Is anybody discussing the impending Jarrion Lawson 4-year suspension?

Jonathan Gault wrote:

Dijon Gebremustard wrote:

damn this sucks. seeing that he's confirmed that the restaurant beef supplier uses trenbolone, and that the levels were only 0.8/50, and that his hair tested negative for habitual trenbolone use, i have a lot more confidence in this case than the Ajee Wilson one already. seems like Lawson and his agent are doing everything right and then some, so i hope wada can have some sense and dismiss this.

really what WADA should do if this happens, is rather than going all public about it right away, just say to the athlete: "hey, we found some trenbolone in your blood test. it's way below the normal level that a steroid abuser would normally have and we think it may be tainted beef. just to make sure, can we meet to test your hair for habitual use, and can you confirm with the supplier of the meat & a receipt that they use trenbolone?"

then you go public with the results of the hair test, if there's no issue (like in this case) then it's no sweat off anyone's back, but if it tests positive or the story has holes then that's when it becomes a cause for concern. that way normal athletes won't have tainted reps based on stuff basically out of their control.

at least there doesn't seem to be any issue of past performances being invalidated if he never competed between eating the meat and taking the drug test.

I tend to agree with you. I'm usually skeptical about doping excuses, but this genuinely does seem like accidental consumption of tainted beef.

The problem is, if that's the case, the AIU's barrier of proof seems impossibly high to clear. Lawson learned about the positive test on August 3. The test took place on June 2. How is he supposed to track down and analyze the content of a meal he ate two months ago?

Ajee' Wilson was in a very similar situation in 2017, though for a different substance (Zeranol). Both are used to stimulate growth in cattle. Yet Wilson's case was handled by USADA, which evidently has a much lower barrier to overturn a decision. The date of her test was 2/11/17 and she was back competing four months later. Lawson's test was a year ago -- 6/2/18 -- yet his AIU hearing didn't take place until April 26 and the decision didn't come back until last week.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

Dijon Gebremustard wrote:

damn this sucks. seeing that he's confirmed that the restaurant beef supplier uses trenbolone, and that the levels were only 0.8/50, and that his hair tested negative for habitual trenbolone use, i have a lot more confidence in this case than the Ajee Wilson one already. seems like Lawson and his agent are doing everything right and then some, so i hope wada can have some sense and dismiss this.

really what WADA should do if this happens, is rather than going all public about it right away, just say to the athlete: "hey, we found some trenbolone in your blood test. it's way below the normal level that a steroid abuser would normally have and we think it may be tainted beef. just to make sure, can we meet to test your hair for habitual use, and can you confirm with the supplier of the meat & a receipt that they use trenbolone?"

then you go public with the results of the hair test, if there's no issue (like in this case) then it's no sweat off anyone's back, but if it tests positive or the story has holes then that's when it becomes a cause for concern. that way normal athletes won't have tainted reps based on stuff basically out of their control.

at least there doesn't seem to be any issue of past performances being invalidated if he never competed between eating the meat and taking the drug test.

I tend to agree with you. I'm usually skeptical about doping excuses, but this genuinely does seem like accidental consumption of tainted beef.

The problem is, if that's the case, the AIU's barrier of proof seems impossibly high to clear. Lawson learned about the positive test on August 3. The test took place on June 2. How is he supposed to track down and analyze the content of a meal he ate two months ago?

Ajee' Wilson was in a very similar situation in 2017, though for a different substance (Zeranol). Both are used to stimulate growth in cattle. Yet Wilson's case was handled by USADA, which evidently has a much lower barrier to overturn a decision. The date of her test was 2/11/17 and she was back competing four months later. Lawson's test was a year ago -- 6/2/18 -- yet his AIU hearing didn't take place until April 26 and the decision didn't come back until last week.