Connecting the dots..... On doping

[im_no_pro]

linky

Blog from Vaughters on doping by association. Getting big wraps from a lot of people in the cycling world on twitter, and deservedly so IMO. An entirely valid point and pretty big of him to admit his own assumptions. Well worth a quick read.

[MichaelB]

Really well written, and quite well put to highlight how wrong he was.

Lets hope that he's a target for Garmin-Cervelo next year then !!!

[AUbicycles]

Thanks for the link. A good read and a good reference for all of us here in the forums. Many of us are the anonymous 'talkers' here and it is spot on that some of the chat is unfair and unqualified. While it is a discussion forum for all, doping is a serious problem in cycling and we need to be aware that regardless of the efficiency of anti-doping and the penalties, if we play our part to drag it on then it affects the clean riders and the sport as a whole.

Very hard to regulate. For a while we aimed to retain a single thread. Does the article send a message to us to make changes or take actio? Can we do something on the forum?

[toolonglegs]

Why try to regulate it?....plenty of positives in the last 12 months...some deserve their on thread.

[AUbicycles]

Fair comment

[jules21]

Many of us are the anonymous 'talkers' here and it is spot on that some of the chat is unfair and unqualified.

this may be true, but i suspect his comments were aimed at the forums on the same site as the article. they have a forum specifically to discuss PEDs and the posts on there are of a particularly outrageous variety - it's almost like a competition to see who can level the most draconian and cynical accusations at pro riders and teams. by comparison, the discussions on these forums are very tame.

i couldn't help myself and posted a ridiculous troll thread on there about a C grade club rider who i suspected of doping, to see what would happen. sure enough, some users took it seriously and discussed whether he was doping. unbelievable.

[brentono]

Interesting, but is "finger-pointing" just another form of distraction.
"It's not me, it's them"
All of the Institutions are in conflict, WADA/UCI/National Federations and even the Americans,
do not follow the code, and interpret and carry it out, completely differently, than the rest of the World.
Hasn't worked in "The War on Drugs" or "The War on Terror"
There is some interesting info on...
http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/
And there have been some high level debate about altering the approach to anti-doping.
Knowledge is Power.

[martinjs]

Knowledge is Power.

Only if the knowledge is right and used correctly, otherwise it can lead to down fall and corruption.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Martin

[brentono]

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Martin

Martin,
You probably are correct.
Mentioned in the Contador Post- From a reading of a Sports24 interview,
it was in French but translated.
Professor Gerard Dine seemed more concerned with the whole organization of
decision-making powers of the "anti-doping" process and stated they should be reviewed.

He stated "I've always said that regulation should be under the guise of an independent sports authority,
independent of economic power and independent of political powers.
WADA which is ultimately a pharmacy organization, does not have the power to do that."

Over the last few years, the WADA has grown into a very powerful organisation.
You have a pharmacy organisation, making regulation/rules/codes on ALL sports.
I agree with Professor Gerard Dine, that these people are not qualified to implement the legalese.
And as you point out, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" leaving open the door,
for the WADA being corrupted.
The regulation "authority" should be under the guise of an independent sports authority.
Your thoughts.

[wombatK]

Seems to be complaining about people (including himself) rushing to judgement. Interestingly, only about it in relation to the negatives - and specifically doping. Yet everyone makes rush judgements on the positive side of performance e.g. who'll be the next champ, win the next race etc.,. Everytime you meet someone new, you make a rush judgement (friend/foe, embrace/flee). Sometimes we're right, sometimes we're wrong.

If you're in the public eye, there's no point complaining about it - you've got to take the brickbats as well as the bouquets.

Cheers

[brentono]

Connecting the dots..... a few dots, all in the last week.

Lausanne, 23 February 2011 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeal filed by the Chinese judoka Wen Tong against the decision of the International Judo Federation (IJF) dated 4 April 2010, pursuant to which a two-year ban was imposed on the athlete following a positive doping test for clenbuterol. The CAS annuls the suspension of the Chinese judoka Wen Tong due to a procedural failure

Sunday, February 27, 2011.
And another case, Diana Taurasi's doping suspension was lifted this month (after only a month out),
but later they go into a more general discussion on anti-doping, quite balanced.
A nice quote from the article-

"You have faith in [the system]; you think there is no way they would make a mistake," said Taurasi, who was suspended by her Turkish professional club after her late-December positive test for modafinil. But "it happens, and this is something very serious. This is our careers and reputations. . . . This is something no athlete should ever have to go through. It's a hard place to get out of."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/26/AR2011022603925.html
Take a read.