6 Olympic athletes test positive for drug abuse

[sephodwyrm]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olym...es/8024828.stm

Was actually expecting more Chinese names there (as of now: zero).
Chinese are all cheaters?
Put this in retrospect. Every nation would have their own cheats if they think they can get away with it.

[Gaidin]

Wait how did they not find the drug in initial testing?

Anybody here know biochemistry?

[bushbush]

Wait how did they not find the drug in initial testing?

Anybody here know biochemistry?

drugs are getting more and more advanced i think. So new lab tests are created from time to time to counter these. That's why samples are preserved for re-test later to see if cheaters are using these previously undetectable new drugs.

from the article:
"BOA chairman Colin Moynihan gave his support to the policy of re-analysing samples when new lab tests become available."

[Faramir D'Andunie]

With the amount of money involved in sports these days (sponsorship, advertising etc...) it is no wonder so much drugs and chemical solutions are beeing employed.

More and more I come to believe that it is not if someone is cheating with the use of such "methods" or not, but if they can be traced by current blood/urine tests before the games.

[Erik]

Wait how did they not find the drug in initial testing?

They were all positive for CERA, which is a very new EPO variant that is very hard to detect.
There wasn't a reliable test for CERA yet during the Olympic games. - which is why many athletes chose to use this instead of the older EPO variants.

Every nation would have their own cheats if they think they can get away with it.

I really don't think so.
It's one thing for individual athletes to cheat for their own glory, it's another for governments to care so much for their "national pride" that they would want that.
Especially smaller countries really don't care.

For further evidence: most countries don't even support/sponsor their Olympic athletes financially.

With the amount of money involved in sports these days (sponsorship, advertising etc...) it is no wonder so much drugs and chemical solutions are beeing employed.

Yeah, lots of money involved in the sport of racewalking.

[NLegari]

It is sad to see athletes use drugs, more so for Olympic athletes.

[Visna]

Meh, who cares? Let them all be drugged and compete on equal terms...

[sephodwyrm]

Meh, who cares? Let them all be drugged

Some drugs do damage your body's ability to maintain and repair itself. If we do so want to test a drug's ability to enhance physical performance we can have another competition aptly named. The Olympics is focused on fair competition and the human spirit.

[Visna]

Some drugs do damage your body's ability to maintain and repair itself. If we do so want to test a drug's ability to enhance physical performance we can have another competition aptly named. The Olympics is focused on fair competition and the human spirit.

Yeah, that's nice. But sports hasn't been so for ages. If there is an advantage to be gained with little risk of being caught, I doubt athletes give much thought on "fair competetion and the human spirit".
Their spirit is to win and it would be fair competetion if all were drugged. That way we can test both the skill and acumen of the individual athlete and marvel at the magnificence of our pharmaceutical companies.

[Chlodwig I.]

The Olympics is focused on fair competition and the human spirit.

It would be nice if you would be right

but Olympic Games and any other World or Nation wied professional sport event is focused on $
everyone in professional sport is useing some kind of drugs.
For everyone they catch there are 9 others they don't catch.

[Nouvelle Vague]

Apparently that particular drug came out like a week before the games. But now they're testing samples for years, as technology advances. Pretty clever.

[sephodwyrm]

Especially smaller countries really don't care.

Both Taiwan and Singapore promised a wad of paper money for medalists. Not that they won that many. But yeah, maybe espousing this as a national construct is problematic.

[Admiral Piett]

Meh, athletes are always going to attempt to push their bodies further than they're physical constraints. The film The Wrestler portrayed this very well.

[Каие]

I'll be honest. I'm struggling to see the political relevance of this.

[sephodwyrm]

I'll be honest. I'm struggling to see the political relevance of this.

Imagine if they catch a Chinese athlete for abusing drugs. All these "defenses" quoted so far in this thread would be gone and replaced by something along the lines of: Da Chi-neez are evilz.

Once again, my social experiment has provided a few results. People would only care about Chinese cheaters.

[Yorkshireman]

Imagine if they catch a Chinese athlete for abusing drugs. All these "defenses" quoted so far in this thread would be gone and replaced by something along the lines of: Da Chi-neez are evilz.

Why? You'd be hard pressed to find a single nation that competes in the Olympics that has'nt had drug cheats in the team. They're all at it.

[Chukada1]

The Chinese aren't responsible, so I don't care.

Non-Chinese are allowed to use drugs, because the Chi-coms send death threats when they were in Beijing. Its true, I heard it from some guy, somewhere who happens to be Chinese.

[Каие]

I just think it belongs in the sport forum. Just because they are Chinese or not, it doesn't make it political. Otherwise every thread ever will be political as everyone has a nationality, and someone will always have an opinion on that nationality.

[sephodwyrm]

Just because they are Chinese or not, it doesn't make it political.

Once there's a Chinese name on there, it would become political and a mudsling fest. I'm waiting for that moment.

PS - you should get used to the member status like I am.

[Каие]

PS - you should get used to the member status like I am.

Huh?