Alberto Salazar Talks about Drugs

"I feel very fortunate that when I was competing and was the World Record holder in the

marathon during the early 1980’s that I was not faced with this hard choice that current

athletes have to make."

He's FULL OF IT. There was plenty of drug use in distance running when he was at his prime, and those associated with the sport -- especially at a high level -- KNEW IT.

does salazar have any connection to floyd landis?

Seems like Alberto sleeps with a lot of dogs, no surpise that he has more than a few fleas.

Long distance running legend Alberto Salazar, whose name was removed from the Web site after he [Nike Lawyers] sent Conte an e-mail to complain in September, said he worked only briefly with Conte.

"This was around 1985 and I was running poorly and he contacts me (through a coach) and says, 'We got this new tech of measuring your trace elements' and all this. So I sent him some urine," Salazar says. "That was the only time I did anything with them, other than buying some ZMA, but then everybody started making this stuff. They said people who were low on testosterone, it could help them. A lot of athletes took that. It's legal and there's nothing wrong with it."

Salazar, never accused of doping in his extraordinary career, says he has neither met Conte nor visited the lab, but he knows the modern frenzy over doping puts anyone in a bad light.

That absolute butchering of the English language reminds me of some of the old Eddy Hellybuyck posts.

The first sentence is a classic.

if we can look past the author of the article's connection to athletics west, and the fact that he's no george orwell, the message is pretty spot-on. all elite athletes are faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to dope, and not all who do so are robotically evil. examining the psychology surrounding an individual athlete's decision of whether or not to dope is infinitely more fascinating than the usual moral histrionics.

that having been said, when salazar talks about the 'line' he's essentially advocating the rigorous establishment of / adherence to a type of 'social contract' among not only competitors, but also officials and fans (sadly, perhaps in the future this will entail no 'line' at all). regardless of what you think of salazar as a person, how can you argue against that?

He fails to mention that this is where good ol' Uncle Al steps in! "C'mon out to train with me, Uncle Al will take good care of you." This guy sounds like a child molestor who knows exactly which kind of kid he can lure in.

"Going to the far end of the spectrum are the athletes whose values are so strong that they will

not engage in any conduct which is outside of the rules or that they consider unethical or

unfair. These athletes would rather lose than succeed by what they consider to be cheating.

In between these two groups, is a middle group of athletes. These athletes may have started

out in the group with high values that follows the rules, but have become disillusioned over

time and have drifted towards the middle. They have tried perhaps for years to compete

within the rules but have become frustrated with the apparent ease that cheaters are able to

beat the system. They feel that national governing bodies and regulating authorities are not

doing everything possible to stamp out doping, but are merely making a public relations

effort to appear to be doing so. They believe that those authorities are not really interested in

solving the problem, but only in protecting the image of their respective sport and the money

flowing into that sport from corporate sponsors. Eventually they get to the point where they

believe that they are really the only ones that are losing out by staying clean and that they

subsequently have no choice but also to dope if they are to remain competitive."

Al Sal's athletes use a comprehensive supplement programme, WADA approved, developed by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale. Check out Mauro's website .

I have a copy of the programme, but Mauro has sworn me to secrecy. And I am not a troll.

I don\'t buy into Salazar\'s assertion of there being 3 types of athlete. Instead, I think there is just a wide spectrum of people being more or less likely to cheat. I can\'t stand the rationalization/excuse that some dopers were basically good guys who got frustrated trying to compete in a dirty sport. To that line of thinking, I respond:

1. That\'s probably how most dopers get started doping. The elite ranks of the sport are probably full of guys who would like for everybody to be clean, but felt like they have to be dirty to have any real chance against all the evil dirty guys. Then the next group of up-and-coming runners feels like they\'d prefer to be clean, but they just don\'t stand a chance unless they dope. And so on. So basically, you\'re not a lone \"good guy\" who would rather play fair--you\'re just another athlete who caved in.

2. Nobody is requiring anybody to be a pro athlete, and nobody has an inalienable right to be a pro athlete just because they want to be. We\'re not talking about guys who are breaking the rules because there is no other way to feed their family or save the local community center. We\'re talking about guys who want to play a sport and seek glory for a living, and get frustrated when it doesn\'t work out. Boo hoo! If you find yourself stymied in your attempt to be a pro athlete, go out and get a freaking job.

I pretty much agree. At this day and age its every man for himself. Ethics can be blurred if you feel all the guys at the top are getting away with it. It has to be a burden psychologically to reach that level and wonder if your competitors have a strong edge that you don't. A strong ethical person might choose to leave the sport for this reason. A cut-and-dry take no prisoners lifetime ban for a first infraction would set an undeniable tone. But legally this is not possible so the door will always be cracked open enought to let the gamblers take their risks.

And that goes for every sport. This situation was forcasted 40 years ago. Athletes make the decision. As far as "the grey area" leave that up to the international drug body. Its beyond cleaning up only until they finally give lifetime bans for first time offenders.

Now as long as the drug testers are a step behind, there will always be some cheating. People will take the gamble, especially those where the payoff is huge. And they all get to appeal in court which means more money potentially tied up in legal battles. Its so damn complicated it hurts my head to think about it.

SOme athletes have medical issues that are addressed with medication. Oops, turns out this medication can enhance performance big time! Hmmm, I know how a lot of doctors are and they tend to jump at the opportunity to push one more prescription (more money in their pocket).

The best solution is to give up. I hate to say that, but we're really only talking about the top 1 percent of athletes here.

If Lance Armstrong was doping, I'm sure every other top contender was as well, therefore its a level playing field. He was the best cyclist/drug user in the race.

Its got to be all or nothing. If you're taking performance enhancing condition to correct an actual medical condition. Sorry, can't have it in you and participate in this sport. Sometimes life isn't fair. Sorry about your luck.

That's the only way to a totally clean sport. If that is serious priority.

the salzar thing is sad- and a defense of his perverted attitude- he will do anything- anything to succeed- it is his obcession- and reason to live- trust me he knows what to do and when to do it- and the use of inhalers loaded with cocktails - is enhancing- also banned in season by iaaf- he needs to find a job outside of coaching- oxy

you seem to talk a lot about drugs yourself "fishy in oregon" maybe YOU should be looking inwards!

Which is just a different way of saying what he said. The grey area is a spectrum; the two other types are the endpoints of the spectrum.

Just because you "can't stand" the rationalization doesn't make it any less true - and then you go ahead and restate it. Also, what about people who really act like Richard "I'll Try Anything" Virenque is portrayed, who never preferred to be clean at all?

So what are you advocating? Ignoring the issue altogether?

Oh really, like Kenyans and Ethiopians? Try again.

Don't quit yours. Salazar might be / have been dirty, sure, but the lack of logical inquiry on this thread is bizarre, even by letsrun standards!

Spot on correct Prof!

Lots and lots of jealousy spouting its silly little head here.

How many NOP people have thyroid problems? Why have they only now uncovered these problems?

Something seems hauntingly familiar here. To wit:

Why did so many sprinters discover that they had inherited narcolepsy a few years ago?

And why did so many SMTC sprinters end up with braces?

Loophole Salazar wrote:

T3 stimulated HIF-1 under normoxia but also augmented the hypoxic activation of HIF-1. This is in support of earlier findings where T3 stimulated EPO protein synthesis in HepG2 cells.

Oh god, not YOU again??? Holy christ, GIVE IT UP with your obsessive "thyroid meds aid performance" pubmed crusade. We get it, you posted this little snippet 1000x, and every single goddamned time you ignore the fact that too much thryoid hormone has a cascade of negative effects on one's metabolism that would offset any possible advantage one could get from the increased levels. Geez, talk about being dense and obsessed.

And by the way, how has Rupp been doing since he's been taking his extra thryoid hormone to induce EPO production ?? Exactly. Dimwit.

the best thing Salazar can do with Rupp or any of his other runners, is to train them the best he can and then hope the Olympics and other major meet directors have the integrity to test for the cheaters. No way should an ?American kid become a cheater too. .....The Tour de France is a wonderful race, they attempt to run a clean event. Same can't be said for NY Marathon, or Chicago, or Boston.

Bottom line is that Salazar is Phil Knight's retarded son.

I agree 100%. If Americans compete clean in any and all events I wouldn't give a rat's ass how many medals they get or don't get. I would cheer for them and admire them as the best our country can produce.

Medals and records illegally gained are false idols worshipped at the cost of losing the integrity of the individual and the sport as a whole.