I'm surprised there is this exception mechanism and nobody brought it up before. if anything, this leak shows that the list of exceptions should be public. I assume it isn't already. For example, I would be interested to see how many exceptions an X time tennis champion has obtained, as I'm sure his competitors would also like to know.
in any case, this exception mechanism is a slippery slope. is it fair to healthy athletes? could the advantage of these banned substances be so big that it could motivate healthy athletes to get sick intentionally?
I don't have any hope that wada will improve after this since now it is so easy for them to just say russia did this because they hate us. they also did not improve much after the russian doping scandal, which was only possible because the whole doping test system is flawed.
The problem with making the exceptions public is you're then making athlete's medical records public. There is a slippery slope here as well that as drugs continue to get added to the list of banned substances, an athlete has to report almost any ailment and it's remedy.
There should be audits of these exceptions and how they're granted, but I don't think it should be public.
Why is there such an exception at all? If there is a list of banned substances and they are found, it shouldn't really matter if they were prescribed by a doctor or not, they could still aid performance (which is why they were banned, right?).
I agree that the list of exceptions (at least the number of exceptions and the date granted per athlete) needs to be public.
TUEs are pretty common in athletics. You cannot exclude athletes from medication, when they are probably the ones who need them the most. TUEs are a way to regulate that to ensure they aren't abused for competitive gain.
I think this is one of those "devil's in the details" things. In order to understand the significance of the US's TUEs we need context, and that context is what other countries are allowing, how commonly it occurs, and exactly what the process of getting a TUE is (e.g. is it rubber stamped, or a legit medical need).
For example, if we found out that the US has 50% more TUEs per athlete competing than the next highest country, that's a legitimate story. But if it turns out that the US has similar numbers to other countries (again, normalised per athlete numbers), then it is a non-story for the most part (except the hack itself).
The argument is also bogus from the pro-Russian perspective: if this is 'legalized cheating' and so awful and hypocritical, why weren't the Russians doing it, much less resorting to stealing urine samples? They have doctors who can write certificates too.
This brings up the larger question of what is and isn't considered 'normal' health. Professional athletes do have higher rates of disease. With strain and injury come health consequences. But there can be advantages. I'm interested in whether any of the male athletes suffer from "low testosterone", a very shady diagnosis. In short: if you don't have the testosterone of a 18yo football star, you are "low". That diagnosis allows docs to prescribe testosterone sups/patches/gels to the 50+yo men I see at the gym. The drug industry loves it. But athletes could use that diagnosis to gain legitimate access to performance enhancers. Some drugs meant to promote healing of injuries are also, imho, performance enhancing if they allow an athlete to continue training where a 'normal' person would be sidelined with a minor muscle or tendon strain.
Similarly, pain killers are near-universal amongst athletes and aren't considered performance enhancing. I'm going for a run this afternoon. A mild painkiller would certainly allow me to run faster/longer, and would probably get me out on days that I am sore and really don't want to run. Perhaps this database may shed light on the use of painkillers as training aids.
Quickly browsing, methylphenidate is a key component of Ritalin. Are athletes unable to take medication such as Ritalin if they need it for a legitimate medical issue?
I can see this kind of thing being abused with the "right" doctor etc, but as far as the rules go, is this illegal?
Wasn't there a case when German (?) female athletes were using hormonal boost of the first few weeks of pregnancy as a loophole to dope themselves?
The strive and pressure to win at Olympics make people do absolutely crazy shit, so it's reasonable to assume guilty until proven innocent when a blacklisted chemical is detected in a sample.
Does the use of methylphenidate help otherwise unfocused and easily discouraged people to put more effort and concentration in their training?
Because if this is the case, I don't see how this could be allowed- after all the rhetoric around sports is about the reward of effort and focus on the long term goal. But if this focus is gained through the use of a drug, then, uhm...
> Are athletes unable to take medication such as Ritalin if they need it for a legitimate medical issue?
So you believe this top, elite athlete who excels at focusing has ADHD or narcolepsy?
Are you willing to go that far before admitting they may have cheated on that, and use psychostimulants, steroids and amphetamines for unethical competitive advantage?
I have the same idea, how are we going to push the human race to new limits without some pioneers who are willing to exceed our mortal boundaries with the help of science.
Not sure where you see that anywhere in the article. TUEs are a normal thing that athletes from every country receive for taking various medicines deemed medically needed. Are they possibly abused sure but so far according to the article nothing out of the ordinary in the leak.
Since when is prednisone a performance enhancing drug? Should aspirin also be characterized as performance enhancing? What about alcohol (relaxes muscles and has psychoactive stress-reducing properties)? What about nutritious food?
> Since when is prednisone a performance enhancing drug?
Don't you know what corticosteroids do? Really?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805102
"CONCLUSION:
From these data, short-term Pred intake did seem to significantly improve performance during submaximal exercise, with concomitant alterations in hormonal and metabolic responses. Further studies will be necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of these hormonal and metabolic changes, and to determine whether the changes may be associated with the marked performance improvement obtained."
Prednisone does stimulate the adrenal gland, which is why they have you taper off it. I don't know what sort of effect it might have on performance. (I have taken it to clear up bad rashes, with edema, from poison ivy.)
[+] [-] supergirl|9 years ago|reply
in any case, this exception mechanism is a slippery slope. is it fair to healthy athletes? could the advantage of these banned substances be so big that it could motivate healthy athletes to get sick intentionally? I don't have any hope that wada will improve after this since now it is so easy for them to just say russia did this because they hate us. they also did not improve much after the russian doping scandal, which was only possible because the whole doping test system is flawed.
[+] [-] bps4484|9 years ago|reply
There should be audits of these exceptions and how they're granted, but I don't think it should be public.
[+] [-] parennoob|9 years ago|reply
I agree that the list of exceptions (at least the number of exceptions and the date granted per athlete) needs to be public.
[+] [-] addicted|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Someone1234|9 years ago|reply
I think this is one of those "devil's in the details" things. In order to understand the significance of the US's TUEs we need context, and that context is what other countries are allowing, how commonly it occurs, and exactly what the process of getting a TUE is (e.g. is it rubber stamped, or a legit medical need).
For example, if we found out that the US has 50% more TUEs per athlete competing than the next highest country, that's a legitimate story. But if it turns out that the US has similar numbers to other countries (again, normalised per athlete numbers), then it is a non-story for the most part (except the hack itself).
Time will tell.
[+] [-] aab0|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] GFK_of_xmaspast|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sandworm101|9 years ago|reply
Similarly, pain killers are near-universal amongst athletes and aren't considered performance enhancing. I'm going for a run this afternoon. A mild painkiller would certainly allow me to run faster/longer, and would probably get me out on days that I am sore and really don't want to run. Perhaps this database may shed light on the use of painkillers as training aids.
[+] [-] sschueller|9 years ago|reply
Where do we draw the line? Maybe sports as a competitive event will change in to more of a entertainment event and who wins will no longer matter.
[+] [-] turingbombe|9 years ago|reply
I can see this kind of thing being abused with the "right" doctor etc, but as far as the rules go, is this illegal?
[+] [-] eps|9 years ago|reply
The strive and pressure to win at Olympics make people do absolutely crazy shit, so it's reasonable to assume guilty until proven innocent when a blacklisted chemical is detected in a sample.
[+] [-] Udik|9 years ago|reply
Because if this is the case, I don't see how this could be allowed- after all the rhetoric around sports is about the reward of effort and focus on the long term goal. But if this focus is gained through the use of a drug, then, uhm...
[+] [-] alexeldeib|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Torai|9 years ago|reply
So you believe this top, elite athlete who excels at focusing has ADHD or narcolepsy? Are you willing to go that far before admitting they may have cheated on that, and use psychostimulants, steroids and amphetamines for unethical competitive advantage?
[+] [-] iamben|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Balgair|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] calbear81|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaronjorbin|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mark242|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carnegie|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alexro|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nkassis|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nerdponx|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Torai|9 years ago|reply
Don't you know what corticosteroids do? Really?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805102 "CONCLUSION: From these data, short-term Pred intake did seem to significantly improve performance during submaximal exercise, with concomitant alterations in hormonal and metabolic responses. Further studies will be necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of these hormonal and metabolic changes, and to determine whether the changes may be associated with the marked performance improvement obtained."
[+] [-] blang|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alexro|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cafard|9 years ago|reply