Run-Down Forums

[Dan]

Whoa, 7:53.17 for Boulami!

http://waprod2.bluewin.ch/hc_cust1/results/re0290040.html

That's smokin!!

Dan

[Dan]

And of course, the perfect opportunity for the sport to give itself another black eye...

http://sportserver.com/track_field/story/515426p-4092862c.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/2223142.stm

As I recall, Boulami was one of the somewhat suspcious drop-offs at the Edmonton WC last year when the EPO tests were introduced.

Dan

[Conway]

Well .. Not sure what else there is to say ... As long as we test this is a potential outcome !!! I just don't see what is being solved and hate the fact that the sport continues to boe its own worst enemy ...

Conway

[Distance_Guru]

He could always volunteer to have his blood frozen.

Just for the record this subject is so befuddling that I'm not sure exactly how sarcastic I was being when I made that statement
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Conway]

Befuddl9ing or revolting ??? I think people understand it .. I just think people are becoming sick of it ... Or is that from it ?? Never quite sure ..

Conway

[Distance_Guru]

Sick from it, sick of it, it's all the same. All these rumors flying heedlessly around every time an athletes does anything of note is crap. It's horrible for the sport and the reputations of the athletes in it. I just wish the IAAF would make up it's mind to either really crack down (which for all we know it could be doing now and nobody believes it) or they need to stop testing (a thought that is absolutly repulsesive, but at least it would quite the issue, after a firestorm of contriversy intially anyway).
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Conway]

well here's my 2 cents, for what its worth ... At this point things are so screwed up that the IAAF is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't (crack down that is) ...

If it doesn't you get the sporadic positives that we now have ... And as you stated all that does is cause rumors to fly whenever anyone has a performance thta is "out of the ordinary" !!! These rumors hurt the sport and keep a cloud forever hanging over it ...

If it does you face the prospect of this old saying - Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it !!! As in you crack down, run awesome tests, and bust everyone who is "illegal" ... Now the question is, what does that mean ??

For example, you might know that there have been rumors all year long about the US covering up positive test results .. Reason being - several were from prominent athletes - Olympians / medallists ... (and I have been told by a foreign athltes with close ties to their national federation that this is known to be true throughout the world) ... Now the reason for not disclosing if this is indeed true ???? All one has ot do is remember the BEn Johnson case ... Multiply that times half a dozen or more and what do you get ??? YOu get what baseball is curently facing if it goes on strike - a sport suddenly devoid of any credibility !!! You don't just shoot yourself in the foot - you shoot it off ...

The raminfications would be severe and harsh ... So by doing nothign for so long all we have now is a terrible situation ... And I am not sure that there is any easy way out at this point ...

Conway

[Distance_Guru]

I'd just like to see a quick crack down. I know that could mean many prominent athletes being suspended or even banned. But I think that there are enough Raddcliffe's (clean athletes) out there that the sport would not become completely devoid of star's and good performances. And with the crack down you would get an increase in crdibility that in the long run would be good for the sport.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

Is this a hypothetical situation, assuming they could catch all the users? I've yet to see anyone put to rest the issue of the [presumably] most effective drugs being undetectable... The heads of testing labs and what not themselves admit they are always several steps behind. Until that is addressed, the rest is all academic.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

You're right (oooaach I think I just pulled something ) Still I have been under the impression, at least from the group of people that insist that drugs are rampant and that there is little done about them, that there are athletes that refuse tests and that posititve results are ignored or covered up all the time. If the IAAF would simply really crack down using the tests that they have it would go a long way towards cleaning up the sport.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

Well, they probably would catch a lot of users, but I disagree that would accomplish anything in terms of cleaning up the sport. It would most likely just further widen the "level playing field" gap, as those who could afford to to so would continue to slip through the cracks.

Dan

[Micah Ward]

It is unfortunate that we even have to address the drug usage problem but, this is the real world after all. This is the third thread we have going right now where we are talking about it. I think, as some others have pointed out on the Radcliffe thread, that it is an absolute shame that the drug question is raised with almost every break through performance. I believe our response to the drug question in sports is just a mirror of the overall response of society to drug usage in general. Some of us are fighting it...others are trying to legalize it...some scream punishment while others scream just as loud for treatment and in the end the users just keep on using and the law of supply and demand creates sellers.

Pardon me now while I go bang my head against the wall.
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[Conway]

Actually Micah I think we are talkling about two totally different items - both of which just happen to ccarry the tag of "drug" ...

In society we are dealing with recreational drug use with drugs that carry lethal potential ... Use of these drugs can lead directlly to death !!! Also the use of these drugs is often initiated by those whose only intent is to make a buck off of the death and devastation of others ... Many individual drug users are unwittingly drawn in to addiction !!! Here we have entrapment of individuals for the personal gain of others ...

In sports we are dealing with "over the top" physical supplements ... Many of which are exacerbated forms of materials already in existence within the human body ... Their use is voluntary and for the express benefit of the user ... Any harm that is done to the individual is created over the long term usage of the "drug" ... Any death that occurs is secondary to its usage and is the result not of the drug itself but of changes within the body caused by the usage of the drug ...

These are two different battles ... If indeed they are battles to be fought ... Now quite obviously I think example A is a battle that needs to be fought ... Innocent people and lives are at stake ... Generations of individuals have been lost ... I'm not sure if there should be a battle B ... I have yet to have anyone convince me ...

Which gets me back to Dan and DG's conversation ... With respect to the IAAF and its current testing policy, can anyone tell me what the plan/goal is ??? Take Boulami ... He is caught ... And lets say, banned for two years ... What has that accomplished ??? And where does that fit in the "grand scheme of things" ??? If there is a goal and we are moving towards it, that is one thing ... If not, the whya re we doing it ??

Conway

[Micah Ward]

I wasn't trying to compare the specifics of recreational and performance enhancing drugs. The point I was trying to make is that they both have rules and laws prohibiting them and in both instances there are debates on both sides about the wisdom of those prohibitions and the enforcement of those prohibitions.

I think you have an excellent point on the question of how to deal with the performance enhancing substances. The governing bodies have to ask: What is the strategy? What are the reasons for that strategy? And, how do you impliment that strategy?
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[Conway]