En vanlig dag

Hej alla glada!

Detta är det första men inte det sista inlägget av mig Caroline Seger fotbollsspelare i Linköpings FC samt landslaget.

Ligger just nu på ett hotell i Sveriges södraste del,dvs Trelleborg. Att bo på hotell har blivit en vana eftersom vi är på resande fot större delen av säsongen. Måste erkänna att det blir rätt mycket dötid så man måste verkligen kunna sysselsätta sig och ha ideer om hur man ska få klockan att gå. Idag tränade vi i en typisk svensk höstdag mycket regn och blåst, tänk att man aldrig kommer vänja sig. Vi spelar årets sista landskamp imorgon mot Irland, en match som är ganska betydelselös rent poängmässigt men dock så viktig att vinna. När vi kommer hem väntar dom 3 sista seriematcherna, vi spelar om SM-guldet så mycket står på spel. Därefter är det svenska cupen och ytterligare spel i en lokal cup. Schemat har varit tätt och tajt och tankar om semester börjar smyga sig på. Först och främst gäller det att avsluta den gågna säsongen på ett bra sätt därefter kan man börja njuta och koppla av. Ha en underbar höst och vinter jag kommer tillbaks:)

Caroline Seger

Oh medans beckham lanserar parfym med frun...

... lade WADA under fredagen ut 2009 års dopinglista på sin hemsida. Nytt denna gång är att gruppen specificerade substanser utökas i syfte att få en mer flexibel straffskala. Flexibilitet, ja. detta blir ju intressant. Vad flexar vi om i dopingens värld?, kan tänka.
Vi läser "Specificerade substanser finns under grupperna Beta-2-agonister, diuretika och maskerande substanser, vissa stimulantia, narkotisk analgetika, cannabinoider och kortison" Vidare går att läsa:´"Alfa-reduktashämmare som t ex finasterid är borttagna från den nya listan samt att en del ytterligare uppdateringar har gjorts för att listan ska omfatta nya läkemedel och teknik samt stämma med den nya världsantidopingkoden". Ja, flexibilitet. Det är intressant detta. Befann mig under helgen på årets Rotary distriktkongress och fick där vara med om en underbar föreläsning av Per Johansson från Glada Hudik Teatern. I en underbart humoristisk skildring av sitt tänkande, liv och arbete skrattar vi, samtidigt som vi alla känner igen oss i påkastade ledord som "motivation, ambition och flexibilitet", det ska man ha! och jäklar i den om detta inte ska "ge" ett jobb inom den kommunala sektorn. Rollspel, pappershantering. Han jobbar med förståndshandikappade, Per. I sin frustration över pågående möten där de olika rollinnehavarna kan identifieras och där han en dag sa: "Vi ska spela teater!" Jaha, du... och hur ska det gå till??? Idag driver Per tillsammans med sitt gäng en ensamble på 98 medverkande och omsätter 16 miljoner om år! Det kallar jag flexibilitet! I dopingens värld däremot, anser jag att riktlinjer och regler skall vara bestämda och oflexibla. I WADA´s list committee, en panel av elva forskare och utvalda för sin internationella expertis, skall ledorden som anammas för den kommunalanställde ha en viss justering. Jag ser gärna att de ledande är motiverade och har ambition men när det kommer till beslut och riktlinjer då måste en strikt beslutspolicy ligga och vad gäller substanser bör dessa dopingklassas och konsekvenser av användande av dessa vara klara. Här skall flexibilitet vara uteslutet.

Läs hela 2009-års Dopinglista här:
http://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibitedlist.ch2

Interview with Usain Bolt

"I know I'm clean. I work hard for what I want," the Jamaican told Reuters in a telephone interview. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-metre) sprinter clocked 9.69 seconds for the 100 in Beijing last month to carve 3/100ths of a second off the previous record he set in New York on May 31.Bolt had previously run only a handful of 100s and his performance raised eyebrows among some observers.
Carl Lewis, a nine-times Olympic champion who won one of his titles when Jamaican-born Canadian Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids at the 1988 Seoul Games, raised questions about Bolt in a recent interview in Sports Illustrated magazine.
"I'm still working with the fact he dropped from 10-flat to 9.6 in one year," Lewis was quoted as saying.
"I think there are some issues, countries like Jamaica do not have a random (dope control) programme so they can go months without being tested."
Bolt felt such speculation came with the territory.
"I know what he said," said the Jamaican. "To me it doesn't matter, a lot of people were saying that. When you run the 100 metres that's what you get. As long as you're fast they start saying that.
"It's like a trend. I'm trying to change that. It's a bad image for the sport.
"Carl Lewis can say whatever he wants. That's just his opinion."
Bolt said his 100 breakthrough was earned by hard training.
"The 200 is also sprinting, that was key," he said. "The only thing I had to do was get my start right and I got my start right.
"That's why my last 50 metres are so good because I've got speed and endurance."
The 22-year-old also rejected Lewis's comments about the amount of testing he had to go through back home."For sure we get tested in the Caribbean," he said.
"They like to come to your house early in the morning. It's not cool getting up at six, seven in the morning when you're just trying to enjoy your sleep. But I know what it's for and it's fair. We get tested all the time.
"When you're in the top 20 in the world you get random tested. They get to know your whereabouts."
Bolt said he would continue to run the 100 and 200.
"In the future I'll probably step up to 400 metres," he said."But it's a lot of work. I'm not ready for that kind of work."
Bolt also said he was looking forward to defending his titles at the 2012 Olympics.
"I'll be in London... I hope it isn't cold," he said. "I'm looking forward to that."

Reuters

Doping på 24 timmar ... Kolla RI´s Snabbresumé!

Chambers 'will be welcomed back' Sprinter Dwain Chambers will be welcomed back into the GB team, says the new head coach of UK Athletics. Chambers has a lifetime Olympic ban having tested positive for the banned steroid THG in 2003, and lost an appeal against the decision in July this year. But Charles van Commenee is happy for him to represent GB in non-Olympic events like World Championships. "Dwain has served his sentence, he is more than welcome back in the team," Van Commenee told BBC Sport.

GREEK hurdler Fani Halkia yesterday appeared before a prosecutor investigating the doping case that led to her expulsion from the Beijing Olympics, insisting she did not intentionally use performance-enhancing drugs. Halkia, the 2004 Olympic 400-metre hurdles gold medalist, tested positive for the steroid methyltrienolone on August 16.

A shot putter and steeplechaser from Belarus drew two-year bans for doping.The Belarusian Athletics Federation said Tuesday the decision to discipline shot putter Yulia Leantsyuk and steeplechaser Irina Bakhanouskaya was made last month. Both competed in the European Cup in France in June.

Athletics Kenya bans Muthuka for doping Sprinter Elizabeth Muthuka becomes the fourth Kenyan female athlete to get a doping ban after it was finally confirmed she failed a drugs test at the July 26 to 28 national championships. Consequently, the athlete whose A and B blood samples tested positive for anabolic steroid Nandrolone, has been slapped with a two-year ban by Athletics Kenya (AK).

NFL Saints' Nesbit suspended four games for steroids violation
New Orleans Saints offensive lineman Jamar Nesbit has been suspended for four games for violating the NFL's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances, the league announced Tuesday afternoon

ADVISORY Last Chance to Comment on New Canadian Anti-Doping Rules
The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) alerts the Canadian sport community that the deadline is approaching for input into the final version of the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP).
Read the HTML version:
http://www.cces.ca/forms/index.cfm?dsp=template&act=view3&template_id=194&lang=e&news_id=91
or download the PDF:
http://www.cces.ca/pdfs/CCES-ADV-CADPdraft2Reminder-E.pdf

Museeuw doping judgement delayed The conclusion of the trial of cyclist Johan Museeuw and 10 other suspects accused of drug offences has been delayed by a Belgian court.

5 Russian race walkers banned for doping Five Russian race walkers, including world record-holder Sergei Morozov, have been suspended for two years for doping. Morozov, Viktor Burayev, Vladimir Kanaikin, Igor Yerokhin and Alexei Voevodin were sanctioned by the national federation for testing positive for the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO, the All Sport news agency said Tuesday.

Delhi laboratory gets WADA accreditation The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has granted accreditation to the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL), New Delhi, ending years of uncertainty over the status of the facility, set up nearly two decades ago.The decision came at the WADA Executive Committee meeting in Montreal on Saturday.

WADA chief praises Olympic anti-doping drive

Date: 21/09/2008 http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=3651

SEPTEMBER 21 - WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY (WADA) chairman John Fahey (pictured) has praised the pre-Olympic drug testing programmes that prevented a number of drug cheats from competing in Beijing.
The Australian, overseeing his first Olympics in his new role, said: "I think that in itself was very effective, and I do believe that the deterrent factor in the context of cheats wanting to take the risk was a very strong message that was out there.
"If you go back to those months leading up to the Games a number of nations had a very vigorous programme at home, and the USA was one, I know."
On the eve of Beijing, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge estimated that there would be 30 to 40 positive drug tests in Beijing .
As it turned out, there were only eight positive results during the Games.
Fahey pointed out that many drug cheats were exposed before they even left their own country.
He said: "I'm not sure if the numbers have been released on those few months but I can assure you that it was quite a large number.
"It was 11 in Russia , almost the entire Greek weightlifting team, and so on and so forth. "Those numbers were significant.
"I think that was a message that continued to resonate and I hope and believe that it served as a deterrent factor to those who believed that they could hop on the plane, get there and get away with it."
WADA's executive committee approved the list of prohibited substances and methods for 2009. The list will be published online by October1 and will go into effect January 1, 2009.
Fahey said: "The fight against doping is a 24-7-365 responsibility.
"I am pleased that despite significant progress in the fight against doping in the past few years and months, stakeholders recognise the need to take further measures to protect the health of athletes and the integrity of sport worldwide."
The executive committee also approved the accreditation of a new laboratory in New Delhi , India , making it the 34th WADA-accredited lab.
It will oversee anti-doping at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which the city is staging.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Många var vi som samlades på Nybrokajen denna härliga höstmorgon för att spendera de närmsta fyra timmarna tillsammans ombord på M/S Gustafsberg VII. Skandikon fyller 30!
CSR ...ja, känner ni till det? Corporate Social Responsibility, kom att genomsyra hela förmiddagens diskussioner och med drivande debattörer som Marie Söderqvist och Arne Modig fick vi en intressant genomgång och resa genom detta, för Sverige, inte direkt nya men oanvända koncept i vad gäller företagande och ansvar. Vi snackar samhällsansvar och engagemang. Vi snackar ökat tryck och krav gentemot företagaren. Inte bara från business utan även från de anställda som vill veta ...var ligger företagets ansvar, värderingar, krav och moral? Likt antidopingen och dopingens värld snackar vi om ett ställningstagande och tilltro till prestationer och att det vi gör inte bara handlar om att tjäna pengar och att "bli bäst" det handlar om respekt och likt idrottens värld en sammanslagning av prestationer, även om vi i näringslivet då talar om de ekonomiska. Idag spenderar företagen miljoner på att utbilda sina Vd:ar i CSR. Man skapar hållbara strategier och trovärdighet. Men hur implementeras detta sedan i praktiken? Ren Idrott tex. var hamnar vi? Under åren som gått har stiftelsen ständigt brottas med att få den ekonomiska sidan att "gå ihop" men tack vare företag i framled och som oerhört givande samarbetspartners har vi kunnat drivit vår organisation till den nivå vi har idag och arbetat fortskrider. Vi har en vision: Att år 2010 vara "Ett ledande kunskapscentrum om Doping". Vi är på god väg. Att se "nyttan" av CSR i vår värld är inte svår. Vem vill inte ha möjlighet att ge sina barn och ungdomar tillgång till de grundvärderingar idrotten representerar och den kunskap och attityd som krävs för att ta rätt beslut. En investering som följer med livet ut och som kan vara oerhört användbar den dag dom själva sitter där i grundkurs 1 CRS för Vd:ar!

WADA Executive Committee Approves 2009 Prohibited List

Press Release / Communiqué de presse

WADA Executive Committee Approves 2009 Prohibited List, New Delhi Laboratory Accreditation, International Standard for the Protection of Privacy

Montreal, September 20, 2008- The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced today that its Executive Committee approved the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods for 2009. This new List will be published online by October 1, 2008, and will go into effect on January 1, 2009.

“Today’s Executive Committee meeting was the first held following the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the discussion indicated very clearly that all parties involved in the fight against doping are committed to further strengthening and coordinating their anti-doping activities under the World Anti-Doping Code,” said WADA’s President, The Hon. John Fahey. “The fight against doping is a 24-7-365 responsibility. I am pleased that despite significant progress in the fight against doping in the past few years and months, stakeholders recognize the need to take further measures to protect the health of athletes and the integrity of sport worldwide.”

Prohibited List
The Prohibited List is one of the cornerstones of the harmonized fight against doping in sport. It specifies substances and methods prohibited in sport.

The 2009 List offers a number of changes compared to the 2008 List, including modifications in relation to specified substances in order to align the 2009 List with the more flexible sanctions set forth in the revised World Anti-Doping Code (2009 Code) to come into effect on January 1, 2009. The objective of this flexibility, which was approved by WADA’s stakeholders as part of their unanimous endorsement of the revised Code last year, is to allow for enhanced sanctions for deliberate doping offenders, and reduced sanctions for inadvertent cheaters or for athletes who can unequivocally establish that the substance involved was not intended to enhance performance.

As a result, while all prohibited methods, the classes of anabolic agents and hormones, as well as stimulants and hormone antagonists and modulators so identified on the 2009 Prohibited List maintain their status, the remainder of prohibited substances will now be considered as specified substances for the purpose of more flexible sanctions. This means that where athletes can clearly establish how a specified substance entered their body or came into their possession, and that such substance was not intended to enhance sport performance, the sanction may be reduced as low as a reprimand and no period of ineligibility.

At the same time, the use of non-specified substances should be more likely to result in a standard two-year ban for a first anti-doping rule violation, or to a ban of up to four years in cases of aggravating circumstances under the revised Code. These circumstances can include, but are not limited to, being part of a large doping scheme, an athlete having used multiple prohibited substances or a prohibited substance on multiple occasions, or an athlete engaging in deceptive or obstructing conduct to avoid the detection or adjudication of an anti-doping rule violation. Aggravating circumstances also include situations in which a normal individual would be likely to benefit from the performance-enhancing effects of the anti-doping rule violation beyond the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility.

“Specified substances, as defined in the revised Code, are not necessarily less serious agents for purposes of doping than other prohibited substances,” said WADA’s President. “For that reason, an athlete who does not meet the reduction criteria could receive up to a four-year period of ineligibility in case of aggravating circumstances. However, there is a greater likelihood that specified substances, as opposed to non-specified substances, could be susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation.”

Major Changes for 2009
In order to determine which stimulants (prohibited in-competition only) should be classified as specified or non-specified in the 2009 List, the international experts serving on WADA’s scientific committees carefully considered various parameters, including the potential of these stimulants to enhance performance in sport, their risk to health, their general use in medicinal products, their legitimate market availability, their illicit use, their legal/controlled status in various countries, their history and potential of abuse in sport, their potential of addiction, the likelihood of approval for therapeutic use, their pharmacology, and other scientific elements, as well as the likelihood of a non-doping explanation.

As a result of this process and of the broad consultation traditionally carried out as part of the annual preparation of the List, stimulants identified as non-specified substances in the 2009 List (and therefore subject to a two-year sanction in the absence of aggravating or attenuating circumstances) include for example amphetamine, cocaine, bromantan and modafinil.

Other noteworthy amendments to the List include the removal from the 2009 List of alpha reductase inhibitors, a class of masking agents which used to be banned in- and out-of-competition. These substances have been rendered ineffective as masking agents of steroids through close consideration of steroid profiles by anti-doping laboratories.

As part of the development by WADA of the Athlete Passport concept—the objective of which is to monitor an athlete’s biological parameters over time in order to detect abnormal variations that could indicate potential doping—and following research and advances in anti-doping science, WADA accredited laboratories are now able to and required to systematically and closely consider steroid profiles in urine as part of the doping control process, which allows them to circumvent the masking agent properties of alpha reductase inhibitors.

“Refining the List is an important responsibility in WADA’s work and one of the key tools in the harmonization of the global fight against doping in sport,” said Mr Fahey. “It is an elaborate process involving the solicitation of input from all of our stakeholders so that changes are founded on expanding scientific knowledge and understanding of doping practices and trends. The 2009 List reflects this expanding knowledge, as well as advances in anti-doping science and the recognition by WADA stakeholders of the importance of further harmonization of the fight against doping through the revised Code and International Standards.”

WADA assumed full responsibility for the List following implementation of the Code and the associated International Standards in 2004. The List is developed every year through a highly consultative consultation process, beginning with the circulation of a draft List among more than 1,700 stakeholders for comment. The comments received are processed by WADA’s List Committee, who then presents its conclusions to WADA’s Health, Medical and Research Committee, who in turn submits its final recommendations to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee, WADA’s ultimate policy-making body, reviews and determines the List for the following year at its annual September meeting.

Scientific Research
As is traditionally the case at its September meeting, WADA’s Executive Committee also approved scientific research projects for funding.

“Together with education and investigations, detection through scientific developments and intelligent testing is one of the most important weapons in the fight against doping in sport,” noted Mr Fahey. “Recent developments in this area, such as the implementation of detection means for CERA at this year’s Tour de France, have shown that by anticipating doping trends and by closely cooperating with researchers and pharmaceutical companies, WADA and the anti-doping community are making significant leaps in the science of detection.”

WADA’s scientific research grant program, one of the Agency’s chief priorities, is dedicated to developing new and improved means for detecting performance-enhancing substances and methods.

WADA will commit US$6.5 million—approximately a quarter of its total budget—to scientific research as part of its 2008 research grant program. This will bring the total amount of grants provided by the Agency to scientific research since 2001 to approximately US$44 million. A record number of proposals (75) were received this year from 24 countries, and 30 were selected for funding by the Executive Committee. These projects will help advance anti-doping research in such areas as the detection of blood manipulations, the development of techniques to detect gene manipulation, the development of new global technologies of detection, and the implementation of further means for detecting a number of substances including human growth hormone and various forms of erythropoietin.

New Delhi Laboratory Accreditation
The Executive Committee approved the accreditation of a new laboratory in New Delhi, India. The National Dope Testing Laboratory has successfully completed the requirements of the WADA accreditation process monitored by the Agency’s Laboratory Working Committee. The New Delhi laboratory thus becomes the 34th WADA accredited laboratory in the world. (Click here for the list of WADA accredited laboratories.)

International Standards
In addition, the Executive Committee approved a new International Standard and two revised International Standards. The purpose of the International Standards is to harmonize technical aspects in the fight against doping in sport. Current International Standards include the Prohibited List, the International Standard for Laboratories, the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemption, and the International Standard for Testing. These are mandatory for Code signatories.

Members approved revised versions of the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemption and the International Standard for Laboratories, which include a number of technical amendments in order to harmonize their provisions with the revised Code and the 2009 List. These two revised Standards will go into effect on January 1, 2009

The Executive Committee also approved the new International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information, which will also go into effect on January 1, 2009. However, the Executive Committee asked WADA’s management to continue its discussions with European governments to see whether any further improvements might be made.

This Standard will ensure that all relevant parties involved in anti-doping in sport apply a minimum suitable privacy protection in relation to the collection and use of athletes’ personal data—as it relates to whereabouts, doping controls and therapeutic use exemptions. WADA led an extensive consultation process among stakeholders, legal experts, international organizations, and the commissions on privacy protection from several countries, and released two draft versions for feedback in order to develop the final version approved today by the Executive Committee.

The last International Standard—the revised International Standard for Testing—was approved by the Executive Committee at its May 2008 meeting and will go into effect on January 1, 2009, at the same time as the revised Code and the other new or revised International Standards.

“The implementation of the revised World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards will further strengthen global anti-doping rules for the benefit of the clean athletes” said WADA’s Director General David Howman. “Thanks to the experience accumulated by the anti-doping community since these rules first came into effect in 2004, and thanks to the very broad consultation process we went through, soliciting input from all stakeholders and interested parties, these revisions will help further solidify technical aspects of anti-doping programs while rigorously protecting athletes’ rights. We are looking forward to their implementation by stakeholders by January 1, 2009. ”

The next meeting of WADA’s Executive Committee will be held on November 22, 2008, in Montreal. WADA’s Foundation Board, the Agency’s supreme decision-making body, will meet the following day.

WADA contact for the Media:

Frédéric Donzé
Senior Manager, Media Relations & Communications
Phone : + 1-514-904-8820
E-mail : frederic.donze@wada-ama.org

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Behind every great athlete is a good coach!

published: Tuesday | September 16, 2008
Deidre Forbes, Freelance Writer

At the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, research has been going on for two years to pin down what makes a small island like Jamaica produce such spectacular athletes. Scientist Dr Rachel Irving, a member of the research team, has put it down to a natural "performance-enhancement gene" while, her co-researcher, Dr Vilma Charlton believes that the physical education programme in the island's schools must play a significant role. On the streets, ordinary Jamaicans will vouch for the cuisine - yam, dasheen and other local foods.

From as far back as 1948 (with the amazing triumphs and records of the likes of runners Herb McKenley and Arthur Wint), there has been something magical about Jamaican athletes, and proud Jamaicans around the globe are never afraid to claim and celebrate that fact. However, no man is an island and, as the saying goes, behind every successful man is a good woman. In the same way, behind every successful athlete lies a good coach.- Serious coaches

"We have some serious coaches, who really push us to be the best we can," triple-Olympic gold medal winner Usain Bolt told a newspaper while in Beijing, in praise of his coach Glen Mills and of Jamaican coaches in general. The sensational Stephen Francis, founder of the Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) Track and Field Club, and clearly a star coach of the recent Beijing Olympics with five medallists (Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson, Shericka Williams and Melaine Walker) in his camp, has much to smile about these days.
His high is shared by Raymond 'KC' Graham, who coached Walker, gold medal 400m hurdler in Beijing, at St Jago High School in Spanish Town, and who is now based at Hampton University in Virginia, who describes coaching as his second love (second only to his wife). "As a coach, you are really a father figure, especially during high school, because your role is mostly one of a parent. You have to make sacrifices and dig deep into your pockets because you have to ensure that your athletes are getting the right nutrition and that they attend school," he says.

Sacrifices and determination
"To see Melaine coming from nowhere to be number one is just the best feeling ever. That's the kind of reward you get for your sacrifices."
Coach Maurice Wilson, who had medallists and finalists in Beijing, including sprinter Christopher Williams said: "What you have to realise is that it's only recently that coaches in Jamaica have started to see coaching as a business. We have always done it just because we love it and we're dedicated to it. In Jamaica, we seek out talent from an early age, so there is an emotional connection in it for us because we treat our young athletes like our children and we want to see them do their best. That 'emotional connection' is also felt by athletes. Twenty-four-year-old Curtis Ridell, who is trained by Glenn Mills, better known as Usain Bolt's coach, describes Mills as a father figure to him.

"You have to believe in your coach," he emphasises. "My coach is the backbone of my training. He gives me my game plan and guides me regarding what to and what not to do. He is a very important part of my life. Ridell says that Fitz Coleman, his first coach at Ardenne High School, first "saw something in me that I didn't see". Despite being injured for the last year, he speaks confidently of becoming the best 400m runner. Evan Allen, 28, who was 800m champ at the local championships in 2006, also has high praises for his coach, Lloyd Clarke. "He's the most important part of my training. He gives me my programme and gets me to do it. He motivates me to believe in myself and to be the best."

Who coaches?
Coaches are often retired athletes (notably, Herb McKenley coached the Jamaican national team between 1954 and 1973 after retiring) and therefore understand much of what the athletes experience. Others are self-confessed frustrated athletes. Wilson is one such coach. "I am most definitely a frustrated athlete. I did well at parish level until I got a life-threatening injury and decided not to continue in track and field. I started doing volleyball and succeeded in that but the passion was always for track and field so I decided to start coaching when I realised it wasn't possible for me to be the type of athlete I think I could have been."

He did various certification courses under the Jamaican Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA), earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and trained at L. T. Walker Training Centre in North Carolina. He followed that with a masters in science at Nova Southeastern University and started coaching in 1990. As well as coaching, he is a lecturer in track and field and fitness methods at G. C. Foster College of Physical Education in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

"Our coaches here pay great attention to detail in terms of technique and form," he explains. "Because our athletes don't have as many meets, and are not able to race as often as athletes do in other countries, we, the coaches, have more time to fine-tune their techniques and so we get more dividends in the end."

Stellar performances
Juliet Cuthbert, 100m and 200m silver medallist in the 1992 Olympics, gives full credit to her high school coach at Morant Bay High in St Thomas, Howard Jackson. "He really did put me on the road because during high school I did need the motivation. The fact that I got to the Olympics at all is really due to my high school coach. I give him all the credit for what I've achieved."
Cuthbert, who also attended Olney High School in Philadelphia and the University of Texas in Austin, notes, however, that while living in the US, she had a coach who was heavily into performance- enhancing drugs. So distraught was the experience that she left him (and athletics to have her son). When she returned to the track, in 1991, she got a workout format from sprinter Merlene Ottey's coach and decided to coach herself.

"I do have some regrets to be honest," she now confesses. "If I'd had someone to steer me along the right path, who knows? The fact that I didn't have a coach then doesn't necessarily mean I didn't need one. What I do know is that I'm very strong-willed and I don't need anyone to push or motivate me - but not everyone can train on their own and it's not something that I would heartily recommend," added Cuthbert, who starred in world track and field in the 1990s and was Jamaica's sportswoman of the year in 1992.

"It's difficult for an athlete to see their mistakes or to judge their progress and change by themselves" says Graham. "That's why athletes need their coaches. The coaches are objective and provide guidance. We do push and motivate the athletes into producing their best performances."

Coaching talent
Wilson added: "An athlete with talent and no coach makes no sense at all. Success is 60 per cent about the coaching and 40 per cent about the athlete."
Michael Frater, a member of the gold medal 4x100m relay team and coached by Stephen Francis, says: "My coach prepares me to be great. You can have all the talent in the world but underachieve because you don't have that person to nurture your talent. You will never find a great athlete who coaches himself to greatness."

Alfred Francis, a member of the executive committee of the JAAA says: "We have developed a fine culture where track and field is concerned. There is a keen rivalry and competitive spirit that drives the coaches to excellence. They are trained in the knowledge about physiology, nutrition, techniques and they are great mentors. They know about the psychology of being a good coach because you have to be able to motivate your athletes and that's not always easy. Our coaches are good at motivating their athletes to do the best they can do and to achieve excellence."
Since Jamaica's phenomenal success in Beijing, there is talk of world athletes who want to train in Jamaica to get in on the act.

Sagan Holm slut, Schelin gör suceé och Armstrong ...ja, han är tillbaka!

Att Stefan nu slutar och att Lotta gör succeé redan från start är inget som förvånar, men att Lance Armstrong, återvänder för ännu en Tour ...ja, det är förvånande och samidigt lite spännande. Undrar vad Stefan har för planer, hur Lotta fixar franskan och Lance fixar de otaliga timmar på cykeln som krävs för att återta titeln... det kanske inte är lika krävande trots allt, jämfört med Hollywoods vackra damer och kändisskap.Det ger ju, om inte annat, ett antal timmar till reflektion!

Kolls bifogade artiklar från DN/Sport.

http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=672&a=828283
http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=647&a=828204
http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=672&a=827854

Carl Lewis tvivlar på Bolts rekord

Slår du världsrekord i sprintlöpning kommer dopningsanklagelserna hack i häl. Legendaren Carl Lewis ifrågasätter nu Usain Bolts insatser mot bakgrund av Jamaicas dåligt utvecklade antidopningsarbete.
- Jag säger inte att Bolt gjort något men han ska inte få mig att säga att han är fantastisk och sedan åka fast två år senare. Om jag inte tror på det, vad tror då folk i allmänhet, frågar sig Lewis.

I en artikel i Sports Illustrated, som återges i engelska Telegraph, beger sig amerikanen ut på minerad mark. Den hyllade OS-mästaren från Jamaica har gått framåt misstänkt mycket de senaste åren, menar Lewis.
- När folk frågar mig om Bolt säger jag att han kan vara den största friidrottaren genom alla tider. Men en löpare som gör 10,03 ena säsongen och 9,69 den andra, om man inte ifrågasätter det i en sport som har det ryktet den har just nu, då är man en idiot. Punkt.

Lewis var världens ledande sprinter på 1980-talet med bland annat guld på 100 meter, 200 meter och kort stafett vid OS i Los Angeles 1984. Precis samma facit som Usain Bolt nådde i Peking. Lewis var själv ofta anklagad för dopning men fälldes aldrig. Däremot var han den förste att peka ut Ben Johnson som dopad - innan kanadensaren åkte fast 1988.

- Låt oss vara realister. Om man går igenom listan: Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin, Tim Montgomery, Tyson Gay och de två jamaicanerna har sprungit under 9,80. Tre av dem har testats positivt, säger Lewis till Sports Illustrated.

Lewis ställer sig också frågande till de jamaicanska damernas framfart i Peking-OS.
- Jag är stolt över USA just nu för vi har de bästa oannonserade och mest omfattande dopningstesterna. Länder som Jamaica har inte de slumpmässiga testerna så de kan gå flera månader utan att bli testade, säger Carl Lewis.

Enligt Telegraphs uppgifter testade Internationella olympiska kommittén flera jamaicanska löpare i samband med OS. Inga var positiva.

Publicerad 2008-09-12 20:59 DN Sport Johan Wåhlin

"She was 10 years old, - and ran like the wind"!

"True To Me: An Olympian's Victory Over Steroids."

Olympian talks about her battle with steroids

Fifteen-year-old Julian Keyz smiled as he shook the hand of and talked to an Olympian recently at the Park Forest Library. Keyz was among a dozen people who visited the library to hear Diane Williams tell her story and sign her new self-published book, "True To Me: An Olympian's Victory Over Steroids."

Williams grew up on Chicago's South Side and attended Dunbar Vocational High School where she was a track and field star. She ended up at Michigan State University on a scholarship and was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic track and field team. But she didn't make it to the Olympics because of the boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics.

She made the team again in 1984, but because she was had taken steroids from 1981 through 1984 she was "blackballed." She said her track coach gave her the drugs telling her they were vitamins. "That's what they looked like to me," she said.

Williams said she completely trusted her coach and only began to question him after taking them for a couple of years. She said her body changed. She had a deep voice, facial hair and was very muscular. "I looked just like a man," she said.

She said that after making the 1984 Olympic relay team, the first of two drug tests came back positive, the second was negative, but her teammates weren't receptive to her. Someone else participated in her place. Williams said she now understands other team members may have been concerned of all of them being disqualified because one person had tested positive. After that, she was done with the drugs and her coach, who is now banned from the sport because of steroids. She said she had to start again and get herself back into shape.

"I realized I ran faster when I wasn't on the drugs," she said.

In 1987, she won a gold medal in the 4 X 100 meter relay in the World Championships in Rome. Now she's written her story about her experiences with the drug. "I knew I wanted to tell this story," Williams said. "That's why it's self-published because I wanted to tell the unadulterated story." Her coach from her days at Dunbar attended the book signing.

Dorothy Dawson said she has always kept in touch with her and is glad Williams is sharing her experiences so that others can learn. "Parents need to look into things," she said. Dawson, who is president of the USA Track and Field, said some unethical coaches or parents want to give children steroids.

"If I had kids I'd make sure they'd bring their own water and juice," she said.

September 11, 2008, by Aracely Hernandez Correspondent

Doktorsbesök och AntiDopingforskning

Virusasthma är ett begrepp som funnits i mitt liv de senaste 7 1/2 åren. Jag var nybliven mamma och min son knappt 6 månader. Karl är idag 8. Många har resorna blivit då man desperat tvingats in på akutmottagningen. Långa har nätterna varit då man medicinerat var fjärde, ibland upp till varannan timme. Ventoline, bricanyl, pulmicort, ja listan kan göras lång ...lika lång och omfattade som "den röda" kan tyckas. Igår var återbesök och Karl mår utmärkt. En lång tid har nu gått sedan senaste episoden, även om förkylningar och andra virussjukdomar härjat och i Mamma Mias stilla sinne finns en förhoppning om att det nu börjat "växa bort", -Men man frågar sig ju, hur mycket har vi egentligen pumpat i denne lille kille? Vad härjar i dessa små kroppar som konstant utsätts för läkmedelsindustrins nyfunna "mirakelkurer" och vad menar egentligen doktorn med att "jo, det är ett steroidpreparat men än så länge har vi inte sett några bieffeketer" - ÄN! så länge??
Pulmicort, nu med mintsmak!, ett långtgående verkningspreparat som tillhör en läkemedelsgrupp som kallas för glukokortikoider, men kallas oftast bara steroider eller kortisonläkemedel. En medicin som innehåller det verksamma ämnet budesonid.
I samma veva läser jag forskningsrapporter som fastslår "Den kunskap som finns om olika dopingpreparats verkningar bygger vanligen på enskila case (Korkia, 1997). Det finns inga statistiskt säkerställda studier på de flesta dopingpreparat. Det anses oetiskt att bedriva kontrollerade studier på människor avseende sannolikt farliga substanser, åtminstone i större doser"! Yaiks, doser dessa barn med asthma från spädbarnsålder har fått i sig upp till 8 års ålder måste vara enorma. En puff här, två puffar där. Funkar inte det så släng in lite betapred tabletter eller adrenalin.
Visst fasar vi som föräldrar över vad som händer och kan hända samtidigt som vi tacksamt ser hur våra barns andning återgår till det "normala" och läpparna återfår sin färg.

"Doping- och antidopingforskning; En inventering av samhälls- och beteendevetenskaplig forskning och publicationer 2004-2007"
- Är en kartläggning av samhälls- och beteendevetenskaplig forskning om doping år 2004-07 (feb)och kan beställas genom RF's kundtjänst. Intressant läsning!

Ren Idrott/Mia

Doping strikes at the Paralympics Games:

In the first drugs scandal of the Paralympic Games, a Pakistani powerlifter has been kicked out and given a two-year ban for steroid use.
The International Paralympic Committee says Naveed Ahmed Butt, 37, tested positive for a steroid on September 4, two days before the opening ceremony.
Butt had been due to take part in the men's 100kg event next week.

The president of the IPC, Philip Craven, said at the weekend that he was hoping for a "totally clean" event following hard work by authorities to stamp out doping through extensive testing and education.
IPC medical and scientific director Peter Van de Vliet told reporters that despite the disappointment of a positive test, the incident highlighted the committee's efforts to run a fair Games.

So far a total of 297 tests have been carried out at the Games, both in and out of competition. At the Athens Games in 2004, 680 doping tests were conducted, resulting in 10 anti-doping rule violations.

Festina Affären 1998. "How the Rot set in"

Tio (10) år! så länge har det gått sedan Festina Affären. Året -98 då locket, om möjligt exploderade och cyklingens dopingscen var ett faktum. Vad hände? Läste precis en enormt utlämnande artikel som även vinklats med ett drag till underhållande och med roliga inlägg från mannen som som stod laget och Festina närmast. Antoine Vayer, Team Coach.
I artikeln "How the rot set in" (Procycling August 08) berättar Vayer hur dopingen tog kontroll över teamet och det skakande konsekvenser och händelser som sedan följde. Låt mig ge er ett par utkast ur artikeln och ta sen och köp tidningen på närmsta Pressbyrå.

"Without realising it, you've discovered a machine that measures the enormity of cycling lies".
"They call the Festina trial `morally enlightning´.´Things will never be the same again´, they say. Ha!"
"Eyes covered, ears blocked, mouth shut: the people in cycling today suffer from lack of courage"
"When will we unearth a new Virenque?´the French ask. if we´re not careful, we might get what we want..."

Läs ochså boken, Bad blood: the secret Life of the Tour de France av Jeremy Whittle.
"1998 had been expected to be watershed. Doping was no longer acceptable. Things had to change. But they did´nt"

Beware of the dope pedaller: An unreformed drug cheat has a chance to win the Tour of Britain

Published Date: 07 September 2008

By Richard Moore

THE TOUR of Britain, which starts today in London and visits Scotland on Saturday, is likely to be the most competitive of the five previous editions of the round-Britain cycle race, but also, before a wheel has turned, easily the most controversial.

A high-quality field has been attracted, including British double Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins, but it is the appearance of an American team, run by a fashion entrepreneur, that is set to divide opinion, and, in some quarters, spark outrage and indignation.

Rock Racing, run by Michael Ball as a vehicle to promote his Rock & Republic fashion label, includes in its six-man line-up three riders synonymous with cycling's tarnished image. Tyler Hamilton, who just weeks after winning the 2004 Olympic time trial tested positive for blood doping, for which he served a two-year ban, is merely the most notorious.

With Hamilton, who has steadfastly, and in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary, protested his innocence, are Santiago Botero of Colombia and Spain's Oscar Sevilla, both of whom were implicated in the "Operacion Puerto" investigation into a blood-doping ring in Madrid. Hamilton was named in connection with that, too.

And there are rumours that Ball's next signing will be Floyd Landis, stripped of the 2006 Tour de France after testing positive for testosterone but eligible to race again next year. On Landis, Ball has said: "Things obviously haven't worked out too well for him thus far, but his career is not over. He's not done."

"As I have said before, I support guys who have been vilified," continued Ball. "At the end of the day, we are all human beings, and we all deserve a second chance. This guy didn't go murder anybody. He's an athlete, who is competing at the highest level. He's been accused of things, and he's tried to defend himself. Whether he is able to do that in the environment that is cycling today is a tough call."

This appears to be Ball's creed, though there is suspicion that he is motivated not just by a sense of justice, but also by the publicity that is inevitably generated by his "vilified" riders. When the Tour of California invited his team, but barred Hamilton, Botero and Sevilla, Rock Racing responded by parading the terrible trio at every stage, and having them ride the route for training.

For the organisers of the Tour of Britain there is the very real, and perhaps dreaded, prospect that Hamilton, the team's leader, will win. Last weekend the 37-year-old won the American road race title; clearly he is coming to Britain in fine form.

Responding for the organisers, Sweetspot, Paul Rowlands says: "We were approached by Rock Racing and thought long and hard about it before deciding to invite them. At the end of the day they have a UCI (International Cycling Union] licence; they are not a rogue team. All of the teams in the Tour of Britain are committed to anti-doping, and Tyler Hamilton and everyone else on the race will be subject to dope testing. In cycling there's a broad issue of what you do with athletes who have served doping bans, or with teams who have people in their staff who have been implicated. Where do you draw the line?"

This point is a valid one – another former offender, David Millar, is riding; and Alberto Volpi, who manages the Barloworld team, is another with a sketchy past – but what has incensed most people is Hamilton's continued refusal to admit to his misdemeanours.

Millar is at the opposite end of the spectrum, having confessed fully and committed himself to leading the fight against doping, not least through his team, Garmin. The Scot has consistently criticised those such as Hamilton and Ivan Basso for their refusal to admit to their misdeeds.

Rock Racing won't be the only team at the Tour of Britain to raise eyebrows, with the Italian LPR squad containing last year's Giro d'Italia winner, Danilo Di Luca and Allesandro Petacchi, who recently returned from a doping ban, also invited.

In the absence of Mark Cavendish, who has been withdrawn by his team to ride the Tour of Missouri, Petacchi is likely to be the best sprinter in the eight-day race, which, after today's opening stage in central London, takes a circuitous route around the country, arriving in Glasgow on Saturday morning for the 95-mile penultimate stage, finishing against the stunning backdrop of Drumlanrig Castle.

Paralympics 2008..."a totally clean event"!

IPC chief eyes clean Paralympics AFP Published:Sep 06, 2008

Beijing - International Paralympic chief Philip Craven said he was hoping for a "totally clean" event ahead of the opening of the 2008 Games.
Like the Olympics, past Paralympic Games have been blighted by drugs scandals and there will be a focus in Beijing on stamping out any cheating.

"There’s no point in my saying there hasn’t been a problem, but we have worked very hard over the last four years - both from a testing point of view and also from an education point of view - and we’re very hopeful for good results," IPC President Craven said.

In the 2004 Athens Paralympics, 680 doping tests were conducted, resulting in ten anti-doping rule violations - two out-of-competition and eight in-competition, according to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Powerlifting has been particularly hard-hit by doping scandals, including in Athens.
But Craven said "generally, our record has been very, very good," and he noted that the 2006 winter Games in Torino (Turin, Italy) were clean.

"I think that there are sports in the winter games that could lend themselves maybe to potentially certain doping issues and I think you’re all aware that in Torino we didn’t have one positive test for the Paralympic Winter Games, so I’m looking forward to a clean Games."

The 13th Paralympics, involving more than 4,000 athletes, run through September 17.

Jamaican yams and goodiebags!

Läste precis Jens Littorin´s artikel "Mer krävs för att sänka Jamaicas sprintunder" (DN Publicerad 2008-09-04)där oöppnade paket med tillväxthormon står i fokus och skuggar en misstänksamhet över de framgångar Jamaica hade under Peking OS.

-"Liksom i många andra små och underutvecklade länder har antidopningsarbetet varit eftersatt i Jamaica, men landets parlament har antagit en lag som kriminaliserar dopning och man har även skrivit under Wadas antidopningskod. Under OS tillhörde de jamaicanska löparna dem som dopningstestades flest gånger"

Littorin har helt rätt. Problemet som internationella förbund och WADA måste tackla är hur man skall kunna finna ett system som verkar globalt. I världens finns det en sådär 270 länder. Av dessa har en bråkdel sin egna NADO´s (national antidoping organisation´s och i övriga måste idag WADA samt förbund "lägga" ut dopingtester på kontrakt där oberoende "dopingjägare" lokaliserar atleten och utför testerna. Ett kostsamt och resurskrävande handlingssätt. Att sedan atleterna testas "mest" under ett OS må så vara men det är högst osannolikt att vi hittar positiva fall under själva mästerskapet då doping i systematik används i uppbyggnadsfas.

Noterade dock att enligt Usain Bolts far kommer sonens framgång från naturlig talang och styrka, då menande jamaica potatis, kallad yams. Dessa "knölar" är unika för den region i Jamaica Bolt härstammar ifrån och som publik kan vi bara njuta av dess grund till oerhörda prestationer. ...läste föressten att även Ben Johnson härstammar från samma område på Jamaica. Snacka om snabba knölar! Här ligger Idaho potatis i lä.

Inte nog med att dom hoppar fulla!

Uppgifter nu om att Vitryska OS-medaljörer är dopade.

De vitryska släggkastarna Vadim Devjatovskij och Ivan Tichan lämnade positiva dopningstester vid OS i Peking.

Båda testades efter finalen där de tog silver respektive brons och i proven har man funnit den förbjudna substansen testosteron. Den trefaldige världsmästaren Tichan har aldrig testat positivt tidigare medan Devjatovskij riskerar att bli avstängd på livstid om även B-provet är positivt. Han var tidigare avstängd i två år i början av 2000-talet.

Om släggkastarna fälls blir ungraren Krisztian Pars ny silvermedaljör och japanen Koji Murofushi tilldelas bronset. Guldet tog slovenen Primoz Kozmus. (DN Sport)

Two Jamaican track athletes linked to steroids

Sporting News staff reports

Two members of the 2008 Jamaican Olympic track team received shipments of performance-enhancing drugs, according to aSports Illustrated report.

Documents obtained by Sports Illustrated state that between June 2006 and February 2007, two shipments of HGH and one shipment of estrogen were sent to Delloreen London at a Texas address linked to the athlete Delloreen Ennis-London. The document has a birth date that matches the athlete's, SI reports, though it lists the person's gender as male.

Ennis-London is a Jamaican hurdler who won the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2005 World Championships. She took fifth in the event in Beijing last month.

Both drugs received by Ennis-London are banned for Olympic athletes. The receipts do not prove actual use of the drugs.

The documents that the magazine obtained also show that in November 2006 a shipment of testosterone, testosterone aqueous and Oxandrolone (an oral steroid) were sent to Adrian Findlay, an alternate on the Jamaican Olympic team in the 400-meter hurdles. Sports Illustrated reports the drugs were sent to a North Carolina address that traces to Findlay and the birth date on the document matches the athlete's.

Findlay attended St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C. He was a member of the Jamaican team that placed second in the 4x400 meter relays at the 2008 World Indoor Championships.

Reached Tuesday in North Carolina, Findlay forcefully denied the allegations, the magazine reports. "I've been running stable all my life," he said. "Trust me, I don't use steroids. I guarantee you it wasn't mine and I didn't order it. I have a theory how this was sent."

Ennis-London's husband told Sports Illustrated she ordered the drugs after consulting a physician about hemorrhaging she was experiencing. He said the 2006 shipment arrived but she never opened the package. He said the 2007 package arrived unsolicited and also was never opened.

Vi bör förändra den svenska modellen!

Misslyckande! Fiasko! Så löd många av tidningarnas rubriker efter de svenska simmarnas OS-insatser i Beijing. Stämmer då detta? Visst, vi var i stort sett inte i närheten av någon medalj och lyckades endast åstadkomma ett fåtal finalplatser. Däremot lyckades vi nå målet med tio nya svenska rekord - totalt slogs 14 svenska rekord – och många lyckades slå prydliga personliga rekord. På så sätt var OS inte ett misslyckande, men poängen är att personliga och svenska rekord med ett par tre tiondelar står sig slätt i jämförelsen med andra nationers prestationer då dessa fullständigt massakrerade tidigare noteringar. Där ligger skillnaden! Då kan man alltid fråga sig; varför lyckades inte vi med det? Svaret på detta kan kanske bara varje individuell idrottare ge.

Personligen är jag nöjd med vissa av mina resultat, men jag hade definitivt hoppats att kunna göra bättre ifrån mig. Även om jag lyckades bra på 100 meter frisim med ett nysatt svensk rekord blev min specialdistans 200 meter frisim däremot en besvikelse. Min analys till detta är att min kropp inte var hundraprocentig eftersom jag varit drabbad av sjukdomar till och från under hela 2008. Detta fick jag även bekräftat vid hemkomsten till Sverige genom ett besök hos en specialistläkare som konstaterade att jag under en längre tid haft en kraftigt svullen polyp som försvårade syretillförseln till musklerna. Detta påverkade framförallt återhämtningsförmågan, vilket tydligt visade sig under OS-tävlingarna då jag bara orkade prestera ett bra lopp per dag. På ett OS är detta inte tillräckligt. Detta är naturligtvis ingen ursäkt eller bortförklaring och inget jag kan ändra på. Självklart känns det dock tråkigt att inte ha kunnat prestera på topp i den tävling jag satsat så hårt på under de senaste fyra åren. Den lärdom jag dragit av detta är att bättre lyssna till min kropps signaler och inte bara köra på som vanligt trots att jag känner att något kan vara fel. I denna aspekt är jag mycket självkritisk. Jag borde ha varit bättre på att lyssna på kroppens signaler och inte visat rädsla inför att stå över träningspass i tron av att detta skulle försämra mitt träningsupplägg. Nu gäller det dock att fokusera på framtiden och se till vad jag kan förändra och framförallt förbättra i min fortsatta satsning. Samma sak gäller för svensk simning generellt. Vad kan och framförallt, vad bör förändras inom den svenska simsporten så att vi i framtiden lyckas ta tillbaka positionen som en världsnation?

Först och främst måste vi se till hur situationen för svensk simning ser ut idag. De ekonomiska resurserna är ofta knappa med många ideellt arbetande eldsjälar. I praktiken medför detta stora träningsgrupper med liknande träningsupplägg för alla. Individuell anpassning med specialiserade träningsupplägg, alternativa träningsformer samt mental träning förekommer alltför sällan. Det är idag endast ett fåtal av oss svenska simmare som är privilegierade att ha möjlighet till allt detta. Generellt kan man säga att inställningen ”alla gör lika” idag genomsyrar svensk simning i allt för hög grad. Jag menar att denna ”svenska modell” inte är tillräckligt konkurrenskraftig i internationella sammanhang.

Hur ska vi då göra för att kunna ta vara på alla unga svenska talanger som finns i landets simklubbar? Jag anser att dessa talanger skall ges möjligheterna att skilja sig från gruppen genom tidig individuell anpassning. Gallringen måste bli tydligare och prestationskraven högre och samtidigt också vävas in tidigare. Varje klubb måste våga särbehandla de mer talangfulla simmarna. Det måste satsas mer och framförallt i tidigare ålder på ett mindre antal utvalda simmare. Ett talande exempel är Michael Phelps som redan som 11-åring fick en egen tränare. Nu är Phelps ett extremfall, men han har vid flertalet tillfällen betonat den fördel det varit att under lång tid specifikt kunna anpassa sitt upplägg tillsammans med sin tränare och då med hänsyn till Michaels egna behov och förutsättningar. Så här tolv år senare har det tydligt givit också resultat. Tänk om våra svenska simmare kan få samma möjligheter!

Ska mer individuell anpassning införas krävs det också en motprestation från den enskilda simmaren, då i form av resultatkrav. Genom detta införs ett regelbundet återkommande tävlingsmoment vilket på sikt kommer att ändra grundinställningen till att kunna prestera vid flera tillfällen. Naturligtvis måste det fortfarande alltid kännas roligt att träna och tävla, för att lyckas måste man älska sin idrott. Förr eller senare kommer dock alltid varje enskild idrottare att utsättas för stora påfrestningar, stress och ibland prestationsångest, och ju tidigare man vänjer sig vid detta desto snabbare och bättre kan man då hantera dessa situationer. I denna aspekt är det emellertid av stor vikt att jobba med det mentala. Visst ska resultatkravet finnas, men det är i stort sett omöjligt att alltid lyckas. Dagens simungdomar ska även lära sig att det är okej att misslyckas och att detta kommer att inträffa. När detta sker måste de finnas ledare som på rätt sätt kan ta hand om den besvikna idrottaren och som mentalt hjälper denne tillbaka. Stödet vid sidan av bassängen kan utgöra den skillnad som innebär att man blir starkare mentalt och då också utvecklas inom sin idrott. Det handlar om att lära sig lyckas genom att ibland även våga misslyckas. Hjälp och stöd inom detta område är något som jag själv saknade när jag som tonåring började etablera mig i simmareliten. Det var inte förrän jag var 22 år som jag kom i kontakt med en mental coach och detta skedde då helt på mitt eget initiativ. Min åsikt är att mental coachning skall införas som ett kontinuerligt inslag i varje elitsimmares träning och vardag. Detta kommer att hjälpa varje enskild individ och då inte endast inom simningen utan även i livet som helhet.

Inställningen bör förändras så att man tydligt visar för alla att det inte är något fult att vara bättre än andra. Sverige, landet lagom, måste inse att alla inte är lika, vissa är större talanger än andra och då måste dessa ges möjligheten att på egen hand utvecklas. Inslag av mental träning bör också införas tidigt i simmarkarriären. Om prestationskraven skall höjas kommer detta att innebära en högre press på den individuella simmaren och då måste denne ges möjligheten att få hjälp med hur man hanterar denna ökade press med högre ställda förväntningar. För att nå internationella framgångar måste alla lära sig hantera detta och ju tidigare detta införs i träningsschemat desto snabbare och bättre kommer varje individ att lära sig vända nervositet och press till något positivt, och då också växa av detta. Ska vi i framtiden kunna producera toppsimmare måste vi, tror jag, inspirera unga simmare att våga satsa och få tränare och ledare att förstå att särbehandling inte måste vara något negativt, annars kommer vi att hamna längre och längre efter övriga nationer.

Hur skall då denna övergång göras möjlig? Ja, helt problemfritt är det naturligtvis inte. Redan beträffande särbehandlingen kommer röster att höjas eftersom detta så tydligt strider mot det svenska idealet att alla ska få samma möjligheter och resurser. Vi måste våga frångå detta. Det största hindret stavas dock pengar. Med dagens ekonomiska resurser inom våra svenska klubbar är en sådan omställning i stort sett omöjlig att genomföra. Det finns helt enkelt inte ekonomiska medel att finansiera både en topp och en bredd. Det är här som SOK och Svenska Simförbundet ska ta sitt ansvar. Tillsammans måste de arbeta fram en plan för hur en omställning hos klubbarna skall kunna finansieras. Sett till det mediala intresset kring simningen som sport så finns det mycket att förbättra beträffande sponsor- och reklamintäkter. Enligt SVT var simningen, näst efter friidrotten, de sändningar som lockade flest tittare under hela OS. I USA slogs tittarrekord när miljontals amerikaner följde Phelps guldjakt. Simning är hett, det gäller bara för oss i Sverige att bättre förmedla detta. Jag anser att vi kan ta stor hjälp av våra folkidrotter, ishockey och fotboll. Där lyckas till och med små föreningar få ihop en god ekonomi med hjälp av relativt stora sponsorintäkter. Vad kan vi lära oss av dem? Jag anser att vi måste se utanför de traditionella ramarna.

Om inte så sker kommer vi i framtiden att få mycket svårt att hävda oss på de stora internationella mästerskapen. Jag är däremot övertygad om att svensk simning kan nå tillbaka till världstoppen. Det gäller bara att våga tänka om och inte tveka inför att testa nya upplägg och lösningar. Detta är något jag mycket gärna vill vara delaktig i att driva framåt!

Josefin Lillhage

En dopingjägares memoarer!

Arne Ljungqvists högaktuella memoarer, "Dopingjägaren", författade av Göran Lager (Ersatz förlag.

"Dopingjägaren är en fascinerande bok om en fascinerande och framstående profil inom svensk idrott och det ska påpekas: Den behandlar inte bara den i sig väldigt intressanta historien om huvudpersonens mångåriga och dirtekt avgörande engagemang i kampen mot fusket inom världsidrotten. Boken har fler dimensioner än så. Rekommenderas alltså varmt." (Artur G Bliding, Skånskan)

Vi på Ren Idrott säger desamma - Läs den!

Förebilder, Media & Okunskap!

Läste precis en artikel av Jordan Low, Northwest Asian Weekly där Low beskriver "the impact" av förebilder, media och okunskap.

Låt mig dela med mig delar av artikeln:

"... Despite your best efforts and drive to get faster, you still cannot improve. You have reached your limit. Then one day you read of a shoe that is more lightweight and has been proven to greatly improve your time. You use the shoe. Wow! They work! But there’s a side effect. Every time you run in them your feet hurt and you have to soak them. By the time you are 60 years old, you have to use a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Many teens today are willing to use these shoes.

Many kids are starting to use performance-enhancing drugs. One reason for this is that bounties of sport stars are role models for children. When kids see their hero using steroids, it gives them the “OK” to follow suit. Sports are a huge aspect of American culture. Many kids want to be professional athletes.

Kids see steroids as another product that will make them better — like Gatorade. There are so many sports drinks that claim to increase your performance and give you that edge against your opponent. You drink these drinks because professional athletes swear by them. Some kids will take steroids for the same reason.

Like any other drug, steroid misuse has a plethora of negative side effects. There is risk of heart problems, liver damage, cancer, premature growth impairments and even death. However, too many kids just think about what steroids can do for them now and don’t think about the future. Teens are pressured to become the best at any means necessary. When their heroes do it, it’s justified in their minds.

Steroid education needs to be more widespread around the U.S. so that teens and young adults can see the long-term negatives. Education will give the younger generation the chance to make an informed decision instead of just being influenced by the mass media and their heroes."