Five down, one to go.
The German cycling federation announced Stefan Schumacher was among those caught. No surprise, because he tested positive for CERA in samples taken during the Tour de France, when he won two time trial stages.
Croation 800 meter runner Vanja Persic also is on the list, a source confirmed. Persic did not advance past the first round in Beijing.
And Greek race walker Athania Tsoumeleka had admitted four months ago she was a CERA positive from Beijing, where she was 9th in the 20k race walk. Tsoumeleka had won that event in the 2004 Olympics. She already was banned by the international track federation after being caught in its retest program.
The International Olympic Committee said six athletes were caught in its Beijing testing. Gold medalist Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain (1,500 meters) and cycling silver medalist Davide Rebellin of Italy (road race) also are known to be among them.
According to the Associated Press, Rebellin told Italian TV the result was ``a mistake.''
By Philip Hersh
torsdag 30 april 2009
måndag 27 april 2009
Doping in Sports Headlines
American Lance Armstrong has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) over a random test conducted last month, the AFLD said in a statement.
"The AFLD has decided to take into account the athlete's written explanations and, consequently, not to open a disciplinary action against him," the statement read.
German cyclists Andreas Kloeden and Matthias Kessler have been implicated in illegal blood transfusions, according to a report in Der Spiegel news magazine, which cites the findings of an independent commission investigating doping.
The commission spent two years looking into doping allegations against two doctors, who allegedly put into place at Freiburg University Clinic a systematic doping system between 1995 and 2006 for the former Team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile.
Hans Joachim Schaefer, a lawyer who heads the commission, declined to comment Sunday.
"I have sworn to myself that I won't say a word," he said.
Kloeden now rides for Astana and has always denied doping. Kessler is serving a doping ban.
Australian swimmers have welcomed the decision to allow D'Arcy to return to competitive swimming after the world championships in Rome in July.
"I am pleased that I can now focus on my swimming training without any further uncertainty and am looking forward to making my return to competitive swimming at the Australian short course championships," D'Arcy said.
A new study has found that people with conduct disorder, body image disorder, or both are more prone to become dependent on anabolic steroids, according to Harrison G. Pope ’69, a Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study. Conduct disorder is the juvenile version of antisocial disorder, and body image disorder is an unhealthy obsession with the size and appearance of one’s body. These two factors were found by interviewing and examining the medical histories of 134 weight lifters, who were categorized into three groups—non-steroid users, steroid users with no dependence, and steroid users that had developed dependence.
Marion Jones talks of her fall and 'new beginning'
Jones, 33, and pregnant with her third child, was relaxed and upbeat throughout the session, part of the center's Race and Sports Lecture Series. As difficult as her prison experience was, she said, it also was, in an odd way, liberating.
"People realize I messed up," she said. "I stood up to it. I took what came because of it and now I'm certainly not hiding in a case somewhere. I'm not a hermit. But I certainly don't plan to do a tell-all that's going to rip people up like you see some athletes do. That's not the message I want to share. That's not the message I want to be remembered by.
"My message is positive. Yes, mistakes were made. But how can those mistakes help you?"
"The AFLD has decided to take into account the athlete's written explanations and, consequently, not to open a disciplinary action against him," the statement read.
German cyclists Andreas Kloeden and Matthias Kessler have been implicated in illegal blood transfusions, according to a report in Der Spiegel news magazine, which cites the findings of an independent commission investigating doping.
The commission spent two years looking into doping allegations against two doctors, who allegedly put into place at Freiburg University Clinic a systematic doping system between 1995 and 2006 for the former Team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile.
Hans Joachim Schaefer, a lawyer who heads the commission, declined to comment Sunday.
"I have sworn to myself that I won't say a word," he said.
Kloeden now rides for Astana and has always denied doping. Kessler is serving a doping ban.
Australian swimmers have welcomed the decision to allow D'Arcy to return to competitive swimming after the world championships in Rome in July.
"I am pleased that I can now focus on my swimming training without any further uncertainty and am looking forward to making my return to competitive swimming at the Australian short course championships," D'Arcy said.
A new study has found that people with conduct disorder, body image disorder, or both are more prone to become dependent on anabolic steroids, according to Harrison G. Pope ’69, a Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study. Conduct disorder is the juvenile version of antisocial disorder, and body image disorder is an unhealthy obsession with the size and appearance of one’s body. These two factors were found by interviewing and examining the medical histories of 134 weight lifters, who were categorized into three groups—non-steroid users, steroid users with no dependence, and steroid users that had developed dependence.
Marion Jones talks of her fall and 'new beginning'
Jones, 33, and pregnant with her third child, was relaxed and upbeat throughout the session, part of the center's Race and Sports Lecture Series. As difficult as her prison experience was, she said, it also was, in an odd way, liberating.
"People realize I messed up," she said. "I stood up to it. I took what came because of it and now I'm certainly not hiding in a case somewhere. I'm not a hermit. But I certainly don't plan to do a tell-all that's going to rip people up like you see some athletes do. That's not the message I want to share. That's not the message I want to be remembered by.
"My message is positive. Yes, mistakes were made. But how can those mistakes help you?"
torsdag 23 april 2009
The Trouble With Telling Tales At School
Well, here's a tale of woe from Italy that does not involve suits of the kind you wear. In short, Loris Facci, the breaststroker who touched first at European championships in 2006 but was disqualified, was invited to chat about swimming to some school kids; he did so, and in so doing mentioned the fact that he had once, a while back, been approached with an offer of doping to enhance his performance; he said "no". Good for him. Good lesson for the kids.
The story was reported by Gazzetta dello Sport. Good for them. A lesson for kids everywhere, in the public domain. Which is when the anti-doping prosecutor from CONI, the Olympic committee for Italy, stepped in and asked Facci to attend a hearing and deliver the name of the drug pusher. Which is where Facci lost the plot. Perhaps it was fear. Perhaps there's a swimming mafia out there ready to roll over Facci if he breathes a word. Perhaps not. Perhaps it was all something of his own invention. Perhaps Facci had no idea who the alleged pusher was. Who knows. We're unlikely ever to know who knows what and what really happened and who was there when Facci was allegedly offered doping.
Facci had no intention of naming anyone. He blamed the media: he had said what he said purely to deliver an ethical message to the kids. He had no name to give. A legal case was mounted against him.
Time to stand and be counted. Facci didn't want to be counted, said he had no proof, no name, and, lucky for him, the case was closed in Rome yesterday. The file was handed to FIN, the Italian federation, which will now decide whether Facci can race at a meet next month that will count to making it to a home world championships in Rome this summer.
The federation is likely to do nothing but let Facci swim (how could it not, especially given the events of 2000, when nothing was done about something far more serious, the case of CONI and the HGH count, a case that also got dropped in time, not before certain athletes were named, we recall).
Selectors may well be hoping, however, that the breaststroke specialist misses the grade for Rome, given his slippery grasp on things. Imagine the scene in the shiny new suit-checking ready room in morning heats:
Official: "Sorry, you're going to have to leave".
Swimmer: "Why? What's up?"
Official: "You can't swim in a jacket".
Swimmer: "Coach said I have to."
Coach, at the door: "No Loris, No! I said Jaked!".
(Yes, I know - he'd be speaking Italian ... ).
Craig Lord, Apr 22, 2009
The story was reported by Gazzetta dello Sport. Good for them. A lesson for kids everywhere, in the public domain. Which is when the anti-doping prosecutor from CONI, the Olympic committee for Italy, stepped in and asked Facci to attend a hearing and deliver the name of the drug pusher. Which is where Facci lost the plot. Perhaps it was fear. Perhaps there's a swimming mafia out there ready to roll over Facci if he breathes a word. Perhaps not. Perhaps it was all something of his own invention. Perhaps Facci had no idea who the alleged pusher was. Who knows. We're unlikely ever to know who knows what and what really happened and who was there when Facci was allegedly offered doping.
Facci had no intention of naming anyone. He blamed the media: he had said what he said purely to deliver an ethical message to the kids. He had no name to give. A legal case was mounted against him.
Time to stand and be counted. Facci didn't want to be counted, said he had no proof, no name, and, lucky for him, the case was closed in Rome yesterday. The file was handed to FIN, the Italian federation, which will now decide whether Facci can race at a meet next month that will count to making it to a home world championships in Rome this summer.
The federation is likely to do nothing but let Facci swim (how could it not, especially given the events of 2000, when nothing was done about something far more serious, the case of CONI and the HGH count, a case that also got dropped in time, not before certain athletes were named, we recall).
Selectors may well be hoping, however, that the breaststroke specialist misses the grade for Rome, given his slippery grasp on things. Imagine the scene in the shiny new suit-checking ready room in morning heats:
Official: "Sorry, you're going to have to leave".
Swimmer: "Why? What's up?"
Official: "You can't swim in a jacket".
Swimmer: "Coach said I have to."
Coach, at the door: "No Loris, No! I said Jaked!".
(Yes, I know - he'd be speaking Italian ... ).
Craig Lord, Apr 22, 2009
onsdag 22 april 2009
Spain passes decree to prevent night-time doping controls
Madrid - Spain's government has approved a royal decree allowing the nation's athletes to refuse anti-doping controls in the country between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. The decree also applies to foreign athletes training in Spain or resident in the country, El Pais daily reported Tuesday. The ruling is in contravention of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code which stipulates that athletes must in principle be available for doping controls 24 hours a day. The Spanish decree, which is expected to come into effect in a few weeks' time, will apply to all controls, whether ordered by a national sports federation or an international body.
Any sportsman or sportswoman would be entitled to refuse to be tested during the night hours without fear of being subject to possible sanctions, according to the decree. The ruling has followed complaints by several leading athletes that the new WADA code is too restrictive. Spain's Rafael Nadal, the world's top-ranked men's tennis player, said earlier this year the rule forcing sportsmen and women to say where they are going to be for an hour each day, 365 days a year "shows a lack of respect for privacy."
The WADA code says athletes identified by their international federations should inform the organization of their daily whereabouts every three months. If a sportsperson cannot be found where they said they would be three times in an 18-month period, he or she is considered to have violated anti-doping regulations and is liable for sanctions. WADA and football's world governing body FIFA earlier this month reached agreement in a dispute over drug testing rules for top footballers.
The agreement will limit the number of players in football and other team sports who will be required to detail their whereabouts every day during the off-season. The controls will now focus on testing players defined as "at risk" - such as those recovering from injury or who previously used a banned substance.
Posted on : 2009-04-21 | Author : DPA
News Category : Sports
Any sportsman or sportswoman would be entitled to refuse to be tested during the night hours without fear of being subject to possible sanctions, according to the decree. The ruling has followed complaints by several leading athletes that the new WADA code is too restrictive. Spain's Rafael Nadal, the world's top-ranked men's tennis player, said earlier this year the rule forcing sportsmen and women to say where they are going to be for an hour each day, 365 days a year "shows a lack of respect for privacy."
The WADA code says athletes identified by their international federations should inform the organization of their daily whereabouts every three months. If a sportsperson cannot be found where they said they would be three times in an 18-month period, he or she is considered to have violated anti-doping regulations and is liable for sanctions. WADA and football's world governing body FIFA earlier this month reached agreement in a dispute over drug testing rules for top footballers.
The agreement will limit the number of players in football and other team sports who will be required to detail their whereabouts every day during the off-season. The controls will now focus on testing players defined as "at risk" - such as those recovering from injury or who previously used a banned substance.
Posted on : 2009-04-21 | Author : DPA
News Category : Sports
måndag 20 april 2009
Ebba Nyberg är tillbaka efter två års dopningsavstängning:
”Fysiskt håller jag. Mentalt vet jag inte”. Elitsimmaren Ebba Nyberg åt kosttillskott och fick i sig ett otillåtet ämne. Straffet: Två års avstängning för dopning. Nu har hon gjort comeback.
– För mig har det varit en personlig katastrof. Men det har fört något gott med sig, säger Nyberg, som siktar på att ta sig tillbaka till toppen.
Ebba Nyberg har vunnit betydligt viktigare tävlingar än Mora Cup för några veckor sedan. Men den 26-åriga stockholmaren har aldrig haft så stora känslor efter ett lopp.
– När det var över kändes det mest skönt. Det har hänt så mycket de senaste ett och ett halvt åren, säger Nyberg.
Comebacken var ett nytt kapitel i den långa följetongen som tog fart i december 2006.Det var då hon åkte fast för dopning. Hennes prov visade spår av det förbjudna ämnet androstriendion.
Neptunsimmaren – som bara några dagar efter testet var med och satte nytt svenskt rekord på 4x50 m medley – hävdade att hon måste ha fått i sig substansen genom ett kosttillskott. Simförbundet dömde henne till sex månaders avstängning, som förlängdes till två år av Riksidrottsnämnden (RIN).
Fallet fick stor uppmärksamhet eftersom det var första gången en svensk simmare åkte fast för dopning.
– För mig var det en personlig katastrof att bli avstängd. Jag fick inte göra det jag tycker mest om. Det blev ett stort tomrum och jag bytte liv helt – utbildade mig till kostrådgivare och personlig tränare.
Ebba Nyberg började också att hålla föreläsningar hos idrottsklubbar om riskerna med kosttillskott. Budskapet: Gör inte om mitt misstag.
– Det finns alldeles för lite information om vad som är tillåtet och inte. Jag kände en stor maktlöshet, säger Nyberg, som inte noterat någon tydlig attitydförändring till kosttillskott bland simmarna.
– Uppmärksamheten runt mig varade i för kort tid för att det skulle påverka. Jag har sett folk som har fortsatt att äta kosttillskott och det blir jag chockad över. Det är jättetråkigt. Redan när avstängningen kom bestämde Ebba Nyberg att den inte skulle innebära slutet för hennes simkarriär. Hon fick inte träna med sin klubb, utan åkte runt bland olika simhallar i Stockholmsområdet.
Inför comebacken tränade hon upp till 15 pass i veckan.
– Jag vill inte sätta för stor press på mig själv, men jag hoppas kunna komma upp på elitnivå igen. Mitt första mål är SM i sommar. Fysiskt är det ingen tvekan om att jag håller. Om jag orkar mentalt är en annan sak.
Hur har reaktionerna varit över att du är tillbaka?– Jättebra. Jag har haft bra kontakt med flera av mina gamla tränare. Många blev chockade när jag sade att jag skulle fortsätta, men de har bara uppmuntrat mig. Jag har aldrig känt mig som en fuskare och de som känner mig vet att jag aldrig skulle dopa mig.
Petter Nilsson
Publicerat i DN Sport 20090420 10:04
– För mig har det varit en personlig katastrof. Men det har fört något gott med sig, säger Nyberg, som siktar på att ta sig tillbaka till toppen.
Ebba Nyberg har vunnit betydligt viktigare tävlingar än Mora Cup för några veckor sedan. Men den 26-åriga stockholmaren har aldrig haft så stora känslor efter ett lopp.
– När det var över kändes det mest skönt. Det har hänt så mycket de senaste ett och ett halvt åren, säger Nyberg.
Comebacken var ett nytt kapitel i den långa följetongen som tog fart i december 2006.Det var då hon åkte fast för dopning. Hennes prov visade spår av det förbjudna ämnet androstriendion.
Neptunsimmaren – som bara några dagar efter testet var med och satte nytt svenskt rekord på 4x50 m medley – hävdade att hon måste ha fått i sig substansen genom ett kosttillskott. Simförbundet dömde henne till sex månaders avstängning, som förlängdes till två år av Riksidrottsnämnden (RIN).
Fallet fick stor uppmärksamhet eftersom det var första gången en svensk simmare åkte fast för dopning.
– För mig var det en personlig katastrof att bli avstängd. Jag fick inte göra det jag tycker mest om. Det blev ett stort tomrum och jag bytte liv helt – utbildade mig till kostrådgivare och personlig tränare.
Ebba Nyberg började också att hålla föreläsningar hos idrottsklubbar om riskerna med kosttillskott. Budskapet: Gör inte om mitt misstag.
– Det finns alldeles för lite information om vad som är tillåtet och inte. Jag kände en stor maktlöshet, säger Nyberg, som inte noterat någon tydlig attitydförändring till kosttillskott bland simmarna.
– Uppmärksamheten runt mig varade i för kort tid för att det skulle påverka. Jag har sett folk som har fortsatt att äta kosttillskott och det blir jag chockad över. Det är jättetråkigt. Redan när avstängningen kom bestämde Ebba Nyberg att den inte skulle innebära slutet för hennes simkarriär. Hon fick inte träna med sin klubb, utan åkte runt bland olika simhallar i Stockholmsområdet.
Inför comebacken tränade hon upp till 15 pass i veckan.
– Jag vill inte sätta för stor press på mig själv, men jag hoppas kunna komma upp på elitnivå igen. Mitt första mål är SM i sommar. Fysiskt är det ingen tvekan om att jag håller. Om jag orkar mentalt är en annan sak.
Hur har reaktionerna varit över att du är tillbaka?– Jättebra. Jag har haft bra kontakt med flera av mina gamla tränare. Många blev chockade när jag sade att jag skulle fortsätta, men de har bara uppmuntrat mig. Jag har aldrig känt mig som en fuskare och de som känner mig vet att jag aldrig skulle dopa mig.
Petter Nilsson
Publicerat i DN Sport 20090420 10:04
Hamilton retires from cycling after positive test
Olympic champion Tyler Hamilton, once touted as the next great American cyclist and an heir to Lance Armstrong's throne atop the sport, ended his doping-tarnished career Friday by saying he tested positive for a banned substance and would retire.
Hamilton admitted taking an herbal product for two days in February to combat depression, knowing it included a steroid.
"There's nothing to fight about," the 38-year-old Hamilton told The Associated Press. "I took a banned substance. I accept the consequences. You make mistakes in your life and I accept the penalty like a man."
Hamilton will likely receive a ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that may range from eight years to life, a sentence that would have ended his racing days anyway.
"He has had a cloud over his career for a while now and the sport is better off without him," said Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union.
Hamilton's win at the 2004 Athens Games was overshadowed by a blood doping scandal. He tested positive for doping a second time later that year, served a two-year suspension and returned to racing early in 2007 — never revealing that he was fighting depression, which he said runs in his family. Going through a divorce and seeing his mother fight breast cancer made things worse in recent months, Hamilton said. Seeking relief, he took something called Mitamins Advanced Formula, billed as a "natural depression treatment with vitamins, herbs and supplements."
"Obviously, that was a mistake," Hamilton said.
In a statement, USADA said it will continue going through the process of issuing a sanction. "Although Mr. Hamilton has now retired from the sport of cycling and has publicly accepted responsibility, this is a pending matter and USADA will make an announcement of the final outcome and imposition of the exact sanction in accordance with the rules when the process is complete, which should be in the coming months," the statement said. The Mitamins product contains common things such as vitamins D, B-6 and B-12, along with thiamin, riboflavin and calcium. Each serving also contains 20 milligrams of a steroid called Dehydroepiandrosterone — DHEA, as it's known.
"Clinical research has suggested that taking DHEA orally might improve the symptoms of depression," reads the company's Web site.
Hamilton said the amount of the steroid found in his system was "so, so low" and that subsequent tests, including ones later that same week before the Tour of California, all came back negative.
"I took it to help my mental state," Hamilton said. "I did not, 100 percent, take it for any performance enhancement."
Hamilton said he was taking a prescription antidepressant called Celexa, and was feeling so badly a few months ago that he decided to double up on the dosage. After seeing no significant change in his mental state, Hamilton stopped taking the drug entirely.
He tried the Mitamins product, he said, on Feb. 6 and 7. USADA testers knocked on his door the next day.
"I was thinking everything would be fine," Hamilton said. "It might sound a little crazy, but I wasn't really worried. I wasn't really stressing about it. Maybe it's because of everything else I was going through. I don't know why."
About five weeks later, he learned everything was not fine.
Citing bronchitis, Hamilton did not ride in the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon in Spain — the race where Armstrong fell and broke his collarbone. And he was expected to be the leader of Rock Racing's team for a race in Portugal earlier this month, but was replaced on the roster shortly before that event.
At the time, few knew why.
"This is, for me personally, a really tough day," said Rock Racing owner Michael Ball. "My personality is to always fight for what I feel is right."
Others around Hamilton also encouraged him to fight the latest positive test. Hamilton's attorney, Chris Manderson, said they were mapping "several different strategies" including one to file a federal suit against USADA over the testing.
"Tyler has decided he does not want to pursue that route," Manderson said. "He wants to focus on the reasons why he did what he did and he wants to focus on getting better and getting on with his life."
Hamilton won the road time trial at the Athens Olympics, capping one of the finest days USA Cycling had known.
Americans won three medals that day on a road along the Saronic Gulf, with Hamilton's gold and Bobby Julich taking the bronze in the time trial and Dede Barry winning silver in the women's time trial.
Soon after, Hamilton's first positive test for blood doping came back, but he was ultimately allowed to keep the gold medal because his 'B' sample collected in Athens could not be properly tested. A month later, he tested positive again.
Hamilton has long denied participating in blood doping, the transfusion of extra blood that can increase endurance because more red blood cells are available to deliver oxygen to muscles.
For this latest positive test, he denied nothing.
"I knew it was banned," Hamilton said.
Hamilton briefly considered himself retired last year, then returned to compete in several races, plus won USA Cycling's road race national championship by less than one one-hundreth of a second.
He doesn't know what he'll do next, other than focusing on his health and family.
"This isn't about a test. It's a bigger issue," Hamilton said. "It's a disease that I'm going through, that my family has gone through, that I need to take care of. Cycling is just a sport, racing your bike from Point A to Point B. What I'm going through is so much bigger."
By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer
Friday, April 17, 2009
Photo: Associated Press
torsdag 16 april 2009
"Som att läsa på toaletten, ungefär..."
Visst är stadier i livet ibland oerhört markant och visst kan förehavanden ibland förvåna dig själv. Ta bara detta med att läsa på toaletten. Detta för mig en oerhört absurd aktivitet när min ambition i detta rum alltid varit att gå in, göra det nödvändiga och sen get out. Så visst blev jag lite tagen på säng för en stund sedan då jag plötsligt satt där och mitt högra öga fick syn på en intressant headline: Prudhomme Exclusive: "Cycling is winning the war on doping". Helt klart fjolårets upplaga av en förlegad och förläst Procycling magazine min make "glömt" kvar men skadan var skedd. "Anyone cheating now is a dead man walking". Jag var fast. Flera minuter går, ja säkert 5! men fångad av Tour bossen Christian Prudhommes tankar och övertygelse om cykelsportens numera renhet hindrar mig att "gå vidare". Det känns riktigt bekvämt faktiskt. Frågan gäller Tour 2008. "There's a fundamental diffrence this year. I'm convinced of that, for the first time, cykling is going to get thorugh this. Why? Because the French Anti-doping Agency's testwork. And I am not saying that because they're a French organisation, but because they're independant". Och visst har han rätt, Prudhomme. Man bör kunna lita på en oberoende organisation. En försäkring för neutral hantering. Men, vi glömmer lätt de rigorösa krav och utbildningar som krävs för regelrätt hantering och utförande av dopingtester. Vem är ansvarig för att denna kunskap finns? Hos kontrollant och hos Chaperones. Här måste tid och resurser läggas. "Yes, there are people that cheats, as there are in every walk of life, but in cycling we now have the means to eliminate them"... ja, om det ändå vore så enkelt. Kombinationer av tradition och kultur, känsla och kunskap kvarstår och oberoende av sitt oberoende krävs alla dessa komponenter. Visst har cykelvärlden kommit långt och vi kan inte annat än beundra och ha enorm respekt för det antidopingarbete som görs i sporten. Men, det är som en en blick till höger och ett förehavande man aldrig förespråkat eller trott man skulle göra. Man plockar upp och man är fast. - Som att läsa på toaletten, ungefär...Photo: Christian Prudhomme
Getty Images
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