Wallace Spearmon Suspended

Yes, cortisone is prescribed for everything, and then some. Maybe Gay should try it, one of the side-effects is hair growth--only not necessarily where it is desired...

Basing a sanction on an argument about the degree of performance enhancement doesn't work, for many reasons. They do look into these things, which is why he got only a couple of months--which is looking like the minimum ban for being stupid, like those fools with methylhexaneamine in energy drinks (allegedly).

The thing is, often where there is smoke, there is fire. Stupid enough not to get an obviously-needed TUE = stupid enough to be doped? IDK, maybe.

Spearmon, who knows--the only thing we know for sure is that he is a moron.

IF instead he had been a 9.80-or-under guy, 100% he would have been doping for performance enhancement. 100%. Yes, he has a great 200 PR, but that's not enough to vault him into the ranks of a for-sure doper.

BUT think about it this way: WADA has judged cortisone to have a performance-enhancing effect, in general, to a sufficient extent that its use without a TUE is banned. Why not declare it, unless you are doing something underhanded? Because you're colossally stupid? Can anybody who can normally function in the world be that stupid? I doubt it, especially when it means everything to them.

He got a warning. He isn't even in season so this 3 month ban is irrelevant. He and whoever administered the drug are negligent, he got a warning for being oblivious. They will both justify what they did wrong. It is a good heads up for other athletes.

runrun123 wrote:

It is a good heads up for other athletes.

I thought the same when Yohan Blake and Mike Rodgers tested positive years ago...but nothing changed.

renewed marathoner wrote:

It's funny that some people here are speaking so harshly about ws like they've never taken cortisone before bc they were sick. Get some bleeping perspective this wasn't immoral at all.

Because we don't have THE OBLIGATION (like every elite athlete in order to don't test positive) to declare that cortisone shot under WADA protocols.

skinnyb wrote:

Methylprednisolone isn't going to help you train or improve your sprint times, in fact has about opposite effect you want - not anabolic, its overall catabolic.

Garbage its an anti-inflammatory which is a fundemental in allowing you to recover from training more quickly

For every doper there is someone gullible enough to believe their story

In this country, prednisolone is prescribed all the time by doctors for serious asthma flareups. The oral form has a long list of major and minor harmful side-effects (organ problems, including kidney and liver, stopping growth, hair growth, ...), yet supposedly is not dangerous to the children it is so often prescribed over the short course.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

skinnyb wrote:

Methylprednisolone isn't going to help you train or improve your sprint times, in fact has about opposite effect you want - not anabolic, its overall catabolic.

Garbage its an anti-inflammatory which is a fundemental in allowing you to recover from training more quickly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylprednisolone

For every doper there is someone gullible enough to believe their story

If you regularly use a corticosteroid for recovery, you won't have a very long career.

I have soap allergy and once I tried a new body wash and my skin broke out all over my body like poison ivy.

I was given a high dose of Prednisone in the morning and that night I went for a two hour run. It was like my body couldn't settle down.

Thant being said, the day after my ankles hurt so much and I couldn't run for about a month.

If this is all he got banned for, I really couldn't care less. Probably half the serious runners on this board have had a doctor-supervised corticosteroid injection at some point.

Reality Chick wrote:

moron doper Should get a lifetime ban and 10 years prison.

Even elfie rupp's pushers know to get him 37 TUEs and masking agents.

Exaggerate much? Rupp currently has 19 TUES. Where did you get 37 from?

TUE tabulator wrote:

Reality Chick wrote:

moron doper Should get a lifetime ban and 10 years prison.

Even elfie rupp's pushers know to get him 37 TUEs and masking agents.

Exaggerate much? Rupp currently has 19 TUES. Where did you get 37 from?

37 known lifetime. It is a miracle that someone this sickly could ever get out of bed.

You know, for an old guy, you sure have a lot to say, but to me it seems like a lot of hot air coming from you.

You may think you are being firm and diligent in making an athlete tow the line, but how often have you or have you not towed the line in your own life.

Having taken similar medication to what Spearmon took since 1985, I can tell you, you don't get better from taking this stuff. That is the first thing. It weakens you, makes you tired and saps the energy out of you.

I don't know about the comments concerning eating away at your muscles and bones, but I am certainly at a point in my life where taking "rest" breaks every few hours is mandated.

That is the first thing. The second thing is that you seem to think WADA is invincible. Ha, ha. As with any organization, especially one in the world of Sports, he who throws stones shouldn't live in glass houses.

What makes you think that WADA is the be all, end all. They can make mistakes, make wrong choices as to what a drug can do and can't do. They are powerful only because the IAAF banks them. If they were a private organization, they would be bankrupt.

I don't know Spearmon, but I do know what I take and how it affects me. I think WADA has it wrong, just like many other sports federation big wigs get things wrong (ie. NFL)

So, maybe you need to tone it down a bit. There are lots more important things in this world that should grab your attention. This issue is not one of them.

justthefacts wrote:.

Having taken similar medication to what Spearmon took since 1985, I can tell you, you don't get better from taking this stuff.

That's not the point.

Many people -including some sports scientists- thinks that you don't get better from taking cocaine or marijuana, but both substances are in WADA prohibited list for a reason.

Ben L Wrong wrote:

justthefacts wrote:.

Having taken similar medication to what Spearmon took since 1985, I can tell you, you don't get better from taking this stuff.

That's not the point.

Many people -including some sports scientists- thinks that you don't get better from taking cocaine or marijuana, but both substances are in WADA prohibited list for a reason.

Big difference between illegal drugs and NSAIDS. My point being that a medically prescription for an illness that has negative side affects for an athlete doesn't belong on that list. WADA is over stepping, another group that wants to own you come hell or high water. Not a fan of WADA, you might guess.

justthefacts wrote:

Big difference between illegal drugs and NSAIDS. My point being that a medically prescription for an illness that has negative side affects for an athlete doesn't belong on that list. WADA is over stepping, another group that wants to own you come hell or high water. Not a fan of WADA, you might guess.

Your notion of being owned and overstepping is dumb. You are allowed to use the drug if you have a doctors note. They didn't ban it.

It cures saddle sores.

ventolin^3 wrote:

impress me

how does cortisone help cyclists ???

"You know, for an old guy, you sure have a lot to say, but to me it seems like a lot of hot air coming from you. You may think you are being firm and diligent in making an athlete tow the line, but how often have you or have you not towed the line in your own life. Having taken similar medication to what Spearmon took since 1985, I can tell you, you don't get better from taking this stuff. That is the first thing. It weakens you, makes you tired and saps the energy out of you. I don't know about the comments concerning eating away at your muscles and bones, but I am certainly at a point in my life where taking "rest" breaks every few hours is mandated."

IRRELEVANT.

"The second thing is that you seem to think WADA is invincible. Ha, ha. As with any organization, especially one in the world of Sports, he who throws stones shouldn't live in glass houses. What makes you think that WADA is the be all, end all. They can make mistakes, make wrong choices as to what a drug can do and can't do. They are powerful only because the IAAF banks them. If they were a private organization, they would be bankrupt. I don't know Spearmon, but I do know what I take and how it affects me. I think WADA has it wrong, just like many other sports federation big wigs get things wrong (ie. NFL)"

What a joke, have you ever read any of my posts on this site. Long before your moniker appeared, it was I who excoriated WADA and IAAF and lambasted Diack et al.

THE FACT THAT WADA IS IMPERFECT IS TOTALLY IRRELEVANT.

A TUE was readily available, any mush-mind knows this. It was HIS decision, either actively or through negligence, to not get one.

And for that he should be, and was, sanctioned.

IIRC the baseline sanction is greater, and was reduced because they believed there was no intentional malfeasance.

Fair enough. But don't tell me that I can't bury Spearmon--he is either a liar, or a lazy moron, both of which deserve zero respect.

Yes, everybody makes mistakes. Life is busy, and is too short. People even make mistakes on big obligations, like taxes--but let me tell you, knowing a TUE obligation is not like wading through the tax code, it is simply like knowing you have to file by Apr 15--easy. Everybody knows it unless they are a child.

And here's the kicker: because he is a sprinter and the issue involves drugs, his credibility is not at all good. It suggests that his actions might have been intentional, and that he might be being less than candorous. You don't like that? Too bad. Remember, it's not definitive--only if he had been 9.80-or-under would it have been anywhere near definitive.

I accept that WADA/USATF find equitable the sanction that Spearmon accepted. I do not accept that the whole truth was revealed by Spearmon.

Like ukathleticscoach and others, I just don't believe him.

And for good reason.

Maybe this quote from Spearmon will get you off your high horse:

"The fact that this has happened just—when you fail a drug test, regardless of what it is, people speculate. It tarnishes everything you've done from the time that you've been running. People are going to have their thoughts about everything that you've done, everything that you're going to do.… From now on, people will look at me like I'm a cheater.

It stinks because sometimes people do make mistakes and sometimes when people do cheat they try to make it seem like they made a mistake. It's hard to tell the difference."

"I take full responsibility for my actions."

It IS hard to tell the difference, and these sprinters don't get the benefit of the doubt from me.

It's his WHOLE LIFE, HIS LIVELIHOOD, HIS LEGACY, HIS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. He gets an injection (OF ANYTHING) from a doctor and doesn't report it, to ask the available authorities what the appropriate thing is to do? When it is just a phone call to a number that he knows?

BULLCRAP.

Like I said, either a liar or a bum, take your pick.

Based on the company he's in, I see no reason to prefer one over the other.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Maybe this quote from Spearmon will get you off your high horse:

.

High horse? You are kidding right. You are the one calling another human being a moron on a public forum, not me.

You are the one who is self righteous, not me.

Sorry Old Man, you are taking lots of shots, but not willing to take some back.

You, Old Man, have become irrelevant and you don't like it.

I would strongly suggest you keep your nasty comments out of public view.