Essexman
Level 6 Valued Member
Something we have to consider is that the governing bodies have to be 100% sure the testing is done correctly and the results are valid. Which unfortunately hasn’t always been the case.I feel that if they really wanted to make sports clean of PEDs, that should be standard procedure. I think in general, the rules regarding PEDs are too mild: if you ask me, the way things are now, the potential benefits of juicing outweigh the drawbacks of being caught, because normally, people just face a 1-2 year lay-off outside of the testing pool. If I were responsible, I would
1. ban athletes for life
2. strip them of ALL titles they ever won (because you never know when they started)
3. make them pay back ALL sponsorship deals they ever got to the people they beat
That would be a start, although it would never fully reimburse the people who lost to them (assuming they were in fact clean, which is another issue). Nobody does any of that, so I would argue there is an implicit agreement to keep things the way they are.
I work in a certified lab for testing electrical products. Years ago in a training course there was a case highlighted concerning a drugs test. The results were positive and I believe it was a female swimmer. She was banned from her sports, lost medals etc.
She denied taking anything she shouldn’t have and it took years to clear her name.
After investigation they found that her urine sample after arriving in the lab had been left on a window ledge in bright sunlight, this had caused a chemical reaction which gave incorrect results.
Products sample handling procedures it turns out are very important.