Okay lets go at it, Just Say no, sorry I couldn't resist responding to these incredible ignorant responses.
[/quote]Being a good sport is not cheating.
Fine, she's a "good sport" on the track during the race. So that means shes not a cheater?? Taking EPO, or any other steriod (or steriod like substance) changes the physical make up of the person's muscles and body giving them an "unnatural advantage". If this isn't cheating, then what is it???
[/quote]I didn't say she did nothing "wrong". That's a judgment call, or "rules" whatever you want to call them.
What I said is that it's not important.
If it isn't important, then why are the athletes tested for drugs??? The sport is supposed to be who is the best, not who can chemically alter their body the most to beat everybody else.
[/quote]You already said it wasn't banned. Therefore, even if she did take it, and even if she knew she was taking it, it wasn't a gamble and nor was it cheating.
Okay TGH wasn't banned. BUT, any all substances that are chemically similar to EPO or other steriod products, even unaware to testing officials are banned. I would definatly say that TGH falls under that category.
[/quote]I didn't say all substances are the same. I said all drugs are drugs and differ only in their strengths and effects.
All drugs are NOT the same. Drugs act in many different ways in the body and most of the time work in unrelated fasions to each other. EPO/TGH are "performance enhancers" they help build muscle strenght and endurance, therefore actually altering the physical make up of the body. Advil, caffeine, etc. Do not alter the physical make up of the body, therefore not enhancing performace. Before you flip out, advil doesn't "enhance" performance. It is an anti-inflamatory that allows the body to work in its natural way by reducing cronic inflamation. For distance runners, Caffine pretty much only increases your heartrate thus not doing too much more than a good warm up does. Not to mention is a diuretic (spelling?) so that def isn't a "performace inhancer"
[quote]A substance is considered illegal on 2 counts: do the ?powers that be? consider it a major performance enhancer, AND if so, is it also harmful to the body? It really has to be both.
So?what about advil and coffee? Neither is considered to be an extreme performance enhancer (like EPO or Steroids), so they do not meet the first standard of an illegal substance. And not coffee, though a little bit helpful possibly, is considered VERY safe.
That pretty much covers everything. Sorry if you disagree with me, but thats the facts.