Geraldine Hendrikken busted for drugs

Damn, and she was scheduled to clean my house Friday.

What's the source of your information?

where is the proof? a linked article might help. i'm surprised that she would get caught now that she's so out of shape (relatively to last summer). she certainly didn't appear to be on anything other than twinkies when she was racing last month.

News like this always makes me feel sad.

Its good to see the Europeans naming their busted athletes, aye Ragina and Suszie??

Shame they don't catch the real cheats, its always the people the sport can cope without, look at the top stars, those who are caught are very rarely the media darlings, they are the ones who are dispensable, Mourhit, Saief, Boulami, when are we going to see a big fish caught? nly then will the sport have credibility because it will show that nobody is above the laws of the game. Is it a case of the sport covering up tests which may be determental; to the marketing of the sport? Its common knowledge that at big meetings in the UK in the 80's Andy Norman, now husband of Fatima (like my beard) Whitbread fiddled results and gave athleets prior knowledeg of which positions and which events would be tested.

The Irish equivalent of this board went nuts yesterday when the A sample results came out, but nobody was named.

GH GH GH GH all any one said. The whole country knew she was using.

Good riddance Geraldine.

Several on this board have criticized me as a "USATF psycho" simply because I serve as a volunteer on the LDR committee with the organization. Let me go on record as saying I am glad to see this announcement prior to the testing of the B sample. No athletes rights, no threatened lawsuits, etc. As a teacher, if I am accused of violating the rules and/or my contract, it would be in the paper the next day, no right to defend myself first, no right to privacy, etc. Good for the Irish federation for doing the right thing.

What about her coach? Did he suspect?

What is the Irish equivalent of this board? I've got to check it out.

Well she went from 4:19 to something like 4:02 in 12 months at age 32/33; so either her coach knew, or for those 12 months he thought he was the best damn coach on the planet!

Her coach knew all along as she is self coached.

"Quitters never win, Winners never quit, and those who neither win nor quit are idiots."

Coach defends Hendricken

A respected athletics coach has warned against rushing to condemn Irish 1500m runner Geraldine Hendricken as a drugs cheat.

Hendricken has been confirmed as the Irish athlete to have failed a random drugs test.

Sean Kyle, who helped guide the careers of several top Irish athletes including James McIlroy, has said that he will be "very surprised" if Hendricken is guilty.

The Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI) announced on Monday that an out-of-competition test on an unnamed athlete had revealed traces of the banned steroid nandrolone.

Hendricken, who made a huge breakthrough in 2002 cutting her 1500m personal best by more than 14 seconds to 4:02.58, has denied taking any banned substance.

Kyle told BBC Sport Online that he had the "utmost sympathy" for the Carlow athlete. "I'll have to be convinced of her guilt," said the Ballymena & Antrim coach. "I know Geraldine Hendricken and I will find it most peculiar if she is totally guilty in all this.

"The system of justice we work under in the civilised world is 'innocent until proven guilty' and that's how we should regard Geraldine's case".

Kyle pointed to research undertaken by Aberdeen University which found that dietary supplements combined with increased levels of exercise could produce a positive nandrolone test.

"I know this research has been pooh-poohed by the International Olympic Committee and other influential bodies but I believe that the Aberdeen evidence casts huge doubt on the official line".

Kyle revealed that Hendricken spoke about her training methods and health regime in a talk which she gave to the Irish Milers Club last September.

"Even at that stage, she was fully aware that questions marks against her were being raised in certain quarters.

"But she spoke very articulately about the new training methods which she had adopted last year and how she was eating in a healthier way than previously. She was quite open about the various legal creatine-type supplements which she was taking.

"In all, she spoke for about 25 minutes and then was grilled very intensely for about an hour by the people present".

Kyle said he believed that it was possible for middle-distance athletes to make dramatic improvements in performance. "One of the athletes I coached, Elaine Fitzgerald, brought down her 1500m personal best from 4:21.2 to 4:07.8 during her time with me.

"She had been around the American University scene and US circuit for several years but made the breakthrough when she linked up with myself at the age of 29.

"I actually regarded what Elaine achieved as a greater coaching performance on my part than what James McIlroy did in 1998".

She's definitely got some muscles

yes...

Ray wrote:

Let me go on record as saying I am glad to see this announcement prior to the testing of the B sample.

Then why bother with the B sample? There's no point in confirming the accuracy of the test results AFTER the athlete's reputation is trashed. So why not just save a few bucks and let 'em hang based on a single sample? After all, blood is what we're after here, right?

You are absolutely right. I'm going to back pedal and say that I don't think the athletes have a right to privacy once the B sample turns up positive. The whole time line stinks. wouldn't it be better to test the A sample within 24 hours of the sample being taken. Notify governing body within 48 hours, notify the athlete within 72 hours, test the B sample within the 48 hour period as well and then make the announcement? Why do we consistently read about athletes testing positive for a test they took 6, 7 and 8 months prior, and then with some (particularly in this country), they can't be ID'd until they have a year to come up with some Bull Shit excuse like, "I drank red wine, had my period, and take birth control pills", or even better, " I had 50 gallons of beer, took a cold medication, and then banged my wife 6 times because it was her birthday."

The most recent cop out is this whole supplement excuse....how about this for a novel idea.....don't take them!!!! Next thing you know all those taking the Hornet Piss will test "POZ!"

actually they did test people on hornet piss, clean as a

whistle. Wanna buy some?