David Epstein/Pro Publica/BBC Story: Former Team Members Accuse Famed Coach Alberto Salazar of Breaking Drug Rules

As it happens, my daughter, a collegiate runner but not an elite one, has taken both prednisone (just briefly, for severe asthma) and hypothyroid medication (for Hashimoto's thyroiditis). I can tell you, from the perspective of watching her run over the years, the idea that either of those things are "performance enhancers" is just ludicrous. Enhancing of run-killing nausea, maybe.

I suspect that if the accusations are true, prednisone was an excuse so that Rupp could supplement his testosterone , and the Cytomel was just to drive weight loss. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason you'd want to take these things as an elite athlete, especially together, where its my understanding that they could be quite dangerous. But I'm not a Nike lab doctor.

Forgot to add this.

NOPe's doping regiment has been well-known for a long time. It's always been painfully obvious. Just look at a dude like Centro - the "virus" excuses, the acne, the terrible Diamond League meets followed up by WC medals (cycling). The dude's nickname is "Sauce" for a reason.

Do I care about this? Yes and no. I like to see druggies taken down - if not formally by WADA, at least in the eyes of the public.

But who fills the void? The sketchy "20 year old" Italian/Spanish-coached East Africans? Not only are these dudes just as dirty, but are wholly uninteresting to watch compete. Aden's group? Please.

The sport is rife with drugs. Sprinting is a joke. Field events are laughable. It's apparent that distance is now as well. The world records are a sham. All the excuses we've heard over the years - "41 steps", "paced by men", "he now takes 7 steps between hurdles" - all of these are weak distractions from obvious and egregious doping. Tragic stuff, but that's how it's been for a long time. These days, I get the most joy out of my own running or seeing the local kids compete.

Running Legend Craig Virgin Calls For More Transparency Revealing The Medications And Supplements Athletes Are On: “In Sight It Must Be Right”

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/01/virgin-on-rupp-record/

In the wake of Galen Rupp setting two American records over the span of nine days, and completing a 5 x 1,600 workout ending with a 4:01 fifteen minutes after his 8:07.41 two-mile record, seven-time American record holder, three-time Olympian and two-time World Cross Country champion Craig Virgin has called for more transparency in the sport of track and field in terms of athletes listing what medications/supplements they are on.

Link,

Maybe you knew me since I was one of the UO runner in the late 90's. I just wanted to clear up that you are not implying that the UO runners of the late 90's were involved in your accusations? I certainly wasn't and don't believe that any of my cross country teammates were. Perhaps the only benefit that we had from Nike apart from any other Nike school was that we got to do some footwear product testing, but Stanford did as well :-) I don't believe you were implying that, but it could have been interpreted that way by some.

Rob

You just don't get it wrote:

https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/therapeutic-use-exemption-tue/medical-information-to-support-the-decisions-of-tuecs-4

Forgot to add this.

Thank you for the info regarding WADA exemption policy. The policy is ridiculous to me but it is a glaring, if complicated theoretical loophole.

However, it does not appear that Galen, or other NOP athletes have a TUE for testosterone and hypogonadism.

"The International Olympic Committee did not issue a single testosterone exemption for the 2012 London Olympics, which featured 5,892 male athletes.

• The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued one testosterone exemption last year among the thousands of elite-level athletes under its jurisdiction."

So Galen did not have a TUE for testosterone at the 2012 Olympics and it is very doubtful that any NOP presently have an exemption either . I would bet $100 the one exemption granted by USADA is for a cyclist who depleted testosterone levels through massive training volume.

When you look at the WADA policy, you have to be comprehensively tested for TUE every four tears and you have to have an independent doctor (a second opinion not from team or diagnosing doctor) diagnose hypogonadism. I don't think the NOP is able or even willing to go that route and expose themselves to official scrutiny. Instead, the Propbulica article allegations show a program obsessed with cloak and dagger manipulation of blood levels to avoid detection.

Galen did obtain a TUE for hypoTHYROIDISM following diagnosis in 2006, but that has been all publicized and confirmed by Galen, AlSal and others for years and is within the rules.

Bottom line, there is no evidence or indication that Galen has a TUE for hypogondaism. In fact ,there is evidence that he does not. No athlete at 2012 Olympics had one, Galen competed in 2012 Olympics. Thus Galen did not / does not have TUE for hypogondism. All of which means that if Galen used testosterone in run up to 2012 Olympics he broke WADA rules.

So far, no one has produced the smoking gun. But there are a whole lot of spent shell casings lying around with Al Sal and Galen's fingerprints on them,

look! moe fara is not covered on the birmingham meet! there are three dudes! non of them moe!!

http://birmingham.diamondleague.com/list_results_bham_2015/?tx_diamondrace_diamondleaguestatistics%5BeventId%5D=2c652dcb-1526-43c4-8d12-f4ce007cf023&tx_diamondrace_diamondleaguestatistics%5Baction%5D=showEntries&tx_diamondrace_diamondleaguestatistics%5Bcontroller%5D=DiamondLeagueStatistics&cHash=c074b115539f41d450d67d2f96dfcc5a

letsrun, this is huge. within 5 years i would say, moe fara, rupp n salazar is down the drain.

I have a couple of issues...

Are we to assume that AlSal is so stupid as to tell GP to go take his illegal drug while standing in front of another athlete?

A performance lab will print a report, that they let someone take a picture of, and the report states GR in on testosterone and prednisone, naming the drugs on the report. This is a lab that should know that they were illegal.

These 2 things seem a very odd way of keeping this secret.

Over the course of 15 years of doping with an athlete, isn't it reasonable that Alberto might let down his guard a time or two?

Never give up, never surrender wrote:

I have a couple of issues...

Are we to assume that AlSal is so stupid as to tell GP to go take his illegal drug while standing in front of another athlete?

A performance lab will print a report, that they let someone take a picture of, and the report states GR in on testosterone and prednisone, naming the drugs on the report. This is a lab that should know that they were illegal.

These 2 things seem a very odd way of keeping this secret.

Rob,

I moved up to Portland in 95 and out of the state completely in 97, so, I probably didn't know you or your teammates at all. There were some UO guys in the time I was there that I would bet my life were clean. There were also some that I knew were not. I've thought hard about whether to identify who, but, I've decided that there is a statute of limitations on most crimes for a good reason. I'm not going to level accusations of what are not even crimes from 25 years ago. And I'm especially not going to do it anonymously on a message board. I told some of what I know on that Malmo A Duck thread from a year or two ago. I feel very ambivalent about saying what I did, that it was too much, and on the other hand about not saying more.

I will say this, though. I hope that some of the cheaters from long ago, who would risk very little by coming forward now, might consider coming forward and confessing. They might find it good for the sould.

I also must say that I don't believe that Dellinger was a PED pusher and, so, whatever PED use there might have been among athletes at UO, was rogue and connected to some of the less savory characters in town then. The collegiate athletes were not the main useres in town.

The stories about AW are well documented. You can probably find the video about that on youtube.

Anyway, the whole thing is just sad. Meritocratic systems are supposed to be the remedy for corruption and despotism. Instead, too often, they only reward sociopaths and cheats.

Link,

I understand. I certainly don't pretend to know everything prior to my time or even on the broader scene during my time, just that during my time on the team during the mid-late 90's there was no sense or indication of that going on and certainly no advocating of it from our coach.

Looks like you left Eugene right as our crew arrived!

I'm a pretty avid fan of another sport that had a TUE problem. Specifically, it was TUEs for low testosterone. It was a snowballing problem until half the roster was diagnosed with and "treating" low testosterone.

They solved it by banning TUEs for drugs that have any performance enhancing effect. Sorry, if you've got hypogonadism you can choose between being seeking treatment or being a professional athlete. I'll even go out on a limb and say there shouldn't be TUEs for thyroid problems - sorry if your thyroid is legitimately messed up, but not everyone has the genes to be a pro athlete.

No other solution is fair. Allowing PEDs under the guise of therapeutic use doesn't even the playing field, it's throws it out of whack.

Rob,

My post was principally about Nike. I'm sure the vast majority of the UO guys during my time in Eugene, your time and, even today, are clean.

And for whatever it's worth, I still root for UO under most circumstances (I have some other collegiate loyalties, so it depends on whom they play :) ) So, no, I don't view UO as a den of iniquity.

I miss Eugene and Portland greatly. In spite of having certain illusions about distance running destroyed while I was there, I had a great time. I'd do it all again.

Never give up, never surrender wrote:

I have a couple of issues...

Are we to assume that AlSal is so stupid as to tell GP to go take his illegal drug while standing in front of another athlete?

A performance lab will print a report, that they let someone take a picture of, and the report states GR in on testosterone and prednisone, naming the drugs on the report. This is a lab that should know that they were illegal.

These 2 things seem a very odd way of keeping this secret.

If your reading comprehension skills are truly this bad, why don't you try watching the BBC video instead. No one ever said a lab handed the report to Magness and said, "Go ahead! Take a picture! You have our blessing!"

This report for Salazar's eyes only, and it looks like they got a little careless on one. Salazar gave it to Magness with a large stack of reports, when it was a decade old. He obviously forgot about the note.

I'm with Brent, banning all TUEs is the only solution. Not fair for some people ? Not everyone has the natural body to run at an elite level. That's a reality of life.

Dwayne wrote:

I'm with Brent, banning all TUEs is the only solution. Not fair for some people ? Not everyone has the natural body to run at an elite level. That's a reality of life.

You also have to ban in-house testing labs. For that matter, any lab testing that attempts to use the methods WADA uses to test for use of banned substances.

Brent W wrote:

I'm a pretty avid fan of another sport that had a TUE problem. Specifically, it was TUEs for low testosterone. It was a snowballing problem until half the roster was diagnosed with and "treating" low testosterone.

They solved it by banning TUEs for drugs that have any performance enhancing effect. Sorry, if you've got hypogonadism you can choose between being seeking treatment or being a professional athlete. I'll even go out on a limb and say there shouldn't be TUEs for thyroid problems - sorry if your thyroid is legitimately messed up, but not everyone has the genes to be a pro athlete.

No other solution is fair. Allowing PEDs under the guise of therapeutic use doesn't even the playing field, it's throws it out of whack.

Thank You !!!!! Let's knock it off with the TUE's. Do we give a TUE motorized wheelchair to the genetically slow? Should I be allowed in the NBA on bionic stilts because I'm not tall?

I'm sorry that people have allergies. Tough. Deal with it. It should just make your clean accomplishments even outstanding.

Rupp is a sickly weakling with 27 TUEs. You know what? He's too weak to be in the Olympics, just like 99% of the rest of us. Let him go work at the car wash, which befits his abilities and intellect.

[quote]Dwayne wrote:

I'm with Brent, banning all TUEs is the only solution. Not fair for some people ? Not everyone has the natural body to run at an elite level. That's a reality of life.[/quot

Sending TUE users to the special olympics is what's fair.

Learning a bit more about this stuff. No only can you miss 3 drug tests over 18 months and not even get those missed test reported, you can apparently take corticosteroids and stimulants as long as you're not competing with them:

[taken from Science of Sport (aka Ross Tucker) Facebook]

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1010615268949512&id=213103522034028

"So here's something interesting...chatting to Dr Jeroen Swart, respected sports physician & coach, and he points out that the use of corticosteroids (like prednisone that Galen Rupp is alleged to have used) is prohibited ONLY IN-COMPETITION, with TUEs for certain cases.

The glucocorticoids are not listed as "Prohibited at all times" (see screen grabs from the WADA prohibited list below - the list of prohibited at all times list is on the left, and in-competition is on the right), which means out-of-competition, you don't even need a TUE, there's no restriction.

In other words, athletes can use corticosteroids, with all their benefits, until about a week before competition, and they wouldn't even need a TUE for it.

I'd never made the conscious link until this discussion, but it's really bizarre that the restriction (via TUE) of these substances only applies to competition, and not training. Better recovery, harder training, greater benefit, and race clean.

And wait, there's more - the same applies to stimulants, so people can use them in training, get the benefit, and then race after a 'clear-out' phase. Obviously, there's an ethical issue here, but the WADA list doesn't cover them out of competition. Loophole...

It seems so ludicrous to me, I feel I'm missing something, but the WADA list invites this approach.

Ross"

Many of the allegations are dancing in the region of grey