I hope can be possible to under stand my English without having confusion about my thoughts.
The new scandal involving Tyson Gay and many Jamaicans must bring everybody to think about the current behavior of many athletes, which reflects the current mentality of most part of young (and less young) people.
Many posters of Letsrun well know my position about doping for long distances, especially speaking about top African runners : I’m frequently questioned when explain for me EPO doesn’t work with the best athletes (several times I explained the physiological reasons, according to the practical results I know from my athletes, while really there is not any direct scientific study, but conjectures only, about the effect on the performances in long distances for top athletes).
On the other side, I well know the type of doping for enhancing muscle strength in all its different expressions worked in massive way, and the demonstration is that, in throwing, most part of jumping, and sprints for women (who have more benefit using steroids in order to increase their muscle strength), there are no new WR after 1988 (when antidoping became more serious against anabolic steroids).
Personally, I have the feeling Tyson Gay is not a cheater. Also his statement after knowing the positive results shows the personality of a morally clean person (this is my feeling, because I can’t put my hands on fire for any person I don’t know personally). He admitted to know what happened, ready to accept all the consequences on his career.
If my feeling is correct, how is it possible to put together these two different situations (a CLEAN DOPED ATHLETE knowing exactly what he took) ?
These are my thoughts :
1) We live today in a pharmacological World. We are bombarded by TV, radio, advertising boardings with messages talking about the importance of every kind of supplement IN OUR NORMAL LIFE, creating the mentality that, what the most part is useless, instead now is a MUST. Without energy drink (also if our job is to stay seated 8 hours a day) we can’t survive. Without vitamins we can’t have good health. The message we receive is human beings today need every kind of pharmacological support (also if today we have a life very much easier than 60 years ago for the reduction of fatiguing works, with better quality of life), otherwise we can face every type of sickness.
2) This situation contributes to create the today common mentality. The most part of young people in Letsrun think 85% or more of the top athletes (in every sport) use PED. This is the main argument we can read, and the attention for doping is, today, morbid curiosity.
3) Athletes and, generally, players of every sport, are part of this Society, so there is no reason because their mentality can be different from normal people. Aldo who refuses to take some illegal PED, instead look for legal supplements, BECAUSE IN HIS MIND IS NOT POSSIBLE TO REACH THE SAME RESULTS WITHOUT EXTERNAL AID.
4) Antidoping exsts because of doping, so the two situations are strictly connected. Since the “pharma” business is the 3rd in the World, antidoping is connected with this business.
5) For that reason, the action of antidoping is to extend the number of substances “supposing” enhancing performances (in many case in not direct way), in order to reach greater importance. When there is a scandal like the last one, Media of every Country ask for more antidoping. Many Countries already made laws (like Italy and France) giving penal relevancy to doping offenses. Everybody ask for bigger investments in antidoping controls, not only with WADA, but with the National Antidoping Agency too.
6) This means that, when today is every day more difficult to find economic support for the active sport, instead it’s possible to have more money for controls every year, in every Country. This means also that antidoping is, today, A VERY BIG BUSINESS.
7) Looking at this point, of course the strategy of the antidoping agency is to OVERRATE the effects of enhancing performances of the most part of substances, for having always major importance in the today sport.
8) The fact there are today so many substances in the list of WADA, having a different weight (when they have…) in enhancing performances, but the same weight in penalties, can provoke confusion also in the mind of athletes refusing the “official” PEDs of ancient memory, but looking at “legal” supports.
9) In fact, IT’S THE COMBINATION BETWEEN LEGAL CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES THAT CAN CREATE SOME ILLEGAL DOPING. And, when we read that ,in the room of the physio of Powell, Italian Police confiscated 50 different medicines and supplements (may be all “individually” legal), we can think that the combination of more medicines can provoke some positivity, WHEN THE ATHLETES SUPPOSE TO TAKE SOMETHING LEGAL ONLY.
In all this situation, the real responsible is the MENTALITY of athletes and coaches, thinking not possible to reach their top results without external aid.
I don’t know very well the situation of sprinters, who are the tip of the iceberg when we speak of doping.
Of course, also many distance runners were caught for doping. But, apart some athlete from Countries having an “historical” tradition in doping (such as Russians from Soviet Union, or Maroccans), never one of the top runners was sanctioned for doping. And, if we think the best distance runners are from African Countries, where the scientific level is very low, the facilities are very poor and the money is very less, of sure we can’t suppose they are not caught because in this case DOPING IS AHEAD OF ANTIDOPING. This can be the case of sprinters, because the most scientifically evolved kind of doping can only grow in Countries having labs, researchers, facilities and money (like US today, or Soviet Union and East Germany in the past). Its not a case that the physio guilty fro the group of Powell is a Canadian…
The fact is supplements are made for normal people, WITHOUT A VERY SPECIFIC GOAL. What young people hopes to obtain from a supplement is to improve a little bit in all the qualities, becoming a little bit stronger, putting some more mass, becoming a little bit more resistant, losing fat conquering muscles. Because the objective is not aimed at something specific, in every supplement there are a lot of substances mixed together, in different percentage. And, in many cases, on the packages there is not the list of ALL the substances, but of the main only.
Many athletes take some supplement from Asian Countries (mainly India and China) where there is not the list of chemical substances, only the name of the natural product (for example, GINSENG and its derivatives), and think everything is legal BECAUSE THESE ARE NATURAL PRODUCTS. Instead, is from natural products we can have the most cases of “unconscious” doping. Which is the origin of Cocaine and Oppium, for instance ?
So, the only way for being sure about the possibility to be effectively clean, is NOT TAKING ANYTHING, including what is legal. But for doing this, we need to change completely the mentality of people (in sport or not) today exixsting.
And something else about the effect of blood doping.
One of the examples (for me completely wrong, but often used by posters) EPO can enhance performances very much is the career of Lance Armstrong. And, after this, for analogy, “if EPO works so well in cycling, of course in all athletic endurance events has to work”. So, it-is obvious all the top African runners are doped.
Many times I explained I don’t think there is any advantage in the case of top Kenyans and Ethiopians, particularly the “stars” of middle distance and marathon. I don’t have scientific proves about this, but at the same time there are not scientific proves about the fact EPO can work for enhancing performances for that type of athletes. However, I have personal proves that it is possible to beat WR (Shaheen in steeple, Mosop in 25k and 30k) and to win World Championships and Olympic medals completely clean. I was with these athletes, I lived with them for months in the same room, I well know what they ate and drank and their mentality. Shaheen NEVER asked, in his life, one Vitamin and NEVER used a tablet of something (also a pain killer) : and, believe me, in 2006 could run 3 seconds faster than in 2004, finding the right conditions (weather and pacer like 2 years before). And the 26:30 of Nicholas Kemboi in 50 days of training in Switzerland in 2003… In these cases, I can really put my hands on fire.
That is the reason because I don’t believe in the effects of EPO for this level of athletes : somebody can convince me Shaheen could run 7:45 or Kemboi 25:40 if I gave them EPO ?
Now we have Tour de France. After Armstrong and other scandals, there is a big effort for cleaning cycling, and I think something changed.
Last Sunday there was one of the more tough stages, with finish line on the top of Mont Ventoux.
The record of climbing the mountain was 48:20 from Armstrong and Pantani, during the period of doping (not only EPO, but GH and a lot of other substances). This time, the stage was very much longer than in the past : 242 km.
Commentators waited for a time 2:00 / 3:00 slower than 13 years ago.
The final time, instead, was 47:40 for Froom and 48:09 for Quintana.
This means only two things :
1. Froom and Quintana are doped MORE THAN ARMSTRONG, in spite of the biological passport (which was the reason because Lance quitted running, knowing could not escape)
2. They changed training system (look at the rhythm of Froom climbing, more than 100 actions per minute with very short gear ratio), favouring the frequency instead of the strength.
And this is my clear idea, too : in all the endurance events, we can reach better results understanding which is the proper, hard training and the physiological variations we can produce, than using PED with traditional training.
