Huge doping scandal in US sport. - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Fidel · 10-18-2003, 07:30 PM

I didn´t find anything about it in the US media so far, but it seems like the US sport is in for a big big doping scandal. There is a drug called Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG, a steroid) that was produced in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. Appearently all of the customers of that company where tested and 40 - 50 of them seemed to be positive. Among the athletes that were tested are Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White and Bill Romanowski. No telling so far who was tested positive but since there where so many positive cases the names mentioned might have been positive as well. Sorry I don´t have any more info so far but the story is fairly new and that´s how it is passed in the german and the whole eurpean media.

Not trying to stirr up anything here. It´s just that I allways thought something like this would happen. I said it here more then once. Right now the names are just rumors (I didn´t make them up though, I just posted the names that were mentioned in the media) but the testing did happen and there were 40 - 50 positive athletes most of them stars and superstars out of the pro leagues, track and field and cycling.

Here are two links to a german newsmag where the drug the testing and the names are mentioned:

Link
Link

Fidel · 10-18-2003, 07:46 PM

Just wanted to say again that I don´t want to stirr up anything here (the guys who´ve been around a little longer probably know what I mean). Only passing on some news that I thought were interessting and that I couldn´t find in the US media.

By the way, it seems like that drug was used heavily for a pretty long time. The athletes were feeling safe cause there wasn´t a test for this drug so far. Then a couple weeks or months ago a US laboratory developed a test and caught alot of athlestes on the wrong foot.

Murphy3 · 10-18-2003, 08:50 PM

will be interesting to see how this turns out..
but, one way or another, this type of crap needs to be taken out of sports

thebac · 10-19-2003, 01:53 PM

It was on the first page of the sports section in the Washington Post on Friday. I think that once it's confirmed who is guilty of doping, and once the World Series is over, we'll see a lot more on this, b/c it is HUGE if true.

It's just right now the media are reluctant to accuse anyone yet without concrete evidence, and NFL and Baseball Playoffs are overshadowing all other sports here (and Kobe should be grateful for that, otherwise it'd be Kobe 24/7).

grbh · 10-19-2003, 06:04 PM

Link

MLB All-Star, sprinter clients of BALCO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds and sprint champion Kelli White were among the 40 athletes subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in the budding steroid scandal, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday.

According to the report, Victor Conte, the president of under-investigation BALCO Laboratories, told the San Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle that his top clients are being asked to testify about tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.

Conte told the newspapers that seven professional football players and five Major League Baseball players were among those compelled to testify in hearings on the West Coast that are expected to begin next week.

"I do know that Barry has received a subpoena," Conte wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. "There are at least seven NFL players that I know of, plus at least four professional baseball players, that have received a subpoena. Most of the other athletes are from track and field. My understanding is that 40 elite Olympic and professional athletes have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury."

In the June issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine, Bonds enthused about Conte's physical fitness regimen and nutritional advice, saying, "I'm just shocked by what they've been able to do for me."

Bonds' agent, Scott Boras, told The Chronicle last week that the investigation "really doesn't involve Bonds."

White confirmed to the Mercury News that she was subpoenaed but denied a role in the steroid inquiry.

"I really don't have anything to do with that situation," she said. "That's not me."

The doping scandal erupted earlier this week when news broke that three track and field athletes who flunked drug tests had been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury that is investigating what one anti-doping official calls "an international doping conspiracy."

The three athletes were tested at the U.S. Track & Field Nationals in Palo Alto, Calif., in June and one of the athletes was a client of BALCO. The controversial nutritionist boasts of a roster of professional and Olympic sports stars as customers, and one source close to the case said Thursday that "the names I've heard are some of the biggest names in sports."

"I know of no other drug bust that is larger than this involving the number of athletes involved," anti-doping official Terry Madden, director of the U.S Anti-Doping Agency, told The Associated Press on Friday. He refused to reveal the names or genders of the athletes, or to be more specific about how many had tested positive.

On Thursday, Madden identified Conte as the alleged supplier of the previously undetected steroid THG, which was detected in the three athletes -- a charge Conte has denied.

"What we have uncovered appears to be intentional doping of the worst sort," Madden said during a news conference. He called the case "a conspiracy involving chemists, coaches and certain athletes to defraud their competitors, and the American and world public who pay to attend sporting events."

In September, agents for the Internal Revenue Service raided BALCO, in Burlingame, Calif., carting out boxes of records and raising suspicions that federal agents are interested in its finances. By then, Madden said, they already had been told about USADA's findings. Besides Bonds and White, BALCO's clients include, Bill Romanowksi, and Olympic stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.

Conte said Thursday that BALCO was not the source of the substance.

"In my opinion, this is about jealous competitive coaches and athletes that all have a history of promoting and using performance-enhancing agents being completely hypocritical in their actions," he said.

Fidel · 10-20-2003, 08:11 AM

Seems like Jason Giambi is in it too. He definitly looks like it.

Murphy3 · 10-20-2003, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Fidel
Seems like Jason Giambi is in it too. He definitly looks like it.

Jason Giambi looks more like he's been involved in some type of scandal involving McDonalds

dallas_esq · 10-20-2003, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Murphy3
will be interesting to see how this turns out..
but, one way or another, this type of crap needs to be taken out of sports

insightful. Did you read that somewhere or just now make it up?

Fidel · 10-21-2003, 06:47 PM

The IAAF anounced today that they´ll retest every sample from the track and field world champs on THG.

Also all 32 IOC sanctioned laboratorys will test all the samples they still got reaching back 3-4 months. Which means that nearly every big sporting event and every major sport will see retests.

grbh · 10-24-2003, 11:00 AM

Norm talking about this on the ticket. Evidently Shane Mosley evidently will be testifying next week. There are questions about this companies accounting, and a two month treatment of GHB costs $20,000. Definately not for the amateur athlete.

MavKikiNYC · 10-24-2003, 11:41 AM

Steroid Is Reportedly Found in Top Runner's Urine Test
By JERE LONGMAN

Published: October 24, 2003

Regina Jacobs, the country's top female middle-distance runner, who has sustained a remarkable track career past her 40th birthday, has tested positive for a steroid that drug-testing officials say is at the center of a widespread doping scandal, a person familiar with her test result said yesterday.

Jacobs is the most accomplished of the three athletes who have been publicly identified in news reports as having tested positive for the steroid, tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, in preliminary urine tests.

According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which conducts drug testing for Olympic-related sports, the previously undetectable steroid was provided to athletes by Balco, a nutritional supplement laboratory based in Burlingame, Calif., that is under federal investigation and has connections to a number of high-profile athletes, including Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. Victor Conte, president of Balco, has denied being the source of THG and has said there is no evidence that it is a muscle-building steroid.

The positive test result for Jacobs was first reported by The Washington Post yesterday.

Last winter, Jacobs became the first woman to run the indoor metric mile in under four minutes (3:59.98). She has won 25 national titles, including 12 victories in the outdoor 1,500 meters and 2 world championships in the indoor 1,500 meters, the second coming in March, when she was 39.

Her up-and-down career began to ascend in the late 1990's after she developed a more efficient stride. She said at the time that she had also overcome an iron deficiency with the aid of nutritional supplements and a change in diet.

Phone calls placed to Jacobs and her coach, Tom Craig, who is also her husband, were not answered yesterday. Ed Williams, a New York lawyer who represents Jacobs, declined to discuss any pending matter in specific terms.

If Jacobs is found guilty of doping, she would face a two-year ban and lose eligibility to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games. She had been expected to retire after the Games next August in Athens.

Before an athlete is formally charged by the anti-doping agency with an offense, both parts of a provided urine sample — the A and B sample — must test positive, and an appeals hearing must be conducted. Cases can ultimately wind up before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Switzerland. Last week, the anti-doping agency said it had informed athletes of positive A samples.

"She has not been charged by U.S.A.D.A. for taking THG," Williams said of Jacobs. "She does not know what THG is and never heard of it until recent news reports. She has been advised that THG is not on any list of banned substances."

Although track and field's world governing body does not list THG among banned substances, the steroid is considered a related substance, and athletes who use it are subject to suspension.

"She has never knowingly taken a banned substance," Williams said of Jacobs.

Jacobs was most recently given an out-of-competition test on July 23, and she passed, Williams said. "She has been repeatedly tested during her career and has never tested positive for any substance on the banned list," Williams said.

Kevin Toth, the United States shot-put champion, and Dwain Chambers, a British sprinter who trains in Northern California, have also tested positive for THG, news reports said. Their lawyers have said that Toth and Chambers never knowingly took any prohibited substances.

USA Track and Field, the national governing body, said Wednesday that four Americans tested positive for THG during retesting of samples provided at the American track and field championships last June and samples not taken during any competition.

Fidel · 10-24-2003, 09:19 PM

Dwain Chambers the european record holder in the 100 m dash, who finished at 4th place at the last world champs, was also tested positive. I think there`ll be alot more cases.

MavKikiNYC · 10-24-2003, 09:33 PM

Wondering...

Is it or isn't it a banned substance? If people weren't even sure of its chemcial composition until recently, how could it have been a banned substance?

Fidel · 10-25-2003, 09:55 AM

Kikki the drug Tetrahydogestrinon (THG) is a slightly modified anabolic steroid. Basicly all anabolic drugs are forbidden. Most anabolic drugs are based on testosteron, if that´s the case they are called steroids. Other anobolic drugs are based on beta 2 antagonists. Well known anabolic drugs are Dianabol, Stanozolol, Nandrolon and Clenbuterol. THG is just another one. It doesn´t matter if some molecules were modified, THG is still a steroid and therefore highly illegal. The track and field athletes that were tested positive might face a lifelong ban. I doubt that anything will happen in the US major leagues though, even if someone like Bonds is tested positive. The results would probably never go public. Doing steroids is probably a common practise in the MLB, NFL, NBA but the leagues aren´t interessted in making a big deal of it for obvious reasons (money).

MavKikiNYC · 10-25-2003, 10:02 AM

Re Kelli White:

This THG is a different issue, then, than the prescreption drug she was taking for narcolepsy?

Question: THG has NO therapeutic application?

Fidel · 10-25-2003, 09:46 PM

The Drug White was tested positive for was Modafinil. It belongs to the group of light stimulants. Basicly she just made an error. She´d have had to declare before the world champs that she needs this medicine then it would have been ok. A lot of cycling professionals do the same with drugs for asthma.

THG belongs to the class of anabolic drugs, or on a lower level to the class of steroids. This is another expanation for your former question. Basicly certain classes of drugs are banned not only one certain drug like say Clenbuterol. So it doesn´t matter in which form the drug is being consumed. As long as it belongs to the class of steroids (which THG does) it´s illegal.

No on to your next question: therapeutic applications for THG. THG is a steroid and steroids do have theraputic applications. Problem is that all of todays applications are totaly out of question for healthy professional athletes. There are two major applications for steroids today: heavy amyotrophia after an accident or something like that and a special form of anemia. Thats basicly it. All other applications are very special cases. After being discovered in the mid 30´s steroids were also used for underweight, osteoporosis, decrepitude and for quicker healing after difficult operations. Nowadays there are better drugs for those kinda problems so steroids aren´t used for those any more.

Hope this is understandable. Kinda difficult for me to write stuff like that in english since english is not my first language. I had to look up all the medical words.

grbh · 11-17-2003, 10:14 AM

Four Raiders might be suspended for THG.

Link

Game-day notebook: Four Raiders might face THG suspension
Nov. 16, 2003
By Jay Glazer
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Jay your opinion!

For the first time in sports history, professional athletes are facing suspension for testing positive for the controversial designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.

The NFL Today and SportsLine.com have learned four Oakland Raiders starters have tested positive for the steroid. The players this week were informed via letter of their positive THG tests, and pending an appeal, each faces a four-game suspension by the NFL.

Bill Romanowski is among four Raiders to test positive for THG and now might face suspension.(Getty Images)
The players are former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield, former All-Pro center Barrett Robbins, former Pro Bowl linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive tackle Chris Cooper.

According to the league's drug policy, suspensions are not immediate and would not take effect until after a protracted appeal process that could include testing of another sample, as well as a hearing. In addition, the union will fight the suspensions.

Three weeks ago, The NFL Today and SportsLine.com reported, in addition to these four players, others such as Raiders RBs Tyrone Wheatley and Chris Heatherington, former Raider Josh Taves, Chiefs wide receiver Johnnie Morton, Falcons linebacker Artie Ulmer and Patriots special teams Pro Bowl LB Larry Izzo had been subpoenaed to testify in the government's IRS probe of Victor Conte and his Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).

Part of that report included breaking news that previous urine samples from many of those players had been tested by the league for THG -- the centerpiece of one of the biggest steroid scandals in sports history.

Sunday's news also marks the first time in history four players from the same team were facing suspension at the same time because of failed drug tests.

The NFL is allowed to test for such drugs without the previous permission of the NFL Players Association. But according to several people close to this situation, the suspensions of the four Raiders might cause a very tense situation between the league and the union. The union believes the league should not suspend players for any positive samples found in retests. The league, however, has a strict zero-tolerance policy on anabolic steroids.

Since an early September raid on Conte's BALCO lab, several sports organizations have begun testing for THG. The NFL, however, would become the first major professional sports institution to actually levy a suspension for testing positive for it.

Oakland senior assistant Bruce Allen told the Associated Press before Sunday's game against Minnesota that he knew of no suspensions. He criticized the report but wouldn't confirm or deny the positive tests.

"The league's program on testing and information on testing are extremely confidential," Allen said. "So any reports out of that, someone's either violating the law or making them up. I hope they're able to find the people who spread false rumors."

"That's a situation that's out there," Robbins told the AP after the Raiders' 28-18 victory. "I haven't been notified about it. I don't think it's right the way it's being handled. That's about all I've got to say about that."

Said teammate Trace Armstrong, the players association president: "The process has been violated by the information coming out."

The furor over THG is spreading to several sports and nations.

Major League Baseball this week admitted five to seven percent of its overall steroid tests have returned positive and will now begin to implement banned-steroid testing. Boxing champion Sugar Shane Mosley has also been subpoenaed by the government, which reportedly asked for Mosley's urine sample.

Olympic officials said they will test for THG next summer in Athens, while authorities in horse racing, skiing and rugby are also implementing such tests.

The International Olympic Committee said it would add tetrahydrogestrinone to the list of banned substances included in its tests at the Aug. 13-29 games. THG already has turned up in the samples of several track and field athletes. The International Ski Federation said it will test for THG this season. THG testing was also set to begin at the Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Also in Australia, the horse racing industry has added THG to its testing of thoroughbreds' urine. International track and field officials plan to retest previously taken urine samples from the world championships in August, and swimming's world governing body will consider retesting samples from its world championships this summer.

The designer steroid flap burst open when Conte was accused by an anonymous track coach of supplying athletes with THG. Conte has

arsenalth9 · 11-17-2003, 11:16 AM

Who's ever heard of a sprinter taking banned substances????

Or a raider...

MavKikiNYC · 10-20-2004, 07:55 PM

Harrison Accepts Four-Year Suspension
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 19, 2004

Filed at 9:40 p.m. ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday for drug violations uncovered in the BALCO case.

The 30-year-old sprinter, who won gold medals as part of U.S. relay teams at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, was charged with violations of anti-doping rules based in part on evidence presented in the Senate in May, then turned over to USADA before the Athens Games.

``It's a bittersweet day,'' USADA chief executive officer Terry Madden said. ``It's good that another athlete in the BALCO drug conspiracy has been brought to justice. It's a sad day because we now know a conspiracy is out there. Athletes have admitted to it and people are using prohibited substances.''

Harrison's attorney, Robert Harris, said his client was going to retire soon so accepting the penalty made sense.

``He wanted to come forth and accept responsibility instead of dragging this out,'' Harris said. ``Alvin is looking forward to getting on with his life.''

The evidence did not include a positive drug test, but did include information gathered during the federal probe of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

Harrison became the second athlete to accept a suspension for using illegal substances despite not testing positive. Sprinter Kelli White, who forfeited two world titles, earlier accepted a two-year suspension.

Another 10 athletes have received sanctions for testing positive for THG or modafinil, two of the drugs linked to BALCO. Among them is Harrison's twin brother, Calvin, who is serving a two-year suspension.

USADA said Alvin Harrison admitted to using ``numerous undetectable performance-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids known as the `clear' and the `cream,' insulin, erythropoietin (EPO), growth hormone and modafinil.''

In accepting the suspension, Harrison forfeits all his winnings since Feb. 1, 2001. He did not compete in the Athens Olympics.

The Harrison twins were on the 1,600-meter relay squad that won gold at the 2000 Sydney Games, but all members of that squad face forfeiture of their medals because of a doping violation by team member Jerome Young a year before the Olympics.

The Athens Olympics were tainted by drug scandals, and BALCO cases have gone beyond track and field.

They have led to criminal charges against four men, including BALCO founder Victor Conte, track coach Remy Korchemny and Greg Anderson, the personal trainer of baseball star Barry Bonds. All four men have pleaded innocent and await trial.

Madden said USADA will continue aggressively pursuing such cases in hopes of preventing more of the same.

``We're going to pursue the truth and continue to find out what the truth is,'' Madden said. ``I think clean athletes want to know how far the BALCO drug conspiracy went.''

MavKikiNYC · 10-20-2004, 07:57 PM

It's a shame that Michael Johnson's performance in Sydney is being tarnished by the actions of his teammates.

He hasn't ever been implicated in any doping allegations.......has he?

USOC fights to keep Olympic gold for Michael Johnson and teammates

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

BY STEPHEN WILSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON - The U.S. Olympic Committee is contesting an international ruling which could cost Michael Johnson and the rest of the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team their gold medals from the Sydney Olympics.

The USOC has filed an appeal to sports' highest court challenging a recommendation by track and field's world governing body to disqualify the entire squad for a doping scandal involving team member Jerome Young.

The petition was lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the USOC and five team members - Johnson, twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison, Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Taylor.

Young is not covered by the appeal.

"They think only Jerome Young should be stripped of the gold medal and not the rest of the team," CAS general secretary Matthieu Reeb told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The appeal is directed against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Olympic Committee. A hearing date hasn't been set.

Young tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in 1999, but was exonerated by a U.S. appeals panel in July 2000, avoiding a two-year ban.

He ran in the opening and semifinal rounds of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but not in the final. Johnson ran the anchor leg in the final for the fifth and last Olympic gold medal of his career. All six members of the relay squad received gold medals.

USA Track & Field never gave the IAAF specifics about the Young case, citing confidentiality rules in place at the time. Young's name became public only last year.

The IAAF ruled in July that the entire team should lose the medals because Jones should have been ineligible to compete.

Stripping of the medals is up to the IOC, which put off a decision in August pending resolution of all appeals.

"If CAS upholds the decision of the IAAF, then of course the medals will be removed," IOC president Jacques Rogge told the AP.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said the federation had no immediate comment.

"We definitely want to protect the medals for the rest of the relay team," USOC chief executive Jim Scherr said during the Athens Olympics. "Jerome ran in a preliminary, the contest was not decided in that preliminary race. We think they earned those medals in the final."

If the U.S. team loses its case, Nigeria will be upgraded to gold, Jamaica to silver and the Bahamas to bronze.

Young, the world 400-meter champion in 2003, tested positive for the endurance-boosting drug EPO in July at a meet in Paris. He faces a possible lifetime ban if found guilty of the second doping offense. That case is being handled by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Both Harrison brothers have also been involved in doping cases.

On Tuesday, two-time Olympic gold medalist Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year suspension from the USADA for drug violations uncovered in the BALCO case.

Calvin Harrison drew a two-year suspension after a positive test last year for modafinil, his second doping offense.