If Doping Is Banned, Should Sleeping in Altitude Tents Be Allowed? In the Arena Christopher Clarey International Herald Tribune (written prior to Winter Olympics)"I was cheered to hear that the International Olympic Committee plans to launch a study of the "altitude systems" in conjunction with six European universities."
"BRAVO, I said to myself, after hanging up the phone. Well done, I thought, after hearing that the IOC would ban such devices from the Olympic village in Salt Lake City, just as they did at last year's Summer Olympic village in Sydney."
"Well said, I thought, after an IOC member, Dick Pound, head of the new world anti-doping agency, called the use of altitude chambers "incredibly tacky" and observed that
"But after speaking with athletes, I soon realized that this is nowhere near as morally straight forward as the argument against doping"
[Kind of sounds like EPO doesn't it.]
[If you say doping is unfair, then you must have to ban athletes who are better than you. Depending on which country you live in, of course.]
"Radcliffe's words carry particular weight. She has been one of the most visible anti-doping campaigners in any sport, wearing red ribbons on her running uniforms to lobby for blood testing."
"Radcliffe feels no burden about having used an altitude tent, most recently for several days before she won the world cross-country title in March.
[So when Paula Radcliffe dopes, it's not doping. Takes a big case of "double think" to understand all this.]
"DESPITE my respect for Radcliffe, there is indeed something troubling here; something troubling, too, about the fact that Radcliffe, who can afford to train in the Alps, used the tent as a supplementary device, essentially topping off her altitude benefits.
"It seems clear that just as athletes shouldn't have to feel obliged to take drugs to have a chance, they shouldn't have to feel obliged to sleep in a plastic bubble (or tent) to have a chance.
"Is this really what we've come to?"