Last night there was an interesting segment on Olympic doping and what athletes go through to insure that they’re clean but more importantly, that the ones that aren’t, get caught. Unfortunately, the testing only catches about 1/4 of 1 percent of the athletes and most of the results are for the use of marijuana, not enhancement drugs.
That would seem a worthless use of time, energy and money but the USADA doesn’t see it that way because as they say, “you can’t calculate the deterrent factor.” Athletes that might be tempted to cheat won’t because they fear getting caught, is definitely something to consider. However, when an entire life is spent trying to obtain a medal that can be lost by less than 1/10th of a second, there will always be those that succumb to the pressure to win, at all costs.
These athletes are not alone out there, they have entire teams of physicians, agents, coaches, all trying to make their athlete the winner. Therefore, they can find those “evil chemists,” that the USADA abhors, and help the athletes willing to cheat, with ways of hiding the use of enhancement drugs.
As I watched the segment, they showed how over 3,000 athletes from around the country are required to notify the USADA of their every move and I do mean, their EVERY move. They are subjected to random test which means that if they run out for a gallon of milk and aren’t there when the doper police show up, then they are given one strike and 3 strikes can get you suspended, from your sport.
As they showed the Houston Marathon begin, the interest was not on the athletes but on the USADA shacklers. They actually have a term for the person that is waiting at the finish line, for a particular athlete. The tape is broken, the athlete who’s bending over in triumph and exhaustion is met with their shackler, the person that will be shackled to their side, until such time as the athlete can work up a large cupful of urine.
This takes hours, remember these athletes just ran a freaking marathon, urinating for them is next to impossible, so they immediately start downing bottles of water, each chosen only by them, as well. The shacklers are their shadows and literally never leave their side until the urine is gathered. Even then, they actually watch the delivery being made, which is then capped off and carried by the athlete, where they themselves are required to sit down and begin their own science project. It took one athlete longer to work up her cupful of urine, than it did for her to run the marathon. Talk about anti-climactic.
Another athlete lost his chance at the last winter Olympics and not because he cheated but because he wasn’t vigilant on keeping up with the drugs that were banned. Evidently this athlete’s vanity got the best of him. He was using Propecia, the hair growth drug, which he declared the use of, each year to the USADA. This guy was on the up and up but he failed to make sure that Propecia was still an accepted drug. The USADA banned the drug because it was thought that it was being used to cover up the use of enhancement drugs and he failed to realize that. He tested positive and that result cost him his change in the 2006 winter Olympics. His opening ceremony clothing was lying on his bed, ready for him to step into, when the call came notifying him that he was no longer eligible, to compete. Propecia was taken off the banned substance list 2 years later because there was no evidence that it could hide the use of enhancement drugs. He is competing in this year’s winter Olympics but instead of being in first place, he’s thirteenth, overall.
Nothing angers me more than cheaters, especially in the Olympics. You can’t watch sports in America without there being a brewing drug scandal behind it. All those miraculous feats turn to nothing more than cheats and all because the athlete in question, didn’t just want to win, but wanted to be the only winner. It wasn’t enough that they were already professional athletes, a goal in itself that is hard to achieve.
Olympic hopefuls are tested enough on the path to their Olympic dreams, without adding the temptation to win, through cheating. I don’t know what the answer is but standing on the winner’s block can’t possible taste sweet when the bitter taste of drugs, is still fresh on your tongue.
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