Ok. Now we are getting to some potentially BIG stuff on page 94-5. 1) Why was the testosterone allegedly used in the testosterone test on Alberto's sons sent to Alberto by Dr. Brown instead of just picked up at a local pharmacy? Was it because that testosterone perhaps was a specially compounded testosterone that would be harder to detect? 2) Why did Alberto - who possesses Androgel and knows how much can trigger a positive test - give Rupp massages before races when the team had its own massage therapist?
Page 94-95 wrote:
When a standard synthetic testosterone product such as Androgel is used the use will increase the absolute level of testosterone but will leave the individual’s level of epitestosterone unchanged. Because most individuals have a testosterone/epitestosterone ratio (i.e., a “t/e ratioâ€) of 1:1, when an increase in the t/e ratio of an athlete is observed this can lead to the discovery of the use of synthetic testosterone. However, in the BALCO conspiracy athletes were supplied with a testosterone cream specifically compounded to include epitestosterone. As a consequence, the compounded testosterone cream used by BALCO clients would not alter an athlete’s t/e ratio and it became more difficult to detect that the athlete had usedsynthetic testosterone.
Thus, it is possible to compound testosterone in such a way as to make detection of the use of that testosterone product by an athlete undetectable or very difficult to detect on anti-doping tests. If Dr. Brown has provided Alberto Salazar compounded testosterone it would therefore raise significant concerns regarding the reason for the compounding and the manner in which the testosterone product was compounded.
Additionally, a number of Oregon Project athletes have reported to USADA that in advance of significant competitions Alberto Salazar has established a frequent practice of giving a massage to Galen Rupp. Salazar has acknowledged that Rupp has a favored status within the Oregon Project. Salazar’s massages of Rupp have been considered suspicious because Nike employs massage therapists but Salazar has insisted on personally giving the massages to Rupp. Certainly, if it were found that Salazar had received compounded testosterone from Dr. Brown the nature of these massages and the use to which the compounded testosterone was put would be highly relevant. Moreover, if the testosterone transported from Dr. Brown to Salazar for the testosterone testing program was in fact compounded testosterone, as is suggested by the fact that it had to be delivered to Salazar, this fact would cast further doubt on the rationale given by Salazar for the testosterone testing program. If protecting against sabotage were the motive, there would be no reason to test whether specially compounded testosterone can be detected. The only purpose for testing specially compounded testosterone would be to try to determine whether the specially compounded testosterone product is detectable.
