Thursday, July 24, 2008

One has to ask how culpable USADA/USA Swimming are for this Olympic team mess-up!

I spoke with someone close to this situation by email this morning and they filled me into the missed details by the two organizations that are suppose to serve the athletes.

On July 21st the IOC required an Olympic team roster from USA Swimming. Yesterday, three days past that deadline it was leaked that Jessica Hardy had tested positive for a banned substance. (Newsweek reported that it may have been a stimulant which could be as simple as an antihistamine or something more insidious as meth.)

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) performed the test and obviously notified USA Swimming before the July 21st deadline. One would think that either USA Swimming would have pushed USADA to deliver results well before they had to declare a de facto team or that USA Swimming would have scheduled Olympic Trials earlier enough to ensure that all their athletes rights would be respected.

In project management textbooks they talk of deliverables and milestones that should signed off and closely managed. I didn't see that here.

From USA Swimming's perceived "secret deals" with the Wasserman Media Group (WMG), the accusations from TYR that USA Swimming is engaging in anti-trust tactics with Speedo, and the bullying of Floswimming. One has to wonder who is running the shop there!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Through her attorney, she has confirmed it was clenbuterol

Tony Austin said...

That is an Asthma med isn't it. Yes it is, it is an analog of Albuterol. Hmm, I wonder if she has Asthma and needed it? If so she should have the medical exemption to take it.

Anonymous said...

It was used as an asthma med, but no longer is approved.

What will be telling is the concentraion level. Is the picograms per ml, or nanograms?

Tony Austin said...

Whoever you are, you really know your shit! - On wiki they had this snippet: "... With many major diet review websites talking about clenbuterol, and given its accessibility via the internet, the drug is widely used as a "dietary supplement"

Entertainer Britney Spears has been reported as being a user of the drug in order to boost rapid weight loss, according to reports from the newspaper, The Sun, and has been doing so for over half a year...."