Yes, I have been off the grid for a couple of weeks, but just like elite athletes, even bloggers need a vacation here and there. So I'm back, fully refreshed, and have been busy catching up on...ummm, nothing. There has been very little happening in the world of pro endurance sports in the last couple of weeks (and probably very little in the next few weeks either), so I will be able to concentrate on a bunch of updates in the Doping World.
First off, the American Pro Cycling teams (at least Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle) really turned the corner in 2008 by using an independant lab to help with out-of-competition doping tests. Both of them used ACE (Agency of Cycling Ethics), which sampled riders blood and urine every two weeks throughout the season. This extra-testing might have worked as a deterrent, since neither Columbia or Garmin had a positive test in 2008. So where is the news here? Well, ACE has gone out of business. Whoops. So now Columbia and Garmin are scrambling to find an alternative. The good news is that there are other programs out there, including one that runs the anti-doping for CSC and another that Lance Armstrong has hooked up with to run his own testing in 2009. Keep in mind that the UCI and other cycling governing bodies do their own testing, and this "extra" independant is just on top of the normal testing. But I do think that teams should be commended for finally taking charge of making sure their riders are clean...
Speaking of drug testing, UK Sport wants to improve its drug testing in advance of the 2012 Olympics and has planned a new state-of-the-art antidoping agency. But they too are running into funding problems, which is annoying the IOC. It seems the UK government is upset at how much money it costs to transition to the new system. No offense, but the government will find out how "expensive" it is if some of their athletes manage to slip through the cracks and then get caught at the London Olympics.
The Olympics ended over 3 months ago, but the doping tests live on. It is estimated that over 1000 tests are still pending, and this week the IOC announced they are testing the blood samples for insulin and for various EPO forms. This articles claims that each test for CERA costs $250 and each test for insulin costs $200. But for now, there have been only 6 positive tests at the Beijing Olympics. Out of 10500 athletes. The Tour de France caught 4 cyclists. Out of 189. So either the cyclists cheat way more, or the Olympics can't catch the cheaters. You decide.
I was actually wondering if I could find a website or a blog that outlined all the 2008 cycling doping violations. I couldn't find one, but old Wikipedia came through with a nice list. According to them, there were 13 ProTour cyclists to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs. This doesn't include Tom Boonen (cocaine) or other riders who might've been suspended for suspicious blood values. But interestingly, 10 of the 13 were either EPO or CERA (new version of EPO). So that appears to be the drug of choice. But hopefully the peloton is getting cleaner.
As of right now, no cyclists or no Olympians have tested positive for HGH, which this article claims "many experts believe is widespread in sport". So why no positives? Well, the current HGH test is only able to detect use within the last 30 hours. So that is a problem. Actually, all the talk about Marion Jones, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, etc getting caught using HGH is actually based on people admitting they took the drug or finding records of them taking it or ordering it. No one gets caught using it. Very interesting. I still find it unbelievable that no one can come up with a better test. But then again, maybe no one would be able to afford the new test...
However, by 2012 we might not be talking about HGH or EPO or whatever the newest drug might be. According to some, gene doping (or genetic manipulation) is just over the horizon. According to researchers, athletes are constantly badgering them with questions about this new technique, which currently gets used in mice and dogs. This is the future, and of course, it would not be a surprise if some enterprising scientists are already providing this service to athletes. Something to watch for as time goes on...
Two quick updates...the Ironman 70.3 Worlds were kind of a snoozer, with both races being won on the bike. Joanna Zeiger, who has been around forever (she was 4th at the Olympics way back in 2000) had a great race and won her first world title. The Clearwater course was uber-fast (or uber-short) this year as Zeiger did the course in a world best time of 4h02m. Not bad for a 38-year old! She won easily over two other American women (Mary Beth Ellis and Becky Lavelle). Top Canadian was Angela Naeth in 8th. The men's race was won by Terrenzo Bozzone, who redeemed himself from getting cut from the New Zealand Olympic Team by cruising to a win in 3h40m. Yep, 3 hours and 40 minutes. Ridiculous. Actually the top 4 men finished within 2 minutes, but there was not too much drama in the race. Too bad. Second place went to Andreas Raelert from Germany, while pre-race fave Andy Potts struggled to 6th. Top Canadian was Brent McMahon, who capped a busy three month stretch by finishing 8th. Quite a year for McMahon, whose 2008 has included just missing the Canadian Olympic Team, collapsing at the finish line at the NYC Triathlon (but still finished in top 5), won the Canadian Triathlon Championships, finished third at Xterra Worlds, and then was top 10 at 70.3 Worlds. Solid Year for Brent!!
Actually both Joanna Zeiger and Andreas Raelert decided to recover from their solid 70.3 races by doing Ironman Arizona last weekend. Zeiger actually lead until Mile 8 on the run, when her stomach problems made her drop out. Leanda Cave took the lead, but couldn't hold on to the win. That went to Heleen Van de Vaat, who ran a 3h07m marathon to win her first Ironman. The men's race was similarly a race of attrition, with Kieren Doe and Chris Lieto in front at various points on the run. But Doe got blisters, took off his shoes and ran barefoot for multiple miles before dropping out, while Lieto couldn't hold off the hard-charging Raelart. Raelart's 2h46m marathon was easily the fastest of the day and concludes a nice couple of weeks for him. Second at 70.3 worlds, a first career Ironman Win, and a guaranteed Kona spot make for an impressive November! Canadians placed 10th in both races (Christine Fletcher and Chris Brown).
Last thing this week...the IAAF gave their 2008 Athlete of the Year awards this week. Not surprisingly, Usain Bolt won the Top Male award, and pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the Female Award. Bolt was unbelievable, losing only once all year (by 0.01 in Stockholm in July) and had a 3-gold-medals, 3-world-records performance in Beijing. Isinbayeva also only lost once this year, and also set a plethora of world records including one on her last vault in Beijing. Isinbayeva also made headlines this week for saying that "every female on the track has a duty to be nice-looking and womanly". I'm not sure if she's talking about her rivals or just trying to attract more male fans, but she can at least back up her talk...
Next week...All Lance, All the Time!
