V 9 N. 31 Salazar Busted

Alberto Salazar along with his endocrinologist associate, got busted today for illegal, and I will add unethical use of his Gilbert Chemistry set to enhance performance of athletes who were not named in the action by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA). Should I have phrased that opening sentence to read   "finally" got busted?  It seems like this has been a train wreck waiting to happen for a long time.  But the well and powerfully placed often have a way of insulating their actions from the general public and escaping reality and the law for a long time until they eventually crash and burn.  Some even choose to openly flaunt their lies.   We could generalize about that regarding national politics in a number of nations these days.  But we are a track blog, not a political blog.  We believers have to understand, but not accept,  that you can cheat your way to stardom and stay at the pinnacle, but eventually  you will fall and fall hard.  Lance Armstrong is a case in point.  Albeit it can be said that Lance did some good with his cancer foundation.  In fact a good friend argues very concisely that she would not be alive today if it were not for Lance Armstrong.  What can be said of Alberto and his band of merry men?  Is anyone avoiding that final lap of life thanks to them?

I may be wrong on this but I think the lads were tinkering with testosterone levels in certain athletes.  It was alleged a few years ago that they may have been experimenting on their own family members to find how much testosterone can be added to a person to bring them  to just below the max levels that are permitted to be carried in the human body during athletic competition.  Now is that morality or not?  It seems that many famous scientists in the past experimented on human guinea pigs including themselves and even their house guest in the quest for knowledge and scientific breakthroughs.    I would suspect that if Salazar and his associates were doing this, they had to be testing the amounts and delivery methodology in all their athletes, because each person reacts differently to drugs administered to them.  To get it 'right' you have to experiment and dial it in to pass the testing.   If they went over those limits then they held the athlete back from competition and  testing or told them to avoid at all costs being tested by USADA or WADA agents who were looking for them for random testing.  Armstrong and other cyclists were known to keep very irregular schedules and thus their whereabouts were often unknown when the collectors were trying to find them for a random sample. If you tell the athlete what is the testing schedule, it makes it easier to manipulate their levels pro tem.     We know that Christian Coleman recently  missed some testing but was eventually cleared to compete, but exactly why I haven't understood.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, because if someone of this high a profile was cleared at the last minute, there must be some accountable reason and a serious look at the situation.  At least I hope so, because if not, our sport might as well pack it in and go to the next tiddly winks contest.

We've been dealing with this kind of behavior for a long time.  In the 1960's and  70's certain throwers were cheating.  But if you went back to the turn of the previous century ie. the 19th century, trainers were juicing their athletes quite openly.  In the 1970s all of us were drinking coffee before long distance races, because we understood that caffeine would liberate free fatty acids into the blood stream as an alternative energy source.  It wasn't illegal, but was it immoral?  What we were less aware of was caffeine's diuretic effects that could produce early dehydration, and water stations were rare in those days compared to modern times.  So we often ended up hurting a potential performance out of ignorance.  At that time blood doping was also a popular thing to be doing, but was recycling one's own blood to increase the number of red blood cells immoral. It eventually was outlawed, and certain Finnish runners were strongly suspected of using this technique, though it was very  hard to prove.    Today one can have the same effect  by injecting erythropoetin, also an illegal practice.

What does it mean to cheat to win?  You can't make a lot of money in track and field these days.  Not like you can in football or international soccer, basketball, or professional cycling.   So reasons for cheating seem to be mainly to be seen as a winner, an Olympic Champion, a World Champion, a World Record Holder, so long as you don't get caught.  Maybe a few dollars will come your way with some endorsements if you are pretty or have a nice personality.  I honor and respect the clean athletes, losers and winners, because I know that they know themselves.  Unfortunately I don't know who they are.   Well I guess the cheaters may know themselves but are probably in major denial.   Will anyone ever think of Armstrong as a winner today?  Life is fleeting, fame is even more fleeting.  I've sometimes advocated that we run two races for each event at a track meet.  One heat, no one will be tested. You can put whatever you want into your system.  The other heat will be for self declared 'clean' athletes.  It might seem like declaring virginity at a whorehouse convention.  But the testing will be heavy on those athletes who declare themselves clean, and a violation would convict cheaters to life in the other lane.

The next question is will the public pay to see a clean race or a juiced race?

Waiting for your comments.
George Brose


Salazar and Brown Busted   clik here for AP Story.


Coe Orders NOP Athletes to Dissociate from Salazar The Guardian Oct. 2, 2019


Some more comments from readers:

Whatcha think bout’ all this ? Were you suspicious all along or just the last few years ?

Gawd, I hate this.

Steve Price

Nice job George he is destroying the sport that has already changed enough.  Marc Arce


I hated writing about this issue, especially after posting the obituary of a man like Tom O'Hara last week.  He was such a modest, humble person and a true asset to the sport.    This is 180 degrees the opposite.    George



Sure makes you wonder about any athlete associated with the program.  If the coach is rotten how come no athlete has been found  rotten?    Probably because there was some admission of guilt during arbitator's inquiry or at least a suggestion of having done something that can be associated with an illegal act. .   About two years ago I attended a conference of sports arbitrators and mediators in Vancouver.  There were  speakers from WADA and one of them said in reference to athletes who get caught with too much illegal substances in their bodies, "There are only two types,  cheaters and dumbasses."    George



No real surprise since he has been suspected for some time now.  I think the long arm of Nike has kept him from punishment but evidently that has ended.  Several have quit the NOP, allegedly for unnamed reasons. 
Bill Schnier  

Throws a bad light on everybody who has been near him except Dick Beardsley.  George

Salazar sounds just like Trump in his response. Bruce Kritzler

I understand Rudy Giuliani will take a break from his present client to represent Salazar.  Roy Very well-played this.  Does this now mean that Al Sal will join the whereabouts protection program?  Paul O. With the IAAF World Champs meet being contested, the exposure of all this came at such a bad time...  .with everything draping over the next Olympic Games. We may never see the return of a “clean” environ.  Someone will always be looking for drugs et al that will aid their performances. It’s been this way for a long  time I am sorry to say. Tell me more bout’ Jared Ward.  Thanks    Steve Price  I definitely hear you about the poor light it shines on the sport.  But he's a cheat and his athletes have been  going along.  I do believe there are athletes sitting in the wings that have achieved things legitimately  deserve this.  Most of all, I think it continues to shed light on Nike (which you know how I feel about them)  and the fact that they are also supporting the "win at all cost" mentality of Alberto and the NOP.   Maybe I'm too "dreamy" about it all, but when there are guys like Jared Ward facing guys like                         Galen Rupp and Mo Farrah.......I'd prefer to see the latter guys get nailed. Ryan King

Jared Ward is a marathoner at this point.  Went to Rio and finished 6th.  Been behind Rupp the last few years after he started running marathons.  Squeaky clean guy.  I've gotten to know him and have been a huge cheerleader of his........because he's fast and competitive, but mostly because he's a fantastic human being.  He's spoke to our XC kids a couple of times and he's simply a great role model.

(Although he did get himself in trouble for running a fun run in a costume when he was at BYU, shameful)

Whether it's Allison Felix as of late, the Gouchers, or many of the other "ex-Nike" athletes, they almost all have a story of how Nike wasn't looking out for the sport.  So as far as I'm concerned, busting them is welcomed.  I just wish the report would have also named some athletes.

When Euliod Kipchoge tries to run a sub 2 hour marathon, Nike doesn't talk about drug testing......they focus on the shoes he's wearing.  Is that supporting the sport, or supporting their marketing interest?  Don't get me wrong, I'm as much of a capitalist as anyone, but Nike has corrupted our sport, bought and paid for the USATF, and encouraged people like Alberto to exist.  

George's question in his blog post was interesting.  "Would people still pay to watch a clean race?"  I think they would, if it's all clean.  There are still phenomenal athletes out there, who work hard and accomplish big things.  But if Castor can't have inflated testosterone levels as a female, then neither should a male athlete, especially if there are rules about it.  

Ryan King

Good article, George!   Bill Blewett

And in Alberto Salazar's Defense:

It is hard to believe that Alberto Salazar was busted on doping charges to athletes. He is a Christian. 

When I was on medical leave in the U.S. I was fund raising for shoes and running apparel for my athletes in Sierra Leone, When I called Nike, I was directed to Alberto. Hell of a nice guy. He arranged for me to get some out dated running apparel donated to my runners. 

Tom

When it was mentioned that NOP might have been using a cream based testosterone it reminded me of the case of Barry Bonds using a cream as well.  Here's what I found on a quick google search.
See text in red below.
Warning!!! Do not try this at home. 
George

As detailed in Game of Shadows by Mark Fainaru-Wasa and Lance Williams

by Mark Zurlo

Following the 1998 season, Winstrol was the first steroid Bonds allegedly used. It is popular with bodybuilders, but Bonds felt inflexible and had trouble with shoulder tendons while on the drug. It is best known to have been used by disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson.

Deca-Durabolin

Also popular with bodybuilders, Bonds reportedly used the drug in injection form. It is often used to treat anemia.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

According to Game of Shadows, Bonds used HGH, an undetectable steroid, as a cocktail with a number of other performance-enhancers. HGH is known to strengthen joints and tissue, and allowed Bonds to maintain muscle without any heavy lifting during the season.

The Cream

A testosterone-based substance reportedly given to Bonds by Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Lab Co-Operative (BALCO).

The Clear (Norbolethone or THG)

Also reportedly supplied by Conte, the Clear was used by many of the world's top Olympic sprinters, including former 100-meter world record-holder Tim Montgomery. The drug was developed for medical reasons during the 1960's but never mass produced because of safety concerns.

Insulin

Known to increase the effectiveness of using HGH

Andriol

Also known as "Mexican beans," these steriods take effect and leave the user's body quickly.

Trenbolone

Steroid normally used to improve the muscle quality of beef cattle.

Clomid

Bonds allegedly used this drug, prescribed to women for infertility, to regain the ability to produce natural testosterone. Bonds often ignored his trainer's advice to take time off between cycles to allow this process to occur naturally.