Beijing re-testing [new CERA positives]

[gh]

Latest AP story (now on front page) says the track gold medalist is male.

[gh]

IOC confirms 7 positives from 6 athletes, so one of them was apparently in two events.

[Dave]

This isn't tallying ballots: it's hard science (very hard science). I applaud them for taking the time to get it right.

Note from the story on the front page they've also decided to check for insulin.

And this from in the story

<<...The Beijing samples have been sent to the lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they are undergoing a process to ensure they are valid. Officials are deciding exactly how many to analyze and which methods to use.

"About 1,000 altogether," Schamasch said. "We want to do this intelligently. We will work on everything we think is relevant and realistic."...>>

They've got to invent whole new protocols, maintain integrity of chain-of-command and adequately preserve all the samples. Every simple slip in that procedure that leads to a positive costs thousands of dollars and makes the program look bad.

Good science doesn't happen overnight.

This is a disaster. I think that all of the drug testing should be complete within 24hrs of the competition. Do the testing before hand and do it multiple times if need be, but there should be a statute of limitations on testing. The person(s) who are on the victory stand should be the winners.

This crap is doing far more damage to the sports than the actual cheating.

[26mi235]

Latest AP story (now on front page) says the track gold medalist is male.

Since they indicate a male endurance athlete, one event-type with systematic problems recently is RaceWalking; what are the implications for Russian Athletics and especially for Russian RW if it is him (and other positives for other non-medal RWs).

Of course, the two big shocks, since gh mentions that it might be from someone with two tests and hence two events, would be Bot and KB. Bolt had three events and he was not in an endurance event.

I am NOT speculating, only commenting on what makes my heart go thump-a-thump-a while waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[Daisy]

This crap is doing far more damage to the sports than the actual cheating.

Good luck with finding the labs to turn the samples around that quickly.

[26mi235]

This isn't tallying ballots: it's hard science (very hard science). I applaud them for taking the time to get it right.

Note from the story on the front page they've also decided to check for insulin.

And this from in the story

<<...The Beijing samples have been sent to the lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they are undergoing a process to ensure they are valid. Officials are deciding exactly how many to analyze and which methods to use.

"About 1,000 altogether," Schamasch said. "We want to do this intelligently. We will work on everything we think is relevant and realistic."...>>

They've got to invent whole new protocols, maintain integrity of chain-of-command and adequately preserve all the samples. Every simple slip in that procedure that leads to a positive costs thousands of dollars and makes the program look bad.

Good science doesn't happen overnight.

This is a disaster. I think that all of the drug testing should be complete within 24hrs of the competition. Do the testing before hand and do it multiple times if need be, but there should be a statute of limitations on testing. The person(s) who are on the victory stand should be the winners.

This crap is doing far more damage to the sports than the actual cheating.

I think that you have to wait until you know who the winners are first, then testing takes a while. In this case, a new drug was tested for.

[TrakFan]

The person(s) who are on the victory stand should be the winners.

And they are...until further investigation determines they cheated to win.

[Dave]

The person(s) who are on the victory stand should be the winners.

And they are...until further investigation determines they cheated to win.

And should a fan happen to attend a meet or manage to find one on TV, he or she will have no idea who one at the end of any important competition. Sooner or later, and most likely sooner, people stop caring what happened.

[gh]

Latest AP story (now on front page) says the track gold medalist is male.

Since they indicate a male endurance athlete, one event-type with systematic problems recently is RaceWalking; what are the implications for Russian Athletics and especially for Russian RW if it is him (and other positives for other non-medal RWs).

Of course, the two big shocks, since gh mentions that it might be from someone with two tests and hence two events, would be Bot and KB. Bolt had three events and he was not in an endurance event.

I am NOT speculating, only commenting on what makes my heart go thump-a-thump-a while waiting for the other shoe to drop.

This is a couple of links down the chain, but word from someone who is well acquainted with the halls of Lausanne says that no Americans are involved. I cannot vouch for this source's reliability, just placement.

[MJR]

Latest AP story (now on front page) says the track gold medalist is male.

Since they indicate a male endurance athlete, one event-type with systematic problems recently is RaceWalking; what are the implications for Russian Athletics and especially for Russian RW if it is him (and other positives for other non-medal RWs).

My first thought is the nailed the Russkie too. I SO hope that this is the case.

[Steeplechaser]

Retesting

Any guesses as to when we'll know names? I mean officially, not speculation...

[gh]

If it is Borchin (although if so, I'd wonder why he had better dope than all the others in his camp that got caught), can the IAAF not take a serioius look at the Russian federation? Or at least the walk coaches? Their ongoing sanctioning of only athletes is somewhat akin to U.S. street-drug courts being happy to give stiff sentences to all the little fish in the pond because it's too hard to go after the big ones.

[MJR]

Now would be a perfect time for the Commish to enter the discussion...

[Bob H]

No, it really wouldn't. For one thing, I have no idea what's going on with these new reported positives. I know only what I've been reading today in the same news stories that everyone else is reading.

Moreover, if there ever came to be a time when I had inside knowledge about the facts, or personal thoughts about what actions should be taken by whom and against whom, it would be entirely inappropriate for me to share that knowledge and those thoughts on a public forum like this one. In fact, I don't even speak about such things privately with my track friends.

[26mi235]

If it is Borchin (although if so, I'd wonder why he had better dope than all the others in his camp that got caught), can the IAAF not take a serioius look at the Russian federation? Or at least the walk coaches? Their ongoing sanctioning of only athletes is somewhat akin to U.S. street-drug courts being happy to give stiff sentences to all the little fish in the pond because it's too hard to go after the big ones.

If it is Borchin I think that the IOC as well as the IAAF will be embarrassed after not taking a tougher line on the Russian RW enterprise, and what else can you call it but an enterprise - in this context not a compliment. My guess is suspension until some heads roll and some conditions met -- but not a block, directly, or indirectly, on the future Worlds.

Maybe it will spur them to allow unannounced entry into the country to do testing - or else.

Also, there was this comment on the Cyclingnews blog site that is consistent with the statement by gh.

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation hadn't received notification from the IOC of any adverse findings involving a U.S. athlete.