Malcolm Gladwell on Galen Rupp - "There's no way he dopes. It's impossible." - and More

wejo got all full of wejo and said he would shut the site down.

then wejo got ponderous and hedged.

mrs. radcliffe is as dirty as there has been. dirty.

weldon just keeps passing the open windows.

Former boulderite wrote:

wejo got all full of wejo and said he would shut the site down.

then wejo got ponderous and hedged.

mrs. radcliffe is as dirty as there has been. dirty.

weldon just keeps passing the open windows.

Yeah, wejo seems to be oblivious to the actual facts surrounding Paula. I won't restate them here, because they've covered countless times. Suffice it to say the numbers speak for themselves.

Meanwhile, he and his brother seem willing to convict Rupp based purely on circumstantial evidence. There are no actual facts that tie him to doping. At the worst, the evidence just suggests he's coached by a really paranoid and obsessive creep.

To be clear, Salazar said he doesn't condone doping of any kind. I take that to mean microdosing of a banned substance.

But so much of the NOP controversy points to stuff that some people say is wrong. But the fact is, its legal. Things like thyroid treatment that usada advocates for making illegal. But WADA disagrees. this quote from someone at WADA sums it up:

“We monitor medicalization of performance because it can be a step into doping, but it doesn’t mean its doping,”

Chrisrown wrote:

False.

Which parts are false, exactly?

And what's wrong with "the" USADA?

Gladwell is just some niche writer for a cartoon/poetry rag who happens to run. Why do you care one way or another what he says?

Ignorance is bliss wrote:

yuiop wrote:

Maybe Gladwell highly exaggerated the 50 tests, but the USADA number typically doesn't include tests done at non-USADA events, correct? For example, would testing at track meet in Europe show up in the USADA total? Galen certainly didn't run 29 other races last year, but maybe the actual number is somewhere in between the USADA figure and 50?

This number includes overseas tests requested by the USADA, but not other tests overseas. Since Galen raced overseas last year, you are right that he must have been tested more than 21 times. But if all of the overseas tests were at races, then they don't really tell us much, do they?

Maybe Gladwell got that number from Rupp or Salazar. Who knows?

Good point. Salazar's number would include the emergency Mayo Clinic tests done after each hollowed out book with drugs is mailed as a practical joke; the tests done internally to monitor the massive testosterone improvements coming from legal over-the-counter supplements; and the tests done on relatives whenever anyone pats Galen on the back.

Cold and Hard wrote:

Former boulderite wrote:

wejo got all full of wejo and said he would shut the site down.

then wejo got ponderous and hedged.

mrs. radcliffe is as dirty as there has been. dirty.

weldon just keeps passing the open windows.

Yeah, wejo seems to be oblivious to the actual facts surrounding Paula. I won't restate them here, because they've covered countless times. Suffice it to say the numbers speak for themselves.

Meanwhile, he and his brother seem willing to convict Rupp based purely on circumstantial evidence. There are no actual facts that tie him to doping. At the worst, the evidence just suggests he's coached by a really paranoid and obsessive creep.

Did you just say something about Ms. Paula Radcliffe of Britain?

(Ross Tucker has Paula as a 7 on his "suspicious" scale.)

Here is the information I used to come to a conclusion on Ms. Radcliffe:

On Oct. 2, 2003…two days before the World Championship Half-Marathon that she won…Paula had a blood test result which had a hemoglobin value of 12.8 g/dL, and a reticulocyte score of 0.59% (of RBCS), which make up an OFF score of 82 pre-race.

On Oct. 4, 2003…Paula had a blood test result which had a hemoglobin value of 15.6 g/dL, and a reticulocyte score of 0.47% (of RBCs), which make up an OFF score of 114.87 post-race.

That is a 21.88% increase in hemoglobin value in 2 days, from 12.8 g/dL to 15.6 g/dL.

To get a rough estimate of hematocrit score (which many people are more familiar with), the hemoglobin score can be multiplied by 3, so the 12.8 Hb would be roughly equivalent to a hematocrit value of 38.4%. A 21.88% increase in hematocrit value in 2 days, from 38.4% to 46.8% is a very large magnitude increase... in a very short amount of time.

Even severe dehydration, which causes a loss of plasma volume, and elevates Hb values, does not increase hemoglobin values more than 15%…even in extreme dehydration after running for 2.5 to 3 hours and losing 4% of bodyweight. Paula ran for 1 hour 7 minutes and also won the race.

Altitude training can increase Hb values by 5 to 10%…and takes 3 weeks to work. All types of EPO take weeks to work. Cobalt chloride takes weeks to work. Inhalation of xenon or krypton gas to increase erythropoiesis also takes weeks to work. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) stabilizers such as FG-4592 also take weeks to work. No other drug or substance that I know of can work in 2 days to increase hemoglobin values by that much.

The only way I know of that can increase hemoglobin values by 21.88% in 2 days is:

1) An autologous blood transfusion by Ms. Paula Radcliffe.

(The reticulocyte score also shows a 20% decrease (from 0.59% of RBCs to 0.47% of RBCs), which is also consistent with a blood transfusion, since the reticulocytes are diluted by the infusion of the old stored blood.)

That is how I came up with my conclusion on Ms. Paula Radcliffe.

My conclusion is:

Ms. Paula Radcliffe is a Brit Doper-Cheater-Liarâ„¢. Paula is a 700.

For some more reading on the mechanism of action:

Go Paula!!!

Salazar was a known drug user in his prime. Bob Sevene the coach at AW has all of the documentation.

He is now a coach that admits to working in the "grey area".

Do you want to drink grey water or crystal clean water?

So we can all admit that GREY IS NOT CLEAN?

Rupp is Salazar's most successful athlete.

Case closed.

rjm33 wrote:

Here is the information I used to come to a conclusion on Ms. Radcliffe:

That is a 21.88% increase in hemoglobin value in 2 days, from 12.8 g/dL to 15.6 g/dL.

Well, but now we know that she actually increased her hemoglobin from 12.0 to 15.6 g/dl, i.e. by 30%, which some crazy conspiracy theoretists might consider to be slightly more damning.

But yeah, dehydration after running for a whopping 67 minutes in the low 70s, and rehydrating after that for only 60 - 90 minutes, can be quite severe. That might actually explain 1 - 2%. As that is very close to 30%, wejo is of course not convinced.

Some crazy chemists even claim that one is generating water by burning carbs, so that the hemoglobin concentration gets barely affected despite the sweating. This would be in line with the study cited by Tucker, but those are probably all just theories and/or typos.

Nothing to see here.

Why does it matter what Gladwell thinks?

He doesn't know the sport as well as he thinks he does. Just because he runs the 5th Avenue Mile every year doesn't mean he has any knowledge of the doping/anti-doping situation.

Gladwell is probably just rallying to Rupp's defense ever since he saw Salazar's "He goes to Mass every Sunday and prays every day,.." comment. Gladwell has re-embraced religion with vigor since his Goliath, and his work since shows that he isn't even aware of the way his religiosity biases his opinions.

rjm33 wrote:

The only way I know of that can increase hemoglobin values by 21.88% in 2 days is:

1) An autologous blood transfusion by Ms. Paula Radcliffe.

Ridiculous. Look at the facts like I always do! Transparent Paula would never dope. She said so herself. The correct explanation for the 20% increase in Hct is:

5% from dehydration

5% from ostrich meat

5% from calf blood

5% from Hans' secret ingredient.

If the rumors about the 30% are correct, add 10% for the measurement error. Fact is, measurements can have errors! This proves that there is no reason for suspicion.

Anyone remember this sweet photo of Salazar wearing his Livestrong tee while standing behind cyborg-treadmilling-Galen? Yes, Livestrong indeed.

https://eatrunswag.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/salazar.jpg

Can we just rebrand it Dopestrong by NIKE?

http://www.runnerspace.com/members/images/53/881_full.jpg

Dopestrong in the hizouse!

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jun/25/alberto-salazar-defence-doctor-magness-emails

Salazar showing Lance the some tips. Oh yes, it's 2011 there. The year of Rupp/Farah.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3xspw0XPug/TZU50CS765I/AAAAAAAAILc/v2jjhXJinpo/s1600/198063_10150139739797639_32832647638_6712357_6904692_n.jpg

ryan foreman wrote:

To be clear, Salazar said he doesn't condone doping of any kind.

To be clear:

sleazy was a doping cheater in the eighties.

sleazy coached the doping cheater mary decker.

sleazy coaches the doping cheaters rupp, mo, centro, rowbury, hasay.

sleazy condones doping of all kinds for his athletes, but to be fair, probably doesn't want other competitors to be doping cheaters.

Alberto Salazar: "It is impossible to be world class or win an Olympic medal without using banned PEDs."

Doping NOPers wrote:

sleazy coaches the doping cheater hasay.

Well someone's epically failing with these recipes...

Mrr82 wrote:

Except Armstrong did test positive a few times. He had a prescription/exemption for saddle sores the first time and the second time couldn't hold up because of the process followed. It's factually inaccurate to say Lance never tested positive. He then also failed the biopassport.

To be clear, Armstrong was able to get a back-dated TUE for the saddle sore positive. He should have been busted then and forced to serve a doping suspension. I wonder the trajectory of his career had officials done what they should have at the time.

kimani wrote:

Doping NOPers wrote:

sleazy coaches the doping cheater hasay.

Well someone's epically failing with these recipes...

Hasay isn't doping and neither is Rowbury. Cain, no way.

You never push on the whole flock...just the chosen. Otherwise the red flags drown everyone.

Kenneth Davids wrote:

Murder Dubs wrote:

Great points, great questions

Also amazing that a drug can be so widely taken without there being proof of its ability to enhance performance. Why else might these drugs be taken by a healthy athlete?

There is no other reason except that they think it will help give them an edge. However, just because slews of athletes take a drug or supplement in hopes that it gives them an edge, it does not mean that there is any proof that the drug/supplement actually does enhance performance. Tons of idiots (not necessarily athletes...well, besides Merritt) buy and take pills in hopes that it increases their dong size. Is there any proof it works...nope, but people still take them.

If you take a drug/supplement not on the WADA banned list in hopes that it gives you an edge/enhances performance even though there is not proof that it does, is it doping?

The biggest issue with the vast majority of skeptics is that they give doping too much credit for good performance. I think it's a given that all the top runners dope, but I also acknowledge hard work, mostly in order for me to continue to stomach watching WRs get broken and other dopers get demolished. I'm at peace with the doping part, it allows me to appreciate the sport a bit. Anyone who tries to single out a few athletes due to stellar performance is delusional. Most people would be surprised if they knew who was or wasn't on the juice. It was nice to see Rupp medal, but I also won't mind seeing some Kenyan run out of his skin and rip Elfie a new one in the near future.