Maka wrote:
Going forward, is this the right way to handle this problem? Like, only test athletes when they set ballistic times?
I think more should be done here.
Athletes are tested for high levels of testosterone when they become fast enough to be required to do normal drug testing. The athletes are then tested for all kinds of performance enhancing drugs, testosterone is just one of them.
There isn't enough money and time to test every runner in the world, so the drug testers just focus on the top runners. (Runners who have a shot at running in high level track meets.)
Last year, Mboma and Masalingi WEREN'T running fast enough times to be required to undergo regular drug tests. This year they ARE running fast enough to be required to undergo regular drug tests.
It wasn't announced until this week that they were banned from the 400, because it takes time for the lab results to be done, which established they had testosterone levels that were very high. Then they had to undergo additional medical tests to determine if their high levels of testosterone were caused by having male chromosomes and testes, which is the case.
Once that was done, Mboma and Masalingi were notified that they were no longer allowed to run from 400 - 1 miles unless they reduced their levels of testosterone. Their other option is to move down to the 200, which is what they've done.