usage in combat arms units?
Seriously the last person I’d expect to ever be associated with the term doping again based on my encounters with her.
What I KNOW is SCHERF is as awesome of a battle buddy and I can find and there isn’t anyone else you would rather have having your back than her; MAN or WOMAN PERIOD.
can't believe you wrote all this word salad out to defend a doper.
And if she were your friend, you wouldn't defend her as a person? Grow up.
Where does it say anything about an inhaler on the Scherf recent positive case? It says she tripped a positive for an "anabolic agent". Most inhalers are not banned at all by WADA fyi.
What's more concerning is the use of T, HGH etc....even for age groupers and hobbyjoggers...now that's real cheating!
The discussion about inhalers was related to her 2007 case where she was suspended from competition in 2007 due to refusal to take a drug test after not getting her asthma medication TUE processed. Yes, different case, but shows a pattern of either not knowing the rules, skirting them, or not following them.
If you don't need an inhaler but use one anyway, yeah, it's not usually banned by WADA, but it's that grey area that doesn't really match with the spirit of the sport. FYI -- sounds like you're defending the use of inhalers for people who don't really need them.
I specifically wrote about her "most recent" positive case....
"Anabolic agents" is totally different from something like an Albuterol/Salbutamol (rescue inhaler). I don't believe one even needs a TUE for that actually.
While I see some things as "Gray area" in the TUE realm (thyroid meds for example) I know enough about bio, chem and exercise science to say the things you really have to watch out for are steroids/hgh/EPO and T in terms of PEDs that are actually going to make a big, "superhuman" difference.
You give a regular person an inhaler (that doesn't need one) and it's not going to make them any faster at regular prescription levels.
At a high dosage level, yes maybe one could go for a stimulant effect/weight loss effect (really depends on the inhaler if it's like a corticosteroid or a beta-2 antagonist and what the dosage is as there are certain thresholds that could be monitored or abused potentially ...). Still you're looking probably a very marginal influence on performance compared to the "big time PEDs"
I also would look at things that could be used as possible masking agents...which are on the WADA list for reasons like that.
I'm certainly not defending Scherf. I'm just more interested in the more recent positive case with "anabolic agents." Realize I have zero tolerance for dopers. I believe in lifetime bans and I think some people (in some cases) should do jail time for doping.
I trained for a while with Westchester Road Runners and, during the off season, instead of track workouts, we would do an 8 mile winter run from their running store each wednesday night. There were runners at a wide range of levels (the elite runners wouldn't do this run, and I was in fastest group from non-elite track workouts so would do these runs in the front with a few of my friends). One night, the run begins, and there is a little tiny girl who is new to the group and goes out hard with the fastest men. As you would predict, this was a suicidal pace for her, and she got dropped badly, fairly early in the run. The next week, there she is again but, instead of going out slower based on the previous week, she does the same thing again -- but gets a little further before she is dropped. Week after week she returns, filled with dogged determination, and gets further and further before she gets dropped. It was very young Lindsay - not sure her age, and she might have been small for her age, but it must have looked almost comical to see this tiny girl running with all these fast men. If my memory of it is right, by the end of the winter, she was staying with the front runners, or very close to us, all the way to the end. I remembered thinking she could turn into a very special runner, and remembered her name - and while she never became the best in the world, she did pretty great by my standards. But what I remember as most inspirational was that little girl's fierce determination and persistence!
Scherf was a talent. She came to our Cornell xc camp back in the day in HS.
Not speaking about her specifically as I didn't coach the girls but it was early in my time and Cornell and around the time I was stunned to learn that some recruits could get into a Harvard or Yale or Princeton but not Cornell. So to all the haters who said we could get in people other Ivies couldn't get in - it works both ways. I remember telling a recruit we didn't think we could get him in and then he told me he was admitted at Princeton so we decided to try again.
Is she really in the Army or is that a joke? I hope she has a new passion and wish her the best of luck if true. Seeing her name pop up in results recently made me wonder why she was still in the Game - it was clear the Olympic dream was long expired. I was thinking, "Maybe she just really loves it?"
Is she really in the Army or is that a joke? I hope she has a new passion and wish her the best of luck if true. Seeing her name pop up in results recently made me wonder why she was still in the Game - it was clear the Olympic dream was long expired. I was thinking, "Maybe she just really loves it?"
I found a 2015 video interview of her where one aspect of the interview was talking about wanting to become a military pilot (it was after her dad passed away in 2011, which inspired her to try to fly), but she was rejected due to her exercise-induced asthma.
The discussion about inhalers was related to her 2007 case where she was suspended from competition in 2007 due to refusal to take a drug test after not getting her asthma medication TUE processed. Yes, different case, but shows a pattern of either not knowing the rules, skirting them, or not following them.
If you don't need an inhaler but use one anyway, yeah, it's not usually banned by WADA, but it's that grey area that doesn't really match with the spirit of the sport. FYI -- sounds like you're defending the use of inhalers for people who don't really need them.
I specifically wrote about her "most recent" positive case....
"Anabolic agents" is totally different from something like an Albuterol/Salbutamol (rescue inhaler). I don't believe one even needs a TUE for that actually.
While I see some things as "Gray area" in the TUE realm (thyroid meds for example) I know enough about bio, chem and exercise science to say the things you really have to watch out for are steroids/hgh/EPO and T in terms of PEDs that are actually going to make a big, "superhuman" difference.
You give a regular person an inhaler (that doesn't need one) and it's not going to make them any faster at regular prescription levels.
At a high dosage level, yes maybe one could go for a stimulant effect/weight loss effect (really depends on the inhaler if it's like a corticosteroid or a beta-2 antagonist and what the dosage is as there are certain thresholds that could be monitored or abused potentially ...). Still you're looking probably a very marginal influence on performance compared to the "big time PEDs"
I also would look at things that could be used as possible masking agents...which are on the WADA list for reasons like that.
I'm certainly not defending Scherf. I'm just more interested in the more recent positive case with "anabolic agents." Realize I have zero tolerance for dopers. I believe in lifetime bans and I think some people (in some cases) should do jail time for doping.
Albuterol inhalers are banned by WADA/USADA and will trigger a doping positive, Sage.
I specifically wrote about her "most recent" positive case....
"Anabolic agents" is totally different from something like an Albuterol/Salbutamol (rescue inhaler). I don't believe one even needs a TUE for that actually.
While I see some things as "Gray area" in the TUE realm (thyroid meds for example) I know enough about bio, chem and exercise science to say the things you really have to watch out for are steroids/hgh/EPO and T in terms of PEDs that are actually going to make a big, "superhuman" difference.
You give a regular person an inhaler (that doesn't need one) and it's not going to make them any faster at regular prescription levels.
At a high dosage level, yes maybe one could go for a stimulant effect/weight loss effect (really depends on the inhaler if it's like a corticosteroid or a beta-2 antagonist and what the dosage is as there are certain thresholds that could be monitored or abused potentially ...). Still you're looking probably a very marginal influence on performance compared to the "big time PEDs"
I also would look at things that could be used as possible masking agents...which are on the WADA list for reasons like that.
I'm certainly not defending Scherf. I'm just more interested in the more recent positive case with "anabolic agents." Realize I have zero tolerance for dopers. I believe in lifetime bans and I think some people (in some cases) should do jail time for doping.
Albuterol inhalers are banned by WADA/USADA and will trigger a doping positive, Sage.
Albuterol is legal under certain dosages. They reduced the amount by 3/4 a couple years ago, as NOP athletes were taking 23 puffs a day. Other Beta agonists are banned.
Inhaled albuterol (also called salbutamol): maximum 1,600 micrograms over 24 hours in divided doses, not to exceed 600 micrograms in any 8 hour-period. This permitted dosage is only valid for athletes who are not taking any type of diuretic. Athletes using a diuretic (or anything else in the S5 category of the Prohibited List) must have a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the albuterol AND the diuretic. Inhaled formoterol: maximum delivered dose of 54 micrograms over 24 hours, as long as it is not used in conjunction with a diuretic (or anything else in the S5 category of the Prohibited List). Inhaled salmeterol: maximum 200 micrograms over 24 hours Inhaled vilanterol: maximum 25 micrograms over 24 hours
The point is not whether or not she used an inhaler. The point is that she refused a test, and cited the pending TUE as an excuse. Had she taken the test, maybe she would have been popped for anabolic agents back then.
Is she really in the Army or is that a joke? I hope she has a new passion and wish her the best of luck if true. Seeing her name pop up in results recently made me wonder why she was still in the Game - it was clear the Olympic dream was long expired. I was thinking, "Maybe she just really loves it?"
According to this post on the RBR blog, she was planning to go for the indoor 50 km record at the Armory in November, 2020. After that, she was hoping to join the NY Guard and train as an infantry officer, with the goal of going on to Ranger school.
PS To add to the mystery the USADA announcement says she was living in Vegas. When/why did that happen?
I trained for a while with Westchester Road Runners and, during the off season, instead of track workouts, we would do an 8 mile winter run from their running store each wednesday night. There were runners at a wide range of levels (the elite runners wouldn't do this run, and I was in fastest group from non-elite track workouts so would do these runs in the front with a few of my friends). One night, the run begins, and there is a little tiny girl who is new to the group and goes out hard with the fastest men. As you would predict, this was a suicidal pace for her, and she got dropped badly, fairly early in the run. The next week, there she is again but, instead of going out slower based on the previous week, she does the same thing again -- but gets a little further before she is dropped. Week after week she returns, filled with dogged determination, and gets further and further before she gets dropped. It was very young Lindsay - not sure her age, and she might have been small for her age, but it must have looked almost comical to see this tiny girl running with all these fast men. If my memory of it is right, by the end of the winter, she was staying with the front runners, or very close to us, all the way to the end. I remembered thinking she could turn into a very special runner, and remembered her name - and while she never became the best in the world, she did pretty great by my standards. But what I remember as most inspirational was that little girl's fierce determination and persistence!
Scherf was a talent. She came to our Cornell xc camp back in the day in HS.
Not speaking about her specifically as I didn't coach the girls but it was early in my time and Cornell and around the time I was stunned to learn that some recruits could get into a Harvard or Yale or Princeton but not Cornell. So to all the haters who said we could get in people other Ivies couldn't get in - it works both ways. I remember telling a recruit we didn't think we could get him in and then he told me he was admitted at Princeton so we decided to try again.
Is she really in the Army or is that a joke? I hope she has a new passion and wish her the best of luck if true. Seeing her name pop up in results recently made me wonder why she was still in the Game - it was clear the Olympic dream was long expired. I was thinking, "Maybe she just really loves it?"
Is this really the topic of a post on these boards?
Anyone know what ever happened with her 50k record attempt? I found articles describing what she planned to do but not the outcome. Guessing a DNF but can't find anything.
I told y'all the Brits were dirty, and y'all wouldn't believe me! How many more have to get busted before we ban the limeys and their crooked teeth from the sport? Wonder how Lord Coerrupt is going to explain this one away? Contaminated sugar in her tea? They must think we're stupid. We should never have bailed them out at Agincourt. Next time, keep the USAF boys at home!
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