|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
Drug situtation rears ugly
head in Track/Bicycling
|
|
||
|
Drug
situtation rears ugly Wow, what an active last few weeks it has been in the area that seems to receive more publicity than any other in the "Olympic" type sports in recent years, that of the involvement of drug with top athletes. It turns out that top sprinter Justin Gatlin has tested positive for drugs as far back as April at the Kansas Relays. Obviously Gatlin's non-participation in European meets this summer were not due to injury, as publicized, but over the issue of this positive test which has come to light. Gatlin, who was more remembered more as a hurdler as a prep from Florida was nailed in a drug test early in his collegiate career at Tennessee with a medication that he took for a learning defiicit problem for a number of years. It was hoped that positive test for a minor stimulant would be such an eye opener that he would not come within a million miles of anything illegal, as a second drug suspension is viewed a whole lot more seriously than a first time violation, which seemed a case of some minor involvement in a near life-long medication. Gatlin has been a leading spokesperson against drug usage by athletes in recent years, sticking an extra thorn in the whole situation. Link to article on Gatlin's positive drug test - second story on Gatlin's positive test It turns out that the positive test took place at the Kansas Relays in April, where Gatlin ran a relay, and claims that the drug was in an ointment unknowingly to him that was used in a "rub-down" by trainer Christopher Whetstine, who himself was the victim of a serious beating at the USATF Nationals weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana in June. Article on Whetstine beating and situation Gatlin's Coach, Trevor Graham has had a number of his athletes in recent years end up in difficulties with drug testing, which his welcome at Olympic training facilities yanked by USATF as of late due to this situation. Graham claims there was an inordinate amount of drug testing done with Gatlin this year, and describes the Kansas Relays situation as a bizarre one where it almost seems that there was a "plant" to secure a positive test on the top sprinter. Amazingly, Graham was the one who blew the whistle originally on the BALCO situation in the San Francisco Bay area, as included in the information in the first linked article below. Article on Graham's banning at USOC facilities - Graham on positive test "I know it was sabotage." Meanwhile the "guilt by association" thing goes on, with Marion Jones, who no longer trains with Graham, but has had a fine season under new Coach Steve Reddick, has had the welcome mat to herself, along with Graham's current athletes, yanked out from under herself for at least one important European meet, a September 3rd affair in Berlin. Last summer there was a ban on the Jones/Tim Montgomery team in European meets, with the former world record husband of California prep star Marion Jones since tossed from the sport due to drug involvement. Article on the 2005 summer European
Ban on Montgomery/Jones The Tour de France, which started the 2006 affair with nine riders from five different teams not allowed at the starting line due to supposed involvement with a Spanish doctor who was at the center of a "blood-doping" controversy surrounding the huge bicycle contest in Europe. American winner Floyd Landis eventually tested positive for drugs, with both samples that athletes are required to submit showing a huge amount of testosterone, an indication of drug ingestion of some form. The Landis' camp indicated dismay about the leak of information concerning the initial test, with a second one required for total accuracy. Landis's effort in the Tour this year, which included a huge mid-race comback, is surrounded by the fact that he will have hip replacement surgery for an arthritic condition and does take cortisone medication for that situation as well as thyroid medication for a problem with that glandular area. Landis was raised in a very strict Mennonite home in Pennsylvania until a teenager, then he moved to Southern California and initially took up mountain biking before switching to the road racing scene, so his success has struck a special cord with the sporting public. The Tour itself has been racked in recent years by verbal sparring between Lance Armstrong and those in the drug-testing community, especially Canadian Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, with Pound open to much criticism himself for his handling of many situations in the press, with Armstrong calling for his resignation eventually. France was also the center of a huge Track and Field controversy over drugs, with the 2003 World Championships there ending in accusations and test results that dragged down the careers of Golden State stars Regina Jacobs and Kelli White, among others. Article
on pre-race ban of some riders from 2006 Tour -
|
For questions or comments about content, contact the editors: Rich
Gonzalez and Doug Speck
DyeStat is published by Student
Sports ©1998-2006
is published by 