LaShawn Merritt Cleared for 2012 Olympics--front page of ESPN

Exactly. Merritt still has the World Leading Time that he ran in the heats after coming back from a long layoff. This suggests he has very great natural talent which some people stubbornly refuse to admit. Plus he kicked home like a boss in the relay and saved the gold medal. Just wait and see him win the gold medal next year without the "help" of Extenze. This will validate everything I have said and prove all the haters wrong.

[quote]go_merritt wrote:

For the last time, Merritt is not a doper! The facts are he took a male enhancement which he did not know contained anything.

No. Merritt and his people claimed he took a male enhancement product. All we know is that he tested positive for an illegal substance. Do not present his assertion as fact

The New UncleB wrote:

No. Merritt and his people claimed he took a male enhancement product. All we know is that he tested positive for an illegal substance. Do not present his assertion as fact

Well, I hardly think a court of appeals would have reduced his suspension without ample evidence. So yes, I think it reasonably safe to assume it is a fact. It will all be mute when he wins next year without a shadow of doping. You should save yourself some embarrassment and just give Merritt his props now.

He is a doper. The evidence is that his sample contained a banned substance that stimulates blood flow, boosts testosterone, and increases growth hormone. Dopers in other sports, e.g. bodybuilding, use it for the same reasons. He is a cheat and should not be in the Olympics.

Too bad you are not on the CAS. They disagree.

Doper - keep supporting your hero

Did it never occur to you that he might have looked for a product containing a steroid so he would have a ready made excuse. If an athlete does use a drug without chacking its content they should be banned for life just for stupidity, but the stupid one is you for believing this croc

The CAS just want maximum gold medals to maintain funding

They might as well stop testing for drugs as 2 yrs is a slap on the wrist anyway.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

http://www.dheasideeffects.com/

Doper - keep supporting your hero

Did it never occur to you that he might have looked for a product containing a steroid so he would have a ready made excuse. If an athlete does use a drug without chacking its content they should be banned for life just for stupidity, but the stupid one is you for believing this croc

The CAS just want maximum gold medals to maintain funding

They might as well stop testing for drugs as 2 yrs is a slap on the wrist anyway.

I don't think the CAS cares how many gold medals the USA gets.

I just can't imagine that Merritt would take something knowing it had a banned substance that he for sure was going to be tested for. It is almost certainly just a silly mistake that he has more than paid for. Now he will make up for lost time by winning in London.

And 2 years is pretty long given that most athletes only have a limited number of years to compete at their peak level. Especially when they weren't trying to gain a competitive advantage, which is Merritt's case.

go_merritt wrote:

The New UncleB wrote:

No. Merritt and his people claimed he took a male enhancement product. All we know is that he tested positive for an illegal substance. Do not present his assertion as fact

Well, I hardly think a court of appeals would have reduced his suspension without ample evidence. So yes, I think it reasonably safe to assume it is a fact. It will all be mute when he wins next year without a shadow of doping. You should save yourself some embarrassment and just give Merritt his props now.

A reduced period of suspension is "ample" proof that (1) Merrit's claim he took a male enhancement product is a fact and (2) That whatever he took was not involved in helping his running. Further, if he wins in 2012 it will be without a shadow of doping. Wow! And I am the one who needs saving from embarrassment.

The only facts we know about this matter is that the lab claimed he tested positive, that he claimed it was for a male enhancement product, and that his suspension was for @ 2 years. Do you understand the difference between fact and conjecture? Fact and assertion?

Yes, it is a fact that a rusty Merritt ran the fastest time in the world this year. You really think he doesn't have the talent to run the times he has without some stupid 7-11 pills?

Plus his assertion held up to get his sentence reduced from 2 years so he could compete in Worlds. So if it was believed by officials enough to reduce his ban, I'd say he presented enough evidence to back up his claims.

I'm just glad his silly mistake didn't cause him to miss a World Championship or Olympic games. Although it did cause him to get a silver medal since he was rusty, so that is unfortunate.

I really can't wait until Merritt wins next year and makes all of his doubters look silly.

[quote]go_merritt wrote:

"Yes, it is a fact that a rusty Merritt ran the fastest time in the world this year. You really think he doesn't have the talent to run the times he has without some stupid 7-11 pills?"

I don't know for a fact exactly what he took that got him suspended and neither do you. Nor do we know that he was competing cleanly upon his return for a fact. It is all speculation and guessing.

"Plus his assertion held up to get his sentence reduced from 2 years so he could compete in Worlds. So if it was believed by officials enough to reduce his ban, I'd say he presented enough evidence to back up his claims."

I know you would say it but, once again, you are presenting speculation as fact. What we do know as fact is that he was suspended for all of 2010 and most of 2011 and he admits to have taken a drug that caused the positive test (i.e., it he is not arguing the lab made a mistake).

"I'm just glad his silly mistake didn't cause him to miss a World Championship or Olympic games. Although it did cause him to get a silver medal since he was rusty, so that is unfortunate."

He ran 44.3 in his heat at the world's but only 44.6 or 44.6 in the finals. I would not attribute that result to rust. I suspect that he either ran too hard in the heats or had a bad final for whatever reason (nerves)

LOL, didn't he use only DHEA? xD

What a huge doper. :D

No sane person would dope knowing that it would be a second violation and effectively end their career. So I think that Merritt is for sure clean now and being extra careful about not making any more silly mistakes. This just makes logical sense. You can argue against Mr. Merritt all you like, but logic supports Merritt's claims and you can't fight logic. I am 99.99% sure that Merritt must be telling the truth. So I think he should be supported by US track fans.

gourmet wrote:

LOL, didn't he use only DHEA? xD

What a huge doper. :D

Merritt claims to have taken Extenze, which contains DHEA. His positive test was for testosterone, I believe, which would be consistent with DHEA. He probably didn't know what he was getting in a so-called "herbal" "male enhancement" product.

go_merritt wrote:

No sane person would dope knowing that it would be a second violation and effectively end their career. So I think that Merritt is for sure clean now and being extra careful about not making any more silly mistakes. This just makes logical sense. You can argue against Mr. Merritt all you like, but logic supports Merritt's claims and you can't fight logic. I am 99.99% sure that Merritt must be telling the truth. So I think he should be supported by US track fans.

.

So you are saying that either nobody has ever been caught doping twice and/or that whoever has been caught twice is not sane?

And in the basis of that less than rational view, you then leap to the conclusion that Merrit's claims regarding a male enhancement product must be true?

I have said it before and I am sure I will say it again. Wow! I am constantly amazed to watch you guys twist logic and stand reality on its head to defend your views when confronted with evidence to the contrary

My coach's college roommate is a USAT&F insider. He was told that during the hearing Merritt requested to show one of the panel members why he took the male enhancement product. In a private room, Merritt revealed a shorter than 4 inch penis to the panel member. Merritt also showed photos of him racing with a prosthetic penis in his tights because of the humiliation of appearing in public with a less than manly bulge. Merritt was told that the only method he could legally use was a penis vacuum pump. He is permitted to continue using the prosthetic.

Actually, I think I've demonstrated the better argument and logic in this case. For example, if Merritt was lying he would pick something less embarrassing to lie about. It is apparent that some people just want to tear Merritt down. I think most people realize this and will support him. The fact is Merritt is a boss and will kick home for gold in London whether you like him or not.

go_merritt wrote:

Actually, I think I've demonstrated the better argument and logic in this case. For example, if Merritt was lying he would pick something less embarrassing to lie about. It is apparent that some people just want to tear Merritt down. I think most people realize this and will support him. The fact is Merritt is a boss and will kick home for gold in London whether you like him or not.

Same as calling in work with the trots

He chose that excuse so muppets like you would believe his lies

Dopers, they are always inoccent!

Merritt should have used Dennis Mitchell's beer and sex excuse. Then he could be labeled a drug cheat and a real man, rather than a drug cheat with a little dick.

43.5? lol

He was flatlining at 43.7 and that was probably the most pumped race he was in.

I think he can go under 44 again, but his career is now on the downslope.

His confidence is shattered, in more ways than one. That does affect you as a male athlete.

But I for one am not very happy with the US 400 men, including Wariner and Merritt. If both of them got healthy and got another 2 guys together and all 4 of them ran an honest race they could have the WR in the 4x400 by a significant margin.

All of them are to blame. Me mentality. Disgusting.