Irish Sprinter tests positive for EPO

It doesn't make sense to a lot of us, but Marion Jones was on EPO. There must be a valid reason for it.

it enhances their endurance, so that they can do more reps. also aids in recovery.

HGHed wrote:

It doesn't make sense to a lot of us, but Marion Jones was on EPO. There must be a valid reason for it.

Angiogenesis. More capillaries helps every athlete

Ireland has sprinters?

No no no. Not EVERY athlete. Only athletes who aren't really really good. I mean, if you're faster than like 12:57, or 27:15, or 58:46, or 2:10, EPO doesn't help you. Up till then, who knows, it might.

The real drug is the coach. You just don't understand the culture.

irish harrier wrote:

Does this make sense? Surely the benefits of EPO for a 100/200m guy are minimal.

Are you kidding? More sprinters have been busted for EPO than distance runners.

Manchester wrote:

irish harrier wrote:

Does this make sense? Surely the benefits of EPO for a 100/200m guy are minimal.

Are you kidding? More sprinters have been busted for EPO than distance runners.

I doubt that

why would a sprinter need endurance !!!!!!!!

ask michael johnson , or 400mh record hurdler.

no way would he of ran 200m time without epo

for speed endurance ,all that comes from very high hct .

similarly for 400m and to finish that last 70-50m

like a train where can make up massive amount of

time in said event .

like wariner used to do and oh who was his manager again...

or why was it rumored that pietro mennea was blood

doping to achive his record .

next only question is if bolt used endurance ped for

his record like gw50 or something whether think nessary ..

personaly think could of got quite high hct from various

other steroids or just high testosterone levels

but bolt without igf w.r definitely not happening.

Stephen Colvert? Who's he? Seriously? For an Irish man living abroad when I hear of an Irish athlete in the news I want it to be the likes of Mark English, Paul Robinson, Thomas Barr or O'Lionaird running fast times, winning medals or breaking Irish records, not something like this.

If you actually followed Irish track, you would know who Stephen Colvert is. Seriously.

Haha an Irish sprinter getting busted for EPO is like an American dwarf shot putter getting nailed for steroids. What's he hoping to accomplish, #523 on the world 100m list?!

Really... wrote:

Ireland has sprinters?

Yes. They are called Black Irish.

Why the hell are they wasting resources testing Irish sprinters? They should be testing NOPe all day every day!

irish harrier wrote:

Manchester wrote:

Are you kidding? More sprinters have been busted for EPO than distance runners.

I doubt that

Doubt all you want, there have been WAY more sprinters and field event athletes busted for EPO than distance runners:

irish harrier wrote:

A top Irish sprinter Steven Colvert has tested positive for EPO.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/irsquove-been-accused-of-doping-but-irsquom-innocent-says-irish-athlete-272569.html

Does this make sense? Surely the benefits of EPO for a 100/200m guy are minimal.

Always funny when folk try to over-simplify the drugs. "Sprinters only take steroids, distance runners only take EPO, etc." . Just google Victor Conte or Angel Heredia, and you will find that there is usually a combination of PED's that they brag about giving their elite athletes:

what's this all about, more importantly sligo are playing galway on skysports tomorrow evening, they'll be a few interested in that!

aduck2022 wrote:

why would a sprinter need endurance !!!!!!!!

Dear Dwain [Chambers],

Per your request, this letter is to confirm I am willing to assist you in providing UK Sport and others with information that will help them to improve the effectiveness of their anti-doping programs.

The specific details regarding how you were able to circumvent the British and IAAF anti-doping tests for an extended period of time are provided below.

Your performance enhancing drug program included the following seven prohibited substances: THG, testosterone/epitestosterone cream, EPO (Procrit), HGH (Serostim), insulin (Humalog), modafinil (Provigil) and liothryonine, which is a synthetic form of the T3 thyroid hormone (Cytomel).

THG is a previously undetectable designer steroid nicknamed "the clear." It was primarily used in the off season and was taken two days per week, typically on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Generally, these were the two most intense weight-training days of the week. The purpose was to accelerate healing and tissue repair. Thirty units (IU) of the liquid was place under the tongue during the morning time-frame. THG was used in cycles of "three weeks on and one week off.

"Testosterone/epitestosterone cream was also primarily used during the off season. It was rubbed into the skin on the front of the forearm two days per week, typically Tuesdays and Thursdays. The dosage was ½ gram which contained 50mg of testosterone and 2.5mg of epitestosterone (20 to 1 ratio). The purpose was to offset the suppression of endogenous testosterone caused by the use of the THG and to accelerate recovery.

The testosterone/epitestosterone cream was also used in cycles of three weeks on and one week off.

EPO was used three days per week during the "corrective phase", which is the first two weeks of a cycle.

Typically, it was on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It was only used once per week during the "maintenance phase" thereafter, typically this was every Wednesday.

The dosage was 4,000 IU per injection.

The purpose was to increase the red blood cell count and enhance oxygen uptake and utilization.

This substance provides a big advantage to sprinters because it enables them to do more track repetitions and obtain a much deeper training load during the off season.

EPO becomes undetectable about 72 hours after subcutaneous injection (stomach) and only 24 hours after intravenous injection.

HGH was used three nights per week, typically on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Each injection would contain 4.5 units of growth hormone. Once again, this substance was used primarily during the off season to help with recovery from very strenuous weight training sessions.

Insulin was used after strenuous weight training sessions during the off season. Three units of Humalog (fast-acting insulin) were injected immediately after the workout sessions together with a powdered drink that contained 30 grams of dextrose, 30 grams of whey protein isolates and 3 grams of creatine. The purpose was to quickly replenish glycogen, resynthesize ATP and promote protein synthesis and muscle growth. Insulin acts as a "shuttle system" in the transport of glucose and branch chain amino acids. There is no test available for insulin at this time.

Modafinil was used as a "wakefulness promoting" agent before competitions. The purpose was to decrease fatigue and enhance mental alertness and reaction time. A 200mg tablet was consumed one hour before competition.

Liothryonine was used help accelerate the basic metabolic rate before competitions. The purpose was to reduce sluggishness and increase quickness. Two 25mg tablets were taken one hour before competition. There is no test available for liothryonine at this time.

In general terms, explosive strength athletes, such as sprinters, use anabolic steroids, growth hormone, insulin and EPO during the off season.

They use these drugs in conjunction with an intense weight training program, which helps to develop a strength base that will serve them throughout the competitive season.

Speed work is done just prior to the start of the competitive season. It is important to understand it is not really necessary for athletes to have access to designer anabolic steroids such as THG. They can simply use fast-acting testosterone (oral as well as creams and gels) and still easily avoid the testers.

For example, oral testosterone will clear the system in less than a week and testosterone creams and gels will clear even faster. Many drug-tested athletes use what I call the "duck and dodge" technique. Several journalists in the UK have recently referred to it as the "duck and dive" technique.

This is basically how it works.

First, the athlete repeatedly calls their own cell phone until the message capacity is full. This way the athlete can claim to the testers that they didn't get a message when they finally decide to make themselves available.

Secondly, they provide incorrect information on their whereabouts form. They say they are going to one place and then go to another. Thereafter, they start using testosterone, growth hormone and other drugs for a short cycle of two to three weeks.

After the athlete discontinues using the drugs for a few days and they know that they will test clean, they become available and resume training at their regular facility.

Most athletes are tested approximately two times each year on a random out-of -competition basis. If a tester shows up and the athlete is not where they are supposed to be, then the athlete will receive a "missed test". This is the equivalent to receiving "strike one" when up to bat in a baseball game.

The current anti-doping rules allow an athlete to have two missed tests in any given eighteen-month period without a penalty or consequence. So, the disadvantage for an athlete having a missed test is that they have one strike against them.

The advantage of that missed test is the athlete has now received the benefit of a cycle of steroids. Long story short, an athlete can continue to duck and dive until they have two missed tests, which basically means that they can continue to use drugs until that time.

In summary, it's my opinion that more than fifty percent of the drug tests performed each year should be during the off season or the fourth quarter. This is when the track athletes are duckin' and divin' and using anabolic steroids and other drugs.

Let me provide some rather startling information for your consideration. If you check the testing statistics on the USADA website, you will find that the number of out-of-competition drug tests performed during each quarter of 2007 are as follows: in the first quarter there were 1208, second quarter 1295, third quarter 1141 and in the fourth quarter there were only 642. In late 2003 I advised USADA about the importance of random testing during the fourth quarter of the year. They did initially seem to follow my advice because they increased the number of fourth-quarter tests in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

However, they failed to continue this practice in 2007. Why would USADA decide to perform only 15% of their annual out-of-competition tests during the fourth quarter? Let's not forget that this is the off season before the upcoming summer Olympic Games. This is equivalent to a fisherman knowing that the fish are ready to bite and then consciously deciding that it is time to reel in his line and hook, lean his fishing pole up against a tree and take a nap.

On several occasions, I have provided detailed information to both USADA and WADA in an attempt to help them establish more effective testing policies and procedures. I certainly have more information that I would like the opportunity to provide to you and UK Sport, but I will leave that for another time. Hopefully, this information will be helpful and I am available to assist you further upon request.

Yours sincerely,

Victor Conte

An Irish guy I used to run with told me he thought Ireland's national record in the mile was probably faster than it's 100 meter national record.

I'm Irish and I remember reading a few years ago that when flo-jo ran the 100m world record back in 1988 (10.49), it was actually faster than the Irish national record on the men's side, such is the incredible depth in sprinting we have over here. By the way most people I've spoken to about Colvert genuinely believe this is a case of cross-contamination in his supplements, after all, he bought them from Aldi of all places. I'm not sure I believe this but regardless if his 'B' test comes out positive, which I believe it will, I still think he should face the standard ban of 2 years simply for his negligence (and for buying from Aldi).