byLarry EderDrug testing does catch most of the cheaters. However, with gene doping (some say it is being done now), and the seven drug cocktail mentioned by Victor Conte (check out his digital film on BBC. com), some folks are spending lots of money not to try and beat the system.
My take on the general sports fan: The sports fan got tired of professional sports when teams put winning above putting a thug with a criminal record on a team. When the pros get a positive, it is part of the white hum of scum that surrounds sports that has surrendered any dignity.
When a sports fan reads about a track athlete testing positive, they do not think, ” Hey, the drug testing is working.” The sports fan puts athletics, track & field on a higher plain, a simpler time, and when Olympian, which means to them, best team-or track and field is sullied, then the Olympic movement is sullied.
This track and field marketing folks have still not figured that out. In Eugene,the festive manner, the great level of performance, all added to the success of the event, and the success of the U.S. Olympic Track team. Here is the big question-how do they build on it in July 2008?
ROMANIA BANS POPESCU FROM OLYMPIC TEAM FOLLOWING POSITIVE DRUG TEST
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
ROME — Agencies are reporting that Romanian middle distance runner Liliana Popescu has been dropped from the country’s Olympic squad after failing a drug test.
The 26-year-old Popescu, currently the world leader in the 1500m, failed a doping test at the African Grand Prix meet in Algiers, on May 29. The banned substance has not been identified, nor has her B sample been tested, but Romanian Olympic Committee officials nonetheless removed her from the team.
According to an Agence France-Presse report, Romanian athletes face a stiff 100,000 euro ($156,000) penalty if they test positive at the Olympic Games. According to the country’s Olympic committee, Popescu was removed from the team because officials don’t want any athletes suspected of cheating to compete in Beijing.
Popescu, who was sixth in the 1500m at the World Indoor Championships in March, has produced the finest season of her career. A few days prior to the Algiers meet, she clocked career bests of 1:59.34 and a world-leading 4:00.35 at a national grand prix meet in Bucharest. She won the 1500m at the Super Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar, on May 9, and the 800m at the European Cup First League competition in Istanbul late last month.
ENDS
Used with permission of our roving bon vivant, Mr. Bob Ramsak. Track Profile is used with permission here.
