Interesting article regarding drugs in sport

[Stozza99]

A little dated but it's a very interesting read about an interview with a former PED dealer giving a first-hand account about the widespread use of drugs in a range of sports from athletics to golf.

http://www.pendlayforum.com/showthread.php?t=6611

While some people may find the article depressing, it makes me think that if so many athletes are drug cheats, then surely they're not cheating as they're not gaining an unfair advantage on anyone?

[dudleybloke]

there should be an "unlimited class" for athletes who can do what ever drugs they wanted, gene therapy, even bio-mechanical implants.
would make great telly!

[Lost_BMW]

A brilliant find thanks.

This bit is sobering, even though written a while back:

There are tablets for the kidneys that block the metabolites of steroids, so when athletes give a urine sample, they don’t excrete the metabolites and thus test negative. Or there is an enzyme that slowly consumes proteins - epo has protein structures, and the enzyme thus ensures that the B sample of the doping test has a completely different value than the A sample. Then there are chemicals that you take a couple of hours before the race that prevent acidification in the muscles. Together with epo they are an absolute miracle. I’ve created 20 different drugs that are still undetectable for the doping testers.

[Cavalierfc]

Stozza99 said:

While some people may find the article depressing, it makes me think that if so many athletes are drug cheats, then surely they're not cheating as they're not gaining an unfair advantage on anyone?

Drugs don't give everybody the same benefit. Any benefit gained is entirely dependant on how well someone responds to them. For a lot of drugs, the less of an athlete a person is, the more they're predisposed to gaining great benefit based on their physiology. This is especially true for endurance events.

Ergo: The best athlete isn't winning, but simply one with the best chemistry and prescriptions.