Think for a moment how the Australian media would react if one of the biggest names in Australian sport tested positive to a banned substance. One of the pin-up boys, the sort of guy that kids look up to, a face of a franchise.
Imagine the athlete had previously stated that he or she would never be dumb enough to drug cheat, and that others who even consider going down that path should come out and admit it.
This is a stance that Australian sporting fans are going to be used to. Performance enhancing drugs are not on many of our radars – we believe our athletes are clean.
Ian Thorpe is an athlete who was alleged to have used different substances by external parties, but none of the claims were backed up with evidence and none eventuated in bans. Collectively, Australians are prepared to denounce these claims, as drugs are not something that we consider part of our sporting landscape.
The reaction to drugs in sports are different depending on the perspective of the sporting landscape. Major League Baseball had an era where drug use seen as normal by players and seemingly officials alike.
Star player from 1985-2001 Jose Canseco conceded that he relied on steroid use during his MLB career, and has since stated that 80 percent of MLB players had used steroids at some time. What has to be remembered is that the MLB at this stage had no mandatory drug testing policy. Players continue to come out and state that they used drugs while they were playing, including MVP winners Ken Caminiti and Alex Rodriguez.
The MLB had little choice but to react in some way to stem the use of banned substances in their league. After a scandal involving Barry Bonds, the world record holder for home-runs hit in a career, the MLB initiated bans for people who test positive for banned substances.
These rules have developed over the past few years and in 2006 the current drugs policy was adopted. The punishments handed down for testing positive to banned substances are almost laughable and there is actually no testing carried out for steroid use during spring training and the regular season.
However, while the punishments are limited, the MLB has taken measured steps to lower the amount of drugs being used within the sport. Accordingly, it has been revealed that National League MVP Ryan Braun tested positive to a banned substance during the play-offs of the 2011 season.
Ryan Braun is the pin-up boy of the MLB, or was at least. While there are going to be some big questions asked about confidentiality and how ESPN was able to report this before there was even mention about the issue on the MLB and Milwaukee Brewers websites, many more questions are going to be asked about how another big star has tested positive to a banned substance in the MLB.
As Australians we have no comparable experience. Our sporting landscape has always been relatively clean. There has been the odd case of illegal drug use but nothing of the magnitude of fellow sporting competitions around the world and their experiences.
I am not so naive as to suggest that drugs do not exist in Australian sport, as I’m sure we are all aware this could not be true. But there is hopefully never going to be a massive drug scandal involving not just one or two players but an entire generation of sporting greats.
Because this is reality for the MLB. An entire generation of sporting heroes are being hung out to dry because of the continued admissions of players to using steroids and other banned substances.
Imagine if we had to forget the stars of the 1990s in NRL or AFL. Again, not just a handful of these players, but the entire generation, because the stark reality is that the best of the best were most likely on some sort of performance enhancing drugs.
Fingers crossed this is something that never becomes of Australian sport. Realistically, wide-spread drug use is something Australian sporting fans are not going to have to witnessed. But it always an element of sport that has to be kept in the back of the mind, just in case we all get the shock of our lives in the future.
jameswm
Guest
By the way on Thorpie. My understanding is that he voluntarily froze a lot of his old samples, so they could be tested later. With some steroids and EPO, athletes were taking them for many years until the testing caught up. This is pretty clear evidence that he's clean. By contrast, Armstrong has never agreed to older samples of his being re-tested years later with the updated procedures. Sort of says it all really.
jameswm
Guest
A lot of us get the inside word from those in the sport. A mate of mine was a high level cyclist. The cyclists pretty much know who has had assistance, and Cadel is widely considered within cycling to be clean. Not so some of the others.
Stu
Guest
Sadly this trend reaches into school sport. At this level there is little to no testing and besides being caught in the act, there is little way of catching offenders. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Purple Shag
Roar Guru
This is a pretty ridiculous 'what if' scenario. I'm of the belief that we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. But for all we know it has already happened but been swept under the carpet Andre Agassi style. As for the slating of Warnie, I think the context of the sport is important. Now i'm not saying PED's can't help cricketers at all, but they use is certainly more beneficial in other sports. Steroids don't make you muscular, they just allow you to train more. he may have had strong shoulders, but old Keithy never looked like he trained much to me. But the league/union/afl guys it is a big possibility. They are brick-houses & run all day and it would not surprise me if it were as rampant in those sports. It would be interesting to find out how prevalent the testing is, any ideas on the frequency or how much warning they get ?
amazonfan
Guest
"He’s been caught taking drugs, providing inside information to a bookie, and cheated on his wife to boot." What does cheating on his wife have to do with the other two? Taking drugs (other than for recreational purposes) and providing inside information to bookies have a direct connection to his cricketing career. However adultery is a private matter, and it's nobody else's business.
The Grafter
Guest
Dean Capobianco in 96 at Atlanta. League players when they get 'needled' pre game, and/or at halftime is performance enhancing in my opinion. Australia is certainly not 'lily white'.
B.A Sports
Guest
I agree Brian. Road cycling (in this part of the world) was thought to be a laughing stock with all the blaten drug use which has been found (and it has been widely presumed that much of it has not - ie Armstrong). And then in 2008 when all these riders who participated in the big Euro competitions, didn't go to the Beijing Olympics shortly after the big tours, one was led to sceptically presume that this was because of the tighter testing policies of the IOC. When Cadel wins though, the word "drug" does not appear in a single story about the Tour de France, even though Australia's cyclists (more the track teams than road) have been surrounded by drug controversies over the years. Australians do often choose to blindly support there own (selectively). If Mark Webber was English, his constant sulking would make him the butt of many "pommy bashing" style jokes, but instead because he is Aussie he is just "treated unfairly", even though he is in, at worst, the second fastest car in his sport.
Adam
Roar Guru
This is true. However, Braun's name is being dragged through the mud because performance enhancing drugs are a sensitive issue for the American public. While he has not been convicted of anything public opinion is definitely against him.
DJ
Guest
I think you should have mentioned that Braun is currently appealing the results of his test.. He hasnt been "convicted" at all just yet...
Reece Jordan
Roar Pro
Very interesting article with some great points. It can only be hoped our drug testing policies reach an infallible level that results in premier athletes being too fearful of being caught. I'm not naive enough to believe that testing methods will be solid enough soon or that all athletes will steer clear, but hopefully this doesn't develop into a long-term problem that plagues professional sport far into the future.
Jimbo
Guest
To be fair, I don't think anyone has ever suggested Carlos Sastre was doping either, but then again, he was perhaps the weakest TDF winner of recent memory. With riders like the Schleck brothers, Sastre, and Evans, there hasn't really been any suggestion that any of them were doping, whereas with certain other riders, there has been a large body of circumstantial evidence, quite apart from any testing, that suggests they were involved in doping.
Lucan
Guest
That's a bug-bear of mine also. Our domination of the pool is only down to good training, naturally gifted athletes and saying our bedtime prayers but any other country that dares to compete in the water is obviously on the gear.
Brian
Guest
Remember cycling was a sport full of drugs until Cadel won the Tour De France. Now its clean and noble. Warnie been a PR marvel. He's been caught taking drugs, providing inside information to a bookie, and cheated on his wife to boot. But he took wickets which shows its all about results.
Swampy
Guest
We would be fools to think at least some of our stars hadn't dabbled with ped's. There are some athletes, particularly those in individual sports, that have had long injury lay-offs and come back better than ever (& bigger than ever). The only way we'll ever know is with proper testing regimes with public publishing of results. In some sports this doesn't exist at all (AFL, Women's Tennis, Golf). I never can understand the Australian consensus opinion that our athletes are clean - particularly in sports where the use of ped's has been rife like cycling, swimming & athletics for example. We've even had our own athletes in those sports banned but still refuse to believe that our athletes could be anything less than angels. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Lucan
Guest
Shane Warne tested positive for a banned substance. Yes, it was only a masking agent but it was banned because of its use in masking other substances. The Australian media and public went into bat for him as a "good bloke" and the "diet pills" were just a "silly mistake, no harm done". I imagine the outcry from these corners would've been much more damning had Warne not been an "Aussie battler made good". If this was Harbijan Singh, or Murali the newspaper headlines and water cooler talk all would've been "What was he masking? He must be trying to hide something". Aussies are very forgiving of their own.
Tom
Guest
Interesting point about losing a generation of sport stars.Cycling did the same in the 90s (Riis, Ulrich, Pantani) and (seems) to be a better sport for it today. Although parallels with your other point about nations unable to accept their biggest stars are dopers with Contador. Back to baseball - i think the power of the fan is stronger in the US of A. The fan who caught (or bought?) Bonds HR record baseball sent it to Cooperstown with an asterisk causing Bonds to have a dummy spit. Also Mark Mcgwire is annually snubbed by the Hall of Fame.