Alminova's result shows the undetectibility of PEDs

"The ban is only 3 months"

- That might be the most inane comment I've ever heard. Nobody with half a brain takes a substance thinking they won't get away with it. What does that do for you? A few days of glory before disgrace and a stripping of your accomplishments? Great, sign her up.Sudafed will not improve her performance in the long-term, and it is detectable so when she receives more common testing as a result of the testing she can't take it anymore, anyhow. So, she took it intentially once knowing she'd get caught, thereby exposing herself to all the cynics, for what is a dubious jump in performance, and a 3 month ban from making money off racing? You're grasping for straws. The post above sums it up nicely.

I think this is a reasonable assumption for someone in your position to make. Alminova is not in your position. It is not a reasonable assumption for her to make.

ImDaNuts wrote:

And in all honesty, I don't really blame them for using it if they can be assured 99% of users won't get caught

Then you are a part of the problem.

'I am good enough that I get drug tested several times a year. I can assure you that I had absolutely no idea that cold medicine was illegal'

Well its unlikely 2 people could be as stupid as you

I think the n=7 is the part that tells you nothing; it's called a "lack of statistical significance," which renders any conclusions drawn from the dataset to be questionable, at best.

So I assume you're just as certain Shelly-ann is up to no good either. After all, this has nothing to do with nationality, just common sense.

Such moments of stupidity (as another well known athlete has demonstrated) can happen you know. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be suspicious of her - of course we must - but instantly persecuting her based on nationality (face it, that's all that matters to most here) makes no logical sense. She's suspicious, yes, maybe even highly-suspicious. If she does take PEDs in the future she'll almost certianly get caught as she will be pretty high on the priority list for the forseeable future.

And a 3:57 isn't earth-shattering anyway. Don't let the current low standard of the event (compared to the wealth of 5/10k talants) fool you.

They take the ban hammer on anything that shows performance improvement in studies done on hobby joggers.Hear this now. If you are losing, it is not because your competitor is taking decongestants and you aren't. If it is, you should seriously rework your mental training.Didn't the Canadian military do a study that found most of the banned shit doesn't really work?

it never gets better wrote:

Give it a break. Her suspension was for taking a freaking decongestant, for crying out loud. Not steroids. Not EPO. A decongestant. I bet every last person who's ever posted on these boards, bar none, has taken decongestants.

Steroids leave tell-tale visible signs, a certain physique that Marion Jones, etc. all had while testing positive. Alminova simply doesn't have a trace of that physique. If you want to complain about a roider, look at the absurdly overblown shoulders of David Oliver. He's so juiced up, it's a joke.

'Such moments of stupidity'

No I don't think she was stupid do you? I've heard this story a 100 times. I think anyone who believes such a crock is stupid. One thing I've never heard is an athlete saying well I took this drug knowing its in some cough remedy and if I was unlucky enough to get caught I wouldn't get a long ban

There is one valid excuse for her - only nobody here has come up with it!

As for nationality. Its hard not to be influenced by the number of positives coming from certain countries. Eveyone on here is always on the case about Ethiopians but the elite ones have not failed tests. Compare that to American sprinters, male Morrocan middle distance and Russian women

Still its not that. For example I used to think with CO - well not being in the right place for 3 tests due to change of plans - could be done. But I like a bet & whats the chance of the 3 times you changed your training schedule & on those 3 times the testers happened to drop by - I wouldn't bet on it - then look at the deteriorating performace. Come on she was probably at it

Both of these athletes have one thing in common - they were banned. The onus is on the athlete to make sure prohibited substances are not in the body