Are international athletes the new crack heads?

[Mynight]

I would be inclined to agree - I'm all about the transhumanism. EXCEPT that many of these drugs and the treatments that would help people are harmful. So you end up with the situation that nobody who is gifted and passionate about their sport but who doesn't want to sacrifice their long-term health gets to compete anymore.

Very fair point.

I wonder if legalisation would allow for less harmful drugs to become common place. I could be completely wrong but I imagine a fair amount of these drugs probably don't have the funding in research behind them to create safer alternatives and I assume the ones in use are chosen as they're more difficult to detect?

If either of those two assumptions are correct then legalisation could do an awful lot in regards to making better and safer alternatives(then again it may just lead to stronger short term harsher long term negatives drugs).

Unfortunately I have zero experience or knowledge on how the current drugs work or are chosen.

 

[Nasher]

They should start a new "cheating olympics" where people are encouraged to cheat in more and more entertaining ways. E.g. Like rocket roller-skates for the 100 meters.

But the one that gets me is male to female transvestites being allowed to compete against women. How is that in any way fair?

 

[jon86]

... But the one that gets me is male to female transvestites being allowed to compete against women. How is that in any way fair?

Western society has ruled that a dude can simply think of himself as female, and he magically turns into a female. Apparently, "biology", "genetics", and "DNA" don't mean anything anymore.

 

[marl]

I watched this the other day

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07ll97c/horizon-20152016-12-sports-doping-winning-at-any-cost

Quite a good watch, especially the part regarding igf1 which i think is the next big thing if not already, skip to 42:00 mins, it is amazing what they can do, those mice!

Imagine switching that gene off at birth\pregnancy, future super humans?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin-like_growth_factor_1

Fascinating programme... The fact that taking caffeine and the electro-stimulation treatment are legal shows just how fine the line between being a cheat or a legit athlete is.

 

[antijoke]

Should jist have an "open tournament" anything goes.

I wanna see somone do the 100m in 7 sexonds damnit

Same.

Just let anything go and see what we can achieve.

 

[Mr Jack]

Lance Armstrong (American) and Ben Johnson (Canadian) both got caught and claimed that everyone else is also cheating. Apparently we can't trust those whistleblowers though.

They weren't whistle blowers. They were people who got caught. I'm sure they told themselves that everyone was cheating and so they, the poor victims in this piece, really had to cheat just to compete. It doesn't make it true.

Cheating appears to be endemic but those caught cheating still make up a small proportion of the athletes competing.

I wonder whether consequences for those around cheating athletes are in order. Ban the coach, fire the people in charge, etc.

 

[Mr Jack]

But the one that gets me is male to female transvestites being allowed to compete against women. How is that in any way fair?

Transsexuals, not transvestites, they're not the same thing. And the rules require them to have testosterone levels in the normal female range in order to compete. I dunno, I think we need some evidence it doesn't give an unfair advantage.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Fully agree, they are never going to stop ways to cheat, no matter what form it takes, it is a complete waste of money to fund WADA and all the others if there are more, it's business and to much money to be had.

It should be pretty much anything goes. How good would that be, Javelin would need a 747 runway

The javelin has already had to be redesigned once (1986) because it was getting too dangerous with a world record of over 100m which meant that it was getting pretty close to clearing one side of the arena to the other and hitting spectators. You'd need whole new stadiums specifically for a javelin contest like you describe and that would throw off all the running events but maybe if everyone is on PEDs the 200m becomes the same as the 100m now etc etc.

Lance Armstrong (American) and Ben Johnson (Canadian) both got caught and claimed that everyone else is also cheating. Apparently we can't trust those whistleblowers though.

It's one thing to be a whistleblower because you know you've been doing wrong and another to be caught and then use the defence of "but he/she/they did it too". I am certain that lots of people at the time of those athletes were using PEDs but without some sort of evidence to back up the claims it's a bit difficult for the authorities to take action or indeed for anyone to believe that someone who has taken drugs to cheat (and lied about it) is not still lying. It's also worth noting that whistleblowers often get more lenient sentences to encourage them to come forward - I understand the reasoning but think that it should be worth more if you do so before you get caught.

These were very talented athletes anyway, taking drugs doesn't negate the need for hard work or completely nullify whatever genetic advantages someone has but it does mean that if anyone is competing cleanly they are at a significant disadvantage.

I'd like to believe most athletes are "clean" but there can be very fine margins between what people take as dietary supplements or treatments they undergo as part of training and what is deemed to be an illegal method of performance enhancing. I think it is important to try and maintain a distinction though to protect athletes from both themselves and unscrupulous coaches/managers who would put their health at risk with drugs designed for different purposes and (un)known side effects.

But the one that gets me is male to female transvestites being allowed to compete against women. How is that in any way fair?

As Mr Jack says it would be transsexuals rather than transvestites. I've got to say I'm not convinced that it would be a major problem in sport - are there really likely to be many people who would deliberately and irreversibly change their sex just for the chance to win an Olympic medal? If there are then that's a problem but I've not seen any evidence to suggest it's likely. However it would be important to ensure that we know what sort of differences it makes to any performance.

 

[Mr Jack]

I've got to say I'm not convinced that it would be a major problem in sport - are there really likely to be many people who would deliberately and irreversibly change their sex just for the chance to win an Olympic medal?

There was a documentary a few years back which followed up on Russian female athletes that had been dosed up with testosterone and how they'd had their lives and bodies destroyed by what the Russians did to them in pursuit of victory. I think countries like China and Russia might push people into sex changes if it meant victory for them and damn the cost.

 

[teaboy5]

I was reading an article about cycling and how drug use is still a problem. How can a pro cyclist go up against someone who can go faster and can recover quicker than you due to the use of EPO for example.

 

[carlazai]

I think a lot of shall we say, more primitive countries, use state sponsored doping as a means to boost national esteem. Russia are the only ones to be caught red handed so they will rightly be embarrassed by that. Western nations I don't think have state sponsored doping problems but for sure aren't clean. It's not only athletics that has this problem either. There was a private medical clinic in Spain that got caught doping, but the Spanish court ordered all the evidence destroyed as it was classed as medical-in-confidence. This clinic had clients all over the world though, and you can't help but speculate who used their services.

Read this thread in absolute horror. Luckily the blood samples have now been handed over for testing, they were saved at the last minute, so we will find out which footballers were dabbling as well, my money is on Ronaldo (no9).

As for pill head Olympics, these drugs are super dangerous. They really mess up peoples bodies and the use should never be tolerated. I do not want to see people die 30 years early just to win a few ££ and a gold medal.

As for current use, my main suspect from 2012 is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArKGCqlVbLQ . This girl was originally sent to Oz for training. At 14 she was recalled to China when she went from a good swimmer to an absolute beast in 2 years. The way she powered through the last 100m FS and without looking like she was dying reminds me of Lance Armstrong in the good ole days.

 

[Xordium]

so we will find out which footballers were dabbling as well,

I have it on good authority that it is far from uncommon in footballers. TBH to think the sport is clean is crazy when one considers the lengths they will go to in all other areas to gain an advantage.