A new 'Human Growth Hormone' test has been engineered for the Beijing Olympics

I don't understand how hard it could be to find HGH in someone's urine. If you look at the picture on the right, all they have to do is look for a giant mass of ping pong balls stuck to humongous wad of gum! ;-)

From ESPN: "... We know people have been taking human growth hormone with impunity and have been for 20 years," WADA director general David Howman said.

He said the test would be able to catch cheats within a window of "more than 48 hours."

Officials refused to give details, saying drug cheats needed to be left in the dark. But Fahey did say he was very confident about the tests.

"We all know these things end up in court more often than not," he said. "It's got to withstand the legal challenge as well. No reason to believe that all of that won't be in place and that there will be a capacity to test at the Beijing Olympics."

Fahey said traces of the drug could also be frozen and stored in samples for up to eight years, meaning users could still be caught and lose their medals years later.

"Scientists will say very clearly that the storage of plasma is capable of being tested effectively eight years," Fahey said. "It is scientifically sound." [Link]

After I wrote this post, a fellow blogger sent me news that a leading marathon runner has declined to compete in Beijing due to air quality issues. Here is a snippet from The Guardian article he sent: "LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - World record holder Haile Gebrselassie will aim for an Olympic marathon title at the 2012 London Games after deciding the pollution in Beijing this year represents an unacceptable health threat.

The twice Olympic 10,000 metres champion, who will be 39 in 2012, suffers from exercise-induced asthma and will not compete in Beijing unless he qualifies for the Ethiopian 10,000 team. ..." [Link]

The photo of the HGH molecule came from an anti-aging website that sells HGH. That is how easy it is to get if they are selling the real deal: [Link]

Marion Jones confesses her steroid sins to Oprah

I was going to make jokes about how moved I was and how it almost brought me to tears but by the time I got through the article I became utterly convinced she has some sort of egocentric personality disorder.

Snippets: "... I realized that people might not forgive me but that God forgives, and if He can forgive me I can forgive myself and I will be okay," she added. ..."

Asked if she felt she was being made an example of, Jones said "I'm not going to sit here and say I'm happy with the decision and that it's all well and fine. Of course I'm disappointed; (with the jail sentence), but I put myself in a position of having someone else determine my immediate future." I want to use my story to help people," she said.

No! No! No, Marion! First you atone, make monetary amends, and then both you and 'O' can talk about redemption on Oprah's couch. [Link]

Former Olympian, Marion Jones, sentencd to 6 months for lying about her steroid usage!

A former district attorney and now a defense lawyer told me this at the pool: "A fish would never get caught if it didn't open it's mouth." My take is that you either tell the truth or just shut up and let the system work its way through. Just look what happened to Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, Barry Bonds and now Marion Jones; all of the above got indicted, all were convicted save for Barry Bonds who hasn't gone to trial yet.

Here is a snippet of what the judge told Marion Jones when she begged not to go to jail: "... Before the sentencing, Jones broke down as she asked Karas not to send her to prison. "I plead with you to alleviate the situation by not separating me from my boys, even for a short period of time," she said.

But Karas noted that "athletes in society ... serve as role models to children around the world. When there is a widespread level of cheating, it sends all the wrong messages. ..."
Link to the Marion Jones sentencing at CNN: [Link]

If Marion Jones would never have lied to federal investigators she would not be labeled a "former Olympian" and she would not be going to jail! Olympian, Amy Van Dyken, would certainly understand that for when she was questioned in the Balco scandal she told the Grand Jury everything she knew.

Balco scandal time-line from USA Today and note who is on the list: [Link]

"They Cheated. They Stole. They Lied!" - Moral conundrum for the IOC

Swimming World has an article/polemic comparing the Marion Jones steroid scandal with the 1972-1976 GDR (East German) Olympic Team. Therein, it states that Marion Jones will have to return her Olympic medals whereas the East German Olympians who were knowingly or unknowingly doped will get to keep their medals.

It all has to do with this "statute of limitations thingy" that the IOC has adopted. If you go 8-years without being "discovered", you are immune to IOC retribution. Marion Jones was within her alloted 8-year time limit whereas the GDR was a quarter-century into theirs.

Inevitably the name Shirley Babashoff comes up and a quote from her as well.

I have never understood the "statute of limitations." Perhaps everyone at one time or another has made a really bad choice or a very self-interested decision that violated a law. Let's presume they did nothing to cover up the crime; (heavy emphasis on the assumption that they did nothing to cover up the crime), no one was physically hurt, and they subsequently moved on and led a good life. Should these people be punished, selectively punished, or simply forgiven? The IOC has chosen the latter. Swimming World wishes they would have chosen the former. [Link]

The photo is of: Ender, Kornelia (Britannica Student Encyclopedia) (born 1958). East German swimmer Kornelia Ender was the first woman to win four gold medals in one Olympic Games.

Cheater, Marion Jones, passed 160 tests while doping - Dick Pound wants an audit done to find out why and how

Corruption by US doping agencies? Incompetence? Masking agents? perhaps her chemicals was completely off the radar? Dick Pound wants to know!

From The Australian: "...
“As for the rest, well, we will see... I'm not happy to hear that someone who had that many tests was a user for that many years,” added Pound.

[...] Jones had long been a target for Pound's accusations that she had been taking drugs but she always denied doing so, causing the many members of the American media to accuse the 65-year-old Canadian lawyer of embarking on a witch-hunt.

However, her confession last month vindicated Pound. ..." [Link]

Here is a direct link to the photo on the left from The Jeff Selis photo stream at Flickr.com [Link]

Floyd Landis, Marion Jones, Barry Bonds: We are the new East Germans

In just one year, three Americans have summarily sullied not just their names, but their sports, their country and the historic venues where their cheating took place.

With her admission of guilt to have taken the same steroids that Barry Bonds had, Marion Jones, five-time Olympic medalist has consequently branded the Olympics and the performances therein as highly suspect and always open to question. In other words, great performances will always be deemed untrustworthy! Also note, will her relay have to give back their medals or did they cheat too?

Disgraced rider, Floyd Landis after testing positive for synthetic testosterone has destroyed the 'house' that Lance Armstrong built. In July of 2007, Tour de France television ratings for this year's Le Tour on the Versus channel; (formerly the Outdoor Life Network), were FLAT or down 50% from the Lance Armstrong era. Instead of Floyd Landis growing the sport. He stopped it in its tracks.

Then there is baseball's Barry Bonds. One swimmer I know argued that everybody else in baseball is dirty so why does it matter? Well, it does matters because it is cheating and the performances are artificial and have little to do with humanity. Note: Barry Bonds' home-run ball at the Baseball Hall of Fame now has an asterik after it explaining the steroid controversy connected to it.

The East Germans doped for both fame and jingoistic reasons. But we Americans have refined that philosophy: These individuals are the new East Germans but their flag is the hundred-dollar bill, their political ideology is to lie, to cheat and then cry all the way to the bank.