Over a year old; sorry to say I missed it the first time.

https://youtu.be/FLYzWqP1UF4

^ between 2008 and 2017 more than half of the 450+ medalists were never tested out of competition in the year of their victories. That number grows to 66% for the Russians.

This story is absolutely bonkers. Seriously, if you follow doping in sport it's a much-watch. 

Katie Fucking Compton.
Sad day indeed.

Jules said:

Katie Fucking Compton.
Sad day indeed.

Considering all the time she had to craft her defense, all the information she could have chosen to reveal, her statement is pretty lame.  

At the same time, should people have been asking all along how someone had little seeming drop-off in performance into her 40s?  Or is it just that it seems the women's field isn't as deep as the men's and thus such domination is more believable?  Even Valverde is showing a drop-off in performance (though Rebellin and Sevilla could be killing it somewhere way off the radar today)

A sad, sad way to end what appears to have been a stellar career.

I hadn’t thought about the “so much time to craft her defense” angle but then again; 5 months later is pretty much checkmate. What is there even to say?

That said, she didn’t dispute the drugs were in her system (both a and b samples, presumably) or the quantities, or address the bio passport irregularities.

I do think the thinner women’s field contributed to the lack of scrutiny.

I’m not sure we can call it a “stellar career” anymore. I think Ockham has the last word here.

That's correct.

She does not doubt the test, she suggests, as other positive dopers before, that the steroid got in her system in some unexpected way -- most likely a supplement, or food. At least, she does not claim how. Not sure if that makes her statement more believable.

Worth note, she doesn't address the Passport irregularity at all, which triggered the failed test.

If we scroll up we can find Shelby Houlihan's similar recent case, notable is that plenty of strong anti-dopers defended Houlihan. Of course, an obvious tactic in these cases is to discredit the system. Still..., makes it hard to fully believe either.

eloy said:

That's correct.

She does not doubt the test, she suggests, as other positive dopers before, that the steroid got in her system in some unexpected way -- most likely a supplement, or food. At least, she does not claim how. Not sure if that makes her statement more believable.

Worth note, she doesn't address the Passport irregularity at all, which triggered the failed test.

This is what really bothers me.  She could have gone public with what the passport irregularity was.  She didn't.  She could have been specific about the positive test and what the banned steroid was.  But she wasn't.  She could have shared the negative letter she got after the September 19 USADA test.  But she didn't.  

thankfully, she hasn't made the 'spanish beef' excuse, nor the 'I was in a foreign country and couldn't read the menu/ingedients' excuse.

What makes this hard is that, to protect the riders, WADA/USADA function like federal prosecutors making an investigation.  The drug testers don't reveal what they found unless the rider reveals it or the rider sues the testers in civil court.  

I expect riders to defend their friends.  But so far as I can tell, it's largely about friendship, about wanting to believe that a friend/colleague/teammate wouldn't do such a thing--or that they're equally complicit.

Straight outta Compton! https://www.cyclocosm.com/2021/08/the-comptons-god-awful-response-to-katies-positive-is-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-case/

You beat me to the link John!

Found this to be an worthwhile take, is a thread:

 

JohnMalcolmson said:

Straight outta Compton! https://www.cyclocosm.com/2021/08/the-comptons-god-awful-response-to-katies-positive-is-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-case/

This was really well written and not a very good look (obviously). It makes that weird, confusing retirement announcement Compton’s husband made earlier in the year make a lot more sense. 

A few notes from me... 

• I am a bit sad but not particularly surprised about Compton
• A bit concerned about how it hurts the state of US cyclocross overall
• Compton does not contest the positive test
• Compton argues that it got in her system by accident but does not know how
• As the steroid was in her system, she had a competitive advantage
• Regardless on how the steroid got in there, this warrants a suspension 
• A passport anomaly triggered the test, this suggests it was a unique(ish) event
• She did have a drop off in performance on later years -- someone had suggested she had not -- This is not unusual as a motivator to compensate in some artificial way

This has all made me think about the stance on Denise Betsema.

Most likely Compton used steroids knowingly, same as Denise Betsema. 

Why do I feel some sympathy and sadness for Compton, but condemnation and anger for Betsema? I do not like the answers to that question.

Betsema proved (or "proved") that her case was an accident. Still she has gone thru hell, if it really was a mistake, they way she is treated is undeserved. If it was a mistake, the way she races her bicycle post suspension is arguably admirable.

Caveats for doping

this caption

Start them young… https://www.usada.org/sanction/mcaben-receives-doping-sanction/

Need to master those CX barrier hops? 
https://www.wired.com/story/vagus-nerve-stroke-study-human-augmentation/?bxid=608964612d0fd81df5151d8b&cndid=61714043

JohnMalcolmson said:

Need to master those CX barrier hops? 
https://www.wired.com/story/vagus-nerve-stroke-study-human-augmentation/?bxid=608964612d0fd81df5151d8b&cndid=61714043

The end of dopable sport might be a happy unintended side effect of curing paralysis.

Just saw this funny take on Lance. 

Well, that was easy.

https://www.velonews.com/news/road/bahrain-victorious-seeks-legal-advice-following-french-study-on-spinal-cord-injury-drug/

But but ... marginal gains!

Mandatory team hair cut 2022

now it all makes sense

Richard was ahead of his time! And Pantani, with his shaved head, even more so...

The Velonews "interview" with KFC makes me want to throw up in my mouth and/or kick something really hard.

Jules said:

The Velonews "interview" with KFC makes me want to throw up in my mouth and/or kick something really hard.

KFC human being and deserves a second chance.    

But I was annoyed by the interview, too.  I didn't think the interviewer should have let her off the hook for the various excuses she was making.  I was more tooth-gnashing, though.  

mugwump said:

Jules said:

The Velonews "interview" with KFC makes me want to throw up in my mouth and/or kick something really hard.

KFC human being and deserves a second chance.    

But I was annoyed by the interview, too.  I didn't think the interviewer should have let her off the hook for the various excuses she was making.  I was more tooth-gnashing, though.  

No disagreement; clearly sounds like her career was far from happy. That said, it's a very, very weird article.

mugwump said:

@JohnMalcolmson

I had forgotten about Gianetti's collapse and near death experience.  I went to Dopeology.org and tried to track it down.

It's pretty awful.

"One of the alleged banned substances was PFC or perfluorocarbon. Perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions are infusion gas-transporting media and are usually called the artificial blood. It can help providing oxygene to tissues under surgery. Pulmonary side effects, however were observed in the first American patient receiving it. It sems that complement activation is the problem.

"Rather logical it has been tried to cyclists who need oxygen in their muscles. Continuous use of PFC is of-course different and with other side effects like embolisms (blood clots). PFC can probably be detected by mass spectrometry, if the method is sensitive enough.

"Mauro Gianetti (La Francaise des Jeux) who had to give up the Tour of the Romandie earlier this year because of what was then identified as a gastro entritis collapsed actually because he was alleged to have taken a shot of Perfluorcarbon (PFC). Dr. Gerald Gr�mion works at the University hospital of Lusanne, Switzerland, where Gianetti had spent 2 weeks (several days in intensive care).

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/1998/jul98/jul18a.html

It's ketones that Pog is jacked up on—banned by MPCC and UCI is saying don't use them while we investigate (now).