Roar Guru
Joined February 2013
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My goal is to be the first middle aged stagiare in pro cycling, either that or win a C grade club race. Probably the club race.
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To most fans watching Australia's Olympic athletes on the telly, it's all about the sport. Elite athletes doing what they're very good at. Unfortunately…
On Friday evening Rio time, Great Britain’s track pursuit team beat Australia to take the gold medal. Both teams broke the world record, with…
On Thursday, it was revealed that rising British road cycling star, Olympic prospect and Orica-GreenEDGE professional team member Simon Yates had tested positive for…
As a footy and cycling fan, I'm genuinely sympathetic to how devastating the CAS verdict must be to the Essendon players. However, like many…
This year's Tour de France - taken out by Sky Racing's Chris Froome - was defined by a number of key stages, attacks and…
Having read a number of articles of late on Essendon's alleged use of proscribed substances – specifically Thymosin Beta 4 – I thought it…
I have two confessions: the first is that I'm fascinated with the psychology of doping in sport - both that of the athletes who…
Largely missed by the mainstream media, last night saw what is arguably the climax to the ongoing drama that has been Operacion Puerto, the…
As a cycling tragic, I want the sport to be cleaned up. And I am very dubious about claims that, having dispatched of Lance,…
I think you’re a way off there spruce. Armstrong, before the accusations of his doping rose to fever pitch, was hailed as the greatest athlete in the world by many. His appeal was near-universal. Sure he was arrogant, but people glossed right over that. He was the 7-time Tour winner who came back from stage 4 cancer.
Is Bolt clean? It’s fantastic to think he could be. I’d love to find out that he was – what a story that would be. Seriously. As Lance himself said to the doubters “I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles”.
Would it really matter if Usain Bolt was a cheat?
I bumped into Froome on his bike at traffic lights after the Sun Tour this year. He was nice enough. A bit reserved but friendly and had a quick chat. I didn’t try and stalk him further. Thumbs up from me!
Was Bradley Wiggins the greatest rider of his generation?
Are you aware of the recent revelations about Kenyan athletes and doping? Also doping in US pro sports is endemic. Those were not good examples to discredit anything. And his circumstantial evidence is quite damning.
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
It’s quite legitimate for the AFL not to pass on illicit drug test results to ASADA, where they fall outside the WADA code. It’s a player health issue, not an anti-doping one.
Anyway yes you can’t trust countries to test their own athletes. Everyone knows that. It’s just that countries won’t give up control. Take a wild guess why not!
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
Come on he won the Tour – he can’t be that bad a road rider. Sure Froome may have beaten him, but don’t forget Froome had the advantage of his opponents focusing on Wiggo. And not being kept back for hours after stages doing media interviews.
Wiggo is a complex character. On the plus side, he doesn’t like fame and wants to be a regular person. On the other, he can be a knob and if you asked him for an autograph he’d likely prove that to you.
Was Bradley Wiggins the greatest rider of his generation?
You may be confusing the AFL’s testing for illicit drugs with performance enhancing drug testing.
Both the AFL and ASADA are authorised to conduct out-of-competition tests of AFL players. I’m unsure how many they do. Penalties most certainly apply.
The issue of funding anti-doping tests is an important one. WADA is the governing body. It isn’t funded to conduct tests of its own. That falls on national bodies (JADCO in Jamaica) to make agreements with sporting bodies (Jamaican athletics for Bolt). Bottom line – if you can’t afford to test your athletes, you can’t send them to the Olympics. At least, in theory.
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
Can I be clear that I’m not accusing Bolt of doping. I’m just not confident that he’s clean. There’s a fair difference.
That’s a good analysis you’ve included there. I respect that, but it neglects the possibility that you need to be doped to get to that level in the first place. In that context, a lack of improvement in his performances doesn’t prove much. So many 100m guys have been busted doping that it’s reasonable to wonder how someone can do it clean.
Armstrong’s doping was educational. What you must appreciate is that Armstrong started out when the internet was still developing. He doped openly in his team, relying on people not to tell on him. This became harder over time, particularly as a wealth of evidence developed on the web. He shut down any mass media allegations with lawsuits, but he can’t do that to the web and the 1000s of blogs and websites. Dopers don’t do that anymore – modern doping is more clandestine.
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
One day we may discover which gold medalists were clean, and which dirty. People will most likely be shocked at how many household names were dirty, but we’ll be able to celebrate the clean winners for their much bigger achievements than we realised at the time.
Or, we may never know. Hard to say.
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
JADCO were exposed as not conducting out-of-competition tests in the period leading up to the London Olympics. Anti-doping is very political. Even in Australia, we had Parliament put heat on ASADA over the Essendon case. When you are making a living in a job funded at the whim of the government who starts leaning on you – don’t underestimate how influential that can be.
You can join the dots with JADCO – maybe Blake’s positive wasn’t very popular with JADCO’s masters? This stuff happens. The Russians went to even further lengths and just interfered directly with anti-doping operations – switching athletes’ samples.
There are reasons why dirty athletes never fail a drug test.
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
To me, the 100m sprint is like the Tour de France is, or was during the Lance era. It’s a fantastic competition on a level playing field between the fastest/fittest athletes in their discipline in the world. If you need to pretend they’re clean to enjoy it, go ahead!
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
I have much less faith in Bolt. While there is no direct evidence against him, the circumstantial evidence compels any objective observer to be suspicious.
1. The Olympic 100m is an event in which athletes clearly benefit from doping. Unfortunately, like the Tour de France, there are just some events where the ‘cream rises to the top’. And by cream, I mean dopers.
2. There are huge doubts over the Jamaican anti-doping program. While JADCO has lifted its game since the London Olympics, it only did so after being exposed for failing to conduct the tests that are its fundamental purpose for existing. It’s reasonable to question whether JADCO – like so many other ‘anti-doping’ authorities – exists to combat or conceal doping by its country’s elite athletes.
Everyone wants to believe Bolt is clean. I want to believe Chris Froome is clean in cycling. But there’s no justification for declaring them clean. Too many doubts and questions.
Usain Bolt gives Thomas Bach a crystal clear message
We weren’t discussing the medal tally. Of course we want to look to the US and learn from them, but you don’t just blindly copy them. The discussion about moving trials back is interesting, I’m not dismissing it, but it becomes meaningless when people over-simplify it to “Look, the Americans did it! End of story.”
If the swimmers fail, the Australian Olympic medal tally takes a dive
It’s clear the US got it right. But I’m dubious that we can easily pinpoint their race/trials schedule as the key to their success. It strikes me as a factor that is readily identifiable by observers, whereas there are a whole range of other elements to theirs and our preparation that are not as visible to the outside observer.
As others pointed out, there didn’t appear to be much wrong with Cate Campbell’s physical condition, given the times she was posting heading into the Olympics. Well after the national trials.
If the swimmers fail, the Australian Olympic medal tally takes a dive
Yes, I’m aware of doping in US track and field. It’s not just the Chinese. Doping is endemic in elite sports. But what’s different about the Chinese and Russians is their regime’s tendencies to use sports for propaganda purposes. They put a lot of effort into their elite sporting programs and unlike countries such as Australia, it’s not about supporting talent and trying to bring the best out of our athletes. It’s about demonstrating their national prowess and for them – the ends justify the means. They aren’t sports fans.
There is zero evidence of state-sponsored doping in Australia. There is most certainly doping, but not of the kind we have seen in totalitarian states.
Was it mentality, rather than physicality, that failed our swimmers?
Are you serious?
I did a quick Google search but the results are 100s of pages long. Where do I start?
It’s a long standing tactic of totalitarian regimes to dope their athletes for political purposes. China has done it for decades. It’s possible they’ve stopped without telling anyone, but you’d have to be very trusting to assume that.
Was it mentality, rather than physicality, that failed our swimmers?
I know I am being the party pooper, but far too many questions for me to consider proferring the GOAT title on Bolt or frankly any other olympic sprinter.
Olympics: Athletics Day 3 - men's 100m final highlights, results, live updates, blog
There’s some evidence that they are fed performance-enhancing drugs by a system that teaches them it’s all part of the sport. You can imagine he may be a bit confused about being confronted by Mack Horton on the issue. Partly as confrontation itself is a social faux pas in Asian culture. Something that was obviously not missed by Mack.
Was it mentality, rather than physicality, that failed our swimmers?
There is some doubt about the stimulant’s role in treating his heart condition. This gets technical, but from what I’ve read I wouldn’t be so quick to defend or condemn Yang. This is part of the problem – it was swept under the carpet by CHINADA.
Mack Horton's comments hurt the swim team
David, Australia’s elite endurance cyclists are on the pro road racing circuit. The Olympic level is so high these days that trying to do both is very difficult.
Slightly off topic, but as an amateur cyclist, I’m bemused by the 4-year cycle of Aussies getting behind our Olympic cyclists, then for the next 3 years and 10 months trying to run them off the road. Make no mistake, that is a massive drain on junior cycling talent. Parents just won’t let kids into the sport.
If the swimmers fail, the Australian Olympic medal tally takes a dive
I’m not an expert either, I train for amateur cycling and try to understand it. You’re correct that you can peak again, taper again and then race again. This may be what the US athletes did. But this is a technique that you use to work around 2 priority race events that are spaced a bit apart. But it’s arguably a work-around, rather than the ideal circumstance.
There’s no doubt the US coaches know their stuff. But Australia would not be far behind. I agree we need to look at what the US does. I’d hazard a guess we’d always do that, as would other nations. But I’d look beyond just the training schedule.
If the swimmers fail, the Australian Olympic medal tally takes a dive
In fairness, as an athlete you take endorsements as they come along. It doesn’t mean they were cocky.
Expectations far too high for the Campbell sisters
Based on the analysis in the article that Cate was slow out of the blocks, in her case at least her problem may have had nothing to do with her physical form. You peak as much as you like, but if you freeze on the starting blocks, it will all be for little.
Expectations far too high for the Campbell sisters
If you don’t taper for the trials, you risk being beaten by inferior swimmers who have tapered and who are carrying less fatigue. Then you send your B team to the Olympics.
The recent media discussion of tapering Aussie swimmers appears to have taken a tone of “we forgot about tapering!” Nonsense. This is the bread and butter of what our coaches do. There are clear advantages to holding trials 4 months earlier.
Sure, the coaches can get it wrong. But for journalists to just look at the US approach and announce “damn, we forgot about tapering! The US got it right” is massively over-simplifying and disrespecting the expertise and analysis that would have gone into preparing our swimmers.
If the swimmers fail, the Australian Olympic medal tally takes a dive
There are allegations. Carl Lewis thinks he’s doping. It’s not proof by a long shot. But it’s fair to wonder.
Would it really matter if Usain Bolt was a cheat?