NY Times labels cycling as 'most linked' to drugs. It's an opinion but what about weightlifting, baseball, football...

OK, it's just an opinion piece - and largely a positive one about cycling cleaning up its act - but why do the authors make these sort of value judgements? Upon what research is cycling deemed to be top of the heap here? And yes, I know it gets said a lot - but why? Because the mass media itself repeats and encourages it? Because cycling is a fringe sport that doesn't bite back? Because of Landis, Hamilton and Armstrong? Because cycling publicises its own infringements rather than hiding them?

Anyway, here's the NYT quote and link:

More than any other sport, bicycling has been linked to drugs. Podium finishers in nearly every Tour over at least the last two decades have failed drug tests, admitted to doping or been linked to high-profile investigations.

As I said, it's mostly positive. It just grates a bit when I know that most cyclists who have obtained PEDs have in my admittedly limited experience got them through other sports people, usually via contacts in a gym. Whilst many of the highest-profile infringements and legal pursuits have indeed been of cyclists, what about the equally infamous drug busts related to football, baseball and athletics? Did they get their PEDs via cyclists, as you may imagine from the anti-cycling hype? Not to my knowledge, no. 

Indeed it's common enough knowledge that for many casual users looking for steroids and other 'help' the trail often starts with a conversation at a gym. It's as logical as going to a dodgy doctor, another anecdotal yet 'logical' approach. More recently the internet has gained some credence as a source, too. And whilst I have nothing more than anecdotal evidence for all of this I can't see any solid evidence that things have greatly changed. It may be more organised than 20 years ago, less haphazard. But it surely affects all sports and especially those cashed-up ones. Gyms are full of sports people of various codes who want to build up and maintain muscular strength or recover from injury. That doesn't mean that gyms are in on the whole thing, just that they are logical points of first contact, nothing more. If we are going to label cyclists in particular as 'most bad' then let's actually do the hard yards first and investigate the number and depth of penetration across all sports. Please.  

Cross Country Olympic skier and EPO user Mika Myllyla found dead

A sad passing, but a reminder also that any athlete in any sport can be tempted to use PEDs. Whilst we should not pre-judge the causes here, it should be remembered that having decided to go after athletes that we have labelled as "cheat" we also need to consider their longer-term physical and mental health. Some sort of post-ban rehabilitation program may be required, although an alternative - as unpalatable as it may be to some - is simply to legalise PEDs and control their use. I doubt that will happen anytime soon but ultimately it may be the inevitable outcome of ever more generally accepted genetic and pharmaceutical advances. If the general public continues to pop pills and accept virally-delivered genetic patches to improve function and longevity then the "purity" of the "cheater" label becomes somewhat blurred, doesn't it?    

Disgraced Olympic champion found dead in apartment

HELSINKI: The Finnish cross-country skier Mika Myllyla, who won gold at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, was found dead at his home on Tuesday, police announced. He was 41.

Disgraced Olympic champion found dead in apartment

he won nine world championship medals including four golds; three of them at Ramsau in 1999 at 10km, 30km and 50km.

Myllala then tested positive in 2001 for hydroxyethl starch, a masking agent for the banned blood booster EPO.

In June this year he gave a sworn statement during a court case that he had indeed used EPO during the 1990s.

The "Sven S" EPO accusation - or be careful who you employ part-time

Your part-time and casual staff are as important as any of your full-time permanent staff members - they have to be just as well trained and just as fully integrated into your organisation. It says so in your HR policy guidelines, surely? Umm. Ahhh. Yes.

Of course it rarely works that way, does it? Part-time, casual staff are simply pulled in to fill a hole in a roster, often with little warning. They rarely get the time to do all of the training and induction - or simply forget it shortly thereafter - and have inevitably missed something important whilst they were elsewhere doing whatever they do when they aren't working for you. That's reality. And it works both ways - they may not know you very well and you may not know them very well either. Which if they are accused of dealing in EPO could be a problem, couldn't it?  

BMC To Investigate Schoutteten Doping Accusations | Cyclingnews.com

The BMC team has announced it will take immediate action to investigate what involvement part-time soigneur Sven Schoutteten might have had with riders and staff during his interaction with the team.

Schoutteten is alleged to be part of a doping investigation in Belgium that stems from 2009. Customs officials in Liege airport discovered a package containing 195 vials of the banned blood boosting drug EPO.

BMC Soigneur Implicated In Drug Investigation | Cyclingnews.com

A BMC soigneur has been arrested after a long-running investigation into his connection with a shipment of drugs seized at Brussels airport in 2009. The investigation has taken 18 months and ultimately led to the arrest of 'Sven S.' according to Belgium newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. Several other media have reported that the package contained 200 doses of EPO.