Serena Williams... I’m the one getting tested the most. Discrimination? I think so’... does she have a point ?

ex-runner wrote:

I feel like it's more to do with the fact that she is the best?

Only losers think of the logical answer.

Survey Says wrote:

Let me guess, the consensus opinion on this forum will be no.

A trannie. Test that.

When you're the best, you're going to get tested a lot. Why? Cause the only time cheating really matters is if you win because of it. No one complains if they still beat the cheater. Lance Armstrong was the single most tested rider in cycling and never tested positive yet was (literally) cheating his balls off. In the NCAA, the only time we ever got tested was when we were qualifying for national championships. It's not out-of-the-ordinary for the best players in tennis to be tested more.

She wasn't ranked that highly and she had recently given birth when she was tested 5 times in June. Were the top 3 ranked ladies tested as much?

coach wrote:

She wasn't ranked that highly and she had recently given birth when she was tested 5 times in June. Were the top 3 ranked ladies tested as much?

When you're at the top of a sport, it makes sense that you get tested the most or the same as other top players. It is interesting that she gets tested much more than others and that she was getting tested a ton when she wasn't holding down a top spot. I do think that almost makes sense because there is a financial incentive to get back to the top as fast as possible. I usually like to raise questions about racial bias but this one seems less clear. Race plays a role but so does being at the top of the sport. It's strange that the doping agencies seem to have no clear cut way of doing things. The other players should face similar testing.

The below article was also decent on it. Phillips is good about writing on race in sports. The USADA quote was interesting: "International rules permit for testing based on available resources, performance information, ranking data, sport and athlete specific analysis, biological and longitudinal analysis, injury information, training periods, the competition calendar, intelligence received concerning possible doping practices and research on doping trends." It seems like they can just do whatever they want, test whoever they want, as much as they like. Phillips asks if they have a beef with Williams at the end of it.

coach wrote:

She wasn't ranked that highly and she had recently given birth when she was tested 5 times in June. Were the top 3 ranked ladies tested as much?

Note that the WTA has a protected ranking system for players out for injury or maternity. Serena's true ranking dropped but perhaps the protected ranking was still being considered for drug testing purposes. Also, my understanding is that up to the point of most of these stories, she had been tested 5 times in 2018, not 5 times in June. Finally, her daughter was born in September 2017. She was back playing tournaments in March 2018 and played a Fed Cup match in February 2018.

Also, was wondering something based on this quote from the NY Daily New story:

“The five tests conducted by USADA on Serena Williams in 2018 resulted from three testing missions,” USADA Communications Director Brad Horn told the Daily News. “It is standard practice on many testing missions to obtain both urine and blood samples, resulting in multiple samples from a single testing mission.”

For some reason I never knew that blood is sometimes taken. I wonder how many vials. For endurance athletes, doesn't it slightly affect performance or am I overthinking this?

Well, things must have changed in tennis, I remember reading a few years ago that Federer wasn't tested once during a whole season!

Surely, the ones at the top should be tested the most and Serena is one of the most ( maybe the most, even ) successful tennis player in history.

PEDs wrote:

Precious Roy wrote:

The only one on the tour who is close to Serena on power is . . . Sharapova. And Sharapova is about a half foot taller.

Was not Sharapova busted for PEDs a while ago? Meldonium or something?

Serena is so talented she could win clean, and is doing so now, but not in the past, this chick was drugged up to the eyeballs.

Serena should should just shut up about the testing and let sleeping dogs lie, for she's just shining light on the the skeletons in the closet

Time for people in the know to come forward and shut this #1 all time cheater down for good..

923gf wrote:

Survey Says wrote:

Let me guess, the consensus opinion on this forum will be no.

A trannie. Test that.

Grow up or get lost

Let me guess - You are a White Male who is a Trump supporter (By the way I did not vote for Clinton nor am I a Liberal from a political perspective) who calls themselves an Evangelical Christian - (The faith of Christ - for which the Bible teaches love and peace).

Am I correct on all or some of these points?

WDC Runner wrote:

Before I form an opinion on the Williams situation, does anyone know if top athletes are supposed to have more out of competition testing than lower level athletes? (Of course, in competition would likely depend on how often one competes and how well he/she does.)

Also, are all sports governed by the same rules or is athletics different from tennis, golf, and other sports that WADA oversees?

Thanks to anyone who can provide some facts.

Every sport has a "testing pool" that is comprised of every nation's athletes that are good enough to participate in international competitions. Below that, things get pretty sketchy. Even if you are good enough to be in a testing pool, it doesn't mean you get tested very frequently. And then, it is probably a urinalysis, not a blood test.

Each IOC sport has their own anti-doping rules that comply with the standards WADA maintains. Golf is not an IOC sport. I don't honestly know if the professional tennis circuit is the same thing as the IOC tennis federation.

Basically, the way anti-doping is designed the federation has total authority over the athlete. WADA and NADOs have no authority to ban athletes. That's why athletes like Bolt or Lance Armstrong were never sanctioned by their respective federations. Armstrong was banned. That is completely different than being sanctioned for testing positive. To this day, the UCI has never sanctioned Armstrong for a doping positive. Bolt never sanctioned despite ample evidence JADCO was assisting him to never test positive and the IAAF being totally corrupt.

[3.1]Miles Davis wrote:

When you're the best, you're going to get tested a lot. Why? Cause the only time cheating really matters is if you win because of it. No one complains if they still beat the cheater. Lance Armstrong was the single most tested rider in cycling and never tested positive yet was (literally) cheating his balls off. In the NCAA, the only time we ever got tested was when we were qualifying for national championships. It's not out-of-the-ordinary for the best players in tennis to be tested more.

I love your broad generalizations despite them being mostly false.

Serena is like Caster semenya strong. Shes built like a tank, hence the suspicion.

923gf wrote:

Survey Says wrote:

Let me guess, the consensus opinion on this forum will be no.

A trannie. Test that.

you and a aschmuck are two of the worst human beings on this forum

I agree with testing top ranked athletes throughout the year both urine and blood. This is the ONLY way to keep them on point. The blood testing gets pushback due to some religious restrictions but I call "Bullshit" on that. Also, the only way you can keep the athletes honest is to have these tests done randomly but not to the excess of repeating drug testing within a short period of time. 5 times a month is excessive, but you also have to realize that some of this testing may occur after a competition. I also believe that the top ranked athletes should be equally tested (Top 10 or so) with the lower ranked ones being tested less frequently.

Seems pretty simple.

Bump, both are pigs

Hasn’t she just flat out run away/hidden from testers before?

That would put her on the list of people to test most often.

Wada say that they target test those they have suspicions.

They then publish who are tested and the amount of tests they have.

This could be defined as very prejudicial to such an athlete.

Is this actionable ????

You know, crying out to the media about the frequency of your drug-testing is a good way to make people think you're on PEDs.