Breaking: Issam Asinga Sues Gatorade

Except this couple has an additional layer of genetic potential. Klecker's parents were notable athletes and Hurta's parents were collegiate runners.

Worst post of th eyear so far? I rarely tell Gault what to write.

I barely even look at traffic numbers. I like this story as it's fascinating to me. I loved "Murder she wrote" as a kid. I think most people's minds aren't curious. Mine is very curious so I like to debate both sides.

You make some good points.

I do think logically the most likely option is - guy improves a ton because he's doping and then gets caught when he enters the testing pool. That being said , I'm far from thinking it's 100%.

Another thing I've been wondering is 'Why in the hell would BetterNutritionals have 1516 anywheren ear the plant? Like was this a welll respected company? If so, that seems crazy as it's expensive. Or was this some fly by night snake oil company ? Much more likely."

Of course, going in the other direction is the mother's text. Why would she be texting worried about some supplement if they were doping?

So. Unbelievable world beating high schooler tests positive.

1. blames it on a mass produced supplement from an industry leading sport supplement/nutrition company that produces the same product as NSF. Would indicate fairly stringent product control procedures.

2. Sends opened gummies. Not all test positive but some do. So already 1 major inconsistency suggesting it’s not a batch effect otherwise all gummies would be positive.

3. Gatorade has multiple lots of products tested, including one manufactured at the same time on the same line, and an identical lot. Neither test positive.

4. Other athletes gummies from the same ceremony have theirs tested. None test positive.

5. Athlete has his own gummies tested AGAIN, noting the inconsistencies outlined in point 2. Unclear from what I’ve read if this was a retest of the same exact samples from the original test, or a new test on new samples from the original pack.

The simplest explanation here is that the athlete was doping, tried to sabotage his samples, and is now scrambling. If no other supplements available have returned a positive test then you would need incredibly improbable chances to rationalize and explain the contaminant being in 1-2 gummies in 1 pack given to the 1 athlete who just happens to be a world record holder. Also - Greene seems dodgy as hell. Your whole career is spent defending dopers coming up with increasingly fantastical explanations?

That's hilarious, Facebook, good one!

He better be careful. They could counter sue his sorry behind.

Great point, teenagers always tell their parents everything that they're doing.

If I remember correctly, this crap caused massive cancer pretty much overnight in lab mice. Super nasty. It's not something a supplement manufacturer would have laying around.

Exactly. No way Gatorade has this stuff accidentally spilling into a gummy batch. Was he stupid to blame this on a billion dollar company? Or was it his plan to try to get some money out of this debacle?

The 14 and 20 months thing you point out I think is a potential weakness in the argument for sure.

The Washington Post guy is reporting what is in the lawsuit. Jon was reported what was publicly available. You want them to only include things that are against Asinga? That isn't a journalists job.

Not "only include things that are against Asinga", but "also include things that are against Asinga", and that in a balanced way. Neither letsrun nor WaPo should act like Asinga's lawyer or fanboi, imho.

Also, that cute little story with Mom's texts is completely irrelevant. Whether or not she knows that he was doped to the gills, she'd never want him to test positive from any impurity in his supplements, or would she?

Damning witnesses? According to USADA "GW1516 is not legally permitted in any medications, supplements, or foods." It's possible that Better Nutritional employees would not be freely willing admit to breaking the federal law in testimony during a sports arbitration proceeding. According to the FDA, during a 1-month inspection in 2019, Better Nutrionals "did not conduct at least one appropriate test or examination to verify the identity of a dietary ingredient, prior to its use." How would the witnesses even know what was in the ingredients? Is there paperwork?

Expert statement? Which one? The expert did say it could be adulterated. The Disciplinary Tribunal went unnecessarily out of their way to express significant caveats with that scenario.

What else seems to be completely missing from the "damning" witness and expert testimonies are corroborating evidence.

The "innocent" scenario that fits the evidence well, that the Disciplinary Tribunal explained and could not exclude, is that contamination occurred during the cooling and drying of the heated gummy slurry, and some of the gummies were contaminated from contact with the shaping molds, conveyer belt, drying trays, or other machinery or equipment. This would explain contamination on the exterior with a gradient to contamination in the interior.

This "innocent" scenario equally lacks corroborating evidence. As the Disciplinary Tribunal explains, this only works against the athlete. The "regulatory framework" places the "difficult, if not impossible" burden on the athlete to collect the evidence necessary to recreate what was most likely happening on Production Line 1 of the Facility, one year in the past, in Sept. 2022. Failing to meet this burden, the Tribunal cannot reduce the sanction under the current "regulatory framework".

You are being irresponsible. You need to stop. It's people like you and the conspiracy baseless nonsense you are producing that are helping to degrade the sport.

DO BETTER!

LOL what a "surprise". Rekrunner - though he isn't a drug cheat apologist at all - stands up for yet another banned doper, and asks stupid questions that even he should know the answers to.

Which witnesses? LOL. Witnesses A and B, of course.

Which expert? LOL. Prof Saugy, of course. Which statement? Glad you asked. This one:

I cannot see how these results would be consistent with a contamination during the manufacture of the gummies. Rather, these results point to an adulteration of the gummies at a later stage.

Quite a contrast to rekrunner's bold claim about "The "innocent" scenario that fits the evidence well," but rekrunner is rekrunner and therefore knows better.

And let's also ignore that all sealed vials tested negative, and that even all open vials from the doper's colleagues also tested negative, right? After all, that's better for the troll's agenda.

Unfortunately these companies manufacture stuff under a bunch of different name. Better nutritionals or whatever they're called might be reputable but they and other companies associated with pepsi co are likely producing stuff under multiple labels. GW1516 is available for body builders and others who don't deal with testing (and care more about results than long term health) to take and this company could easily be producing it under a different label then using the same haphazardly cleaned production area to make something else. They are interested in profit not quality - and the labels and certifications they obtain are done so because they generate more profit not out of interest in health of supplement takers. I mean gatorade is water with artificial/natural coloring which is terrible for your health, electrolytes, and corn syrup - not exactly a lot of thought put into it.

GW1516 is a lot less likely to be manufactured for high profits than other stuff, but ya, I think its possible.

The more likely scenario is that Asinga just doped. If there aren't meticulous records associated with those production lines, cleaning of them, training documentation for the people who clean or service the cleaning equipment, etc. Asinga could end up with multimillions in a settlement. His doping ban might be the best thing that happens in his life.

Well, to be fair, of all the people who ate those gummies, he was very likely the only one who got tested....this is high school, they are not in the testing pool.

I'll admit I'm no chemist but it seems to me like you could ask basically any chemistry graduate student at any university in the country to theoretically verify these degradation times? Have any of these journalists even tried to speak to a chemist about degradation?

I'd bet money on Gatorade showing up to court with lab-tested results showing that it would have already degraded by the time Assinga sent the gummies in for his initial testing (the one that came up positive).

The BroJos speaking to a chemist? LOOOOOOOOL. I cannot imagine a world where they would ever consider that. Rojo’s level of “Oh, I’m just a curious mind!” starts and ends with making ridiculous defenses and entertaining conspiracy theories for athletes he likes, not doing any actual investigating.

Thanks for participating! You’ve put a lot of thought into this. Please share your carefully considered percentage likelihood that this is the case? Also, what was your percentage likelihood of tainted meat causation in the SBH case. Looking forward to it!