As many as 99% of Russian athletes on drugs?

[rohrl]

That's what a German TV documentary alleges.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/30324812
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/drugs...

So are we getting back to the old days of state-sanctioned doping programmes like the East Germans had in the 70s and 80s? Maybe the Russians are only dojng the same as everyone else. After all there's been a lot of talk about how well the Chinese have been doing in some sports and Usain Bolt is just about the only Jamaican who hasn't tested positive. Maybe there's no point in trying to eradicate sports doping.

[epom]

I saw that, after the initial reporting of it, it seems to have died down again somewhat. Drugs in sport, a monstrous problem and one I believe is bigger than some of the sports themselves so much so that if all failed were reported the sports bodies would descend into chaos. Usain Bolt seems to be the last athlete in Jamaica that hasn't tested positive. Please for the everyone who believes in heroes let that be for real.

[Mr Will]

It's not just athletics; Tennis is alleged to be pretty rife with it too (and not just the Russians...)

[Bradgate]

Rugby Union is full of doping, too.

Players are told by their clubs to ‘go away and get big’ during the summer. Everyone knows what that means.

Source : friends of a friend play pro Rugby for English premiership clubs. I can't comment on League as I have no contacts in the game.

[HonestIago]

PEDs are rife in every single sport where athletic ability is paramount. That includes almost all Olympic track and field/endurance athletes. The general public are painfully naive about this.

[rohrl]

We should be aware that it isn't just those dastardly foreigners doping.

"Doping in athletics: British athlete avoided inquiry, claims German TV

A top British athlete escaped a doping inquiry after the IAAF, the sport's world governing body, decided not to look into 150 suspicious blood samples, a German television documentary claims.
Broadcaster ARD alleges an unnamed member of the IAAF's medical commission had a list of cases from 2006 to 2008 that were not investigated..."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/30384501

[rohrl]

HonestIago said:

PEDs are rife in every single sport where athletic ability is paramount. That includes almost all Olympic track and field/endurance athletes. The general public are painfully naive about this.

I think this is true.

I'm not a huge sports fan but I know a bit about cycling and I'm aware that EPO boosts the body's ability to transport oxygen by up to about 30%. Now if one rider in the peloton has a 30% advantage in O2 transfer how the hell does anyone explain the rest of them keeping up with him on a climb up Mont Ventoux?

[acd80]

Bradgate said:

Rugby Union is full of doping, too.

Players are told by their clubs to ‘go away and get big’ during the summer. Everyone knows what that means.

Source : friends of a friend play pro Rugby for English premiership clubs. I can't comment on League as I have no contacts in the game.

I know two lads who played pro-rugby union. One made it to International level. Both of them went from slim wiry / athletic build to very bulky in a very short period of time. Both of them had their careers cut short through injury. The only other people I know who made those impossible gains in such a short time scale were all gym bunnies on the juice.

[JuniorD]

Now I'm not saying that school rugby players are all on the 'roids, but I heard an interesting stat the other day in that the winning team of the NI Schools' Cup Final this year had a heavier front row than a Willie John McBride's Lion's side of the 60s. (I don't know which side; a light one presumably )

[HonestIago]

JuniorD said:

Now I'm not saying that school rugby players are all on the 'roids, but I heard an interesting stat the other day in that the winning team of the NI Schools' Cup Final this year had a heavier front row than a Willie John McBride's Lion's side of the 60s. (I don't know which side; a light one presumably )

Lots of them are though, seriously. I know of numerous 15-16 year olds using anabolics, the parents are clearly clueless. Designer steroids can be purchased very easily on supplement websites yet are arguably worse than "proper" gear:

http://www.predatornutrition.com/en/product/prohor...

[Derek Smith]

acd80 said:

Bradgate said:

Rugby Union is full of doping, too.

Players are told by their clubs to ‘go away and get big’ during the summer. Everyone knows what that means.

Source : friends of a friend play pro Rugby for English premiership clubs. I can't comment on League as I have no contacts in the game.

I know two lads who played pro-rugby union. One made it to International level. Both of them went from slim wiry / athletic build to very bulky in a very short period of time. Both of them had their careers cut short through injury. The only other people I know who made those impossible gains in such a short time scale were all gym bunnies on the juice.

It is not good for the sport in any way.