A joint operation between Mossos d’Esquadra and Spain’s Policia Nacional has resulted in the arrest of ten members of a doping ring that allegedly provided anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, EPO, CERA and other performance-enhancing drug (PEDs) to top amateur, professional and Olympic athletes. The steroid investigation was codenamed Operación Skype. The doping ring was headquartered in Barcelona. [Read more…]
Steroids in Cycling
Feb
20
USADA Continues to Waste Taxpayer Money on Lance Armstrong Witch-Hunt
Federal prosecutors have ended the criminal investigation of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. The investigation examined evidence that Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service pro cycling team used anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs during the time it received government sponsorship. While the investigation may have involved steroids, its focus was on whether federal conspiracy, fraud, witness tampering and/or racketeering laws were violated. [Read more…]
Feb
11
Tour de France Winner Proves Even a Doper Can Get Sponsors
Cyclist Jan Ullrich proved that even an athlete marred by a doping scandal can still make money from sponsorships. Ullrich was the first German to win the 1997 Tour de France and was the runner-up to Lance Armstrong in five subsequent Tour de France races. He was incredibly popular in his homeland until he was linked to a major doping scandal in 2006. Ullrich retired under a cloud of suspicion in 2007. [Read more…]
Feb
08
Spanish Tennis Star Rafa Nadal Uses Steroids in French Satirical TV Show
The popular French satirical television show known as “Les Guignols de l’Info” has broadcast a controversial video skit implying athletes from neighboring Spain are using anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs. The skit displayed the logos of ten different Spanish sports federations including tennis, cycling and soccer. At least one of the federations planned to sue the French network Canal+ for slander and the unauthorized use of their logo. [Read more…]
Jan
23
Jacked Up French Cyclist Tests Positive for Seven Steroid Metabolites
Alexandre Dougnier, an amateur French cyclist, tested positive for at least 12 banned substances, including at least 7 steroid metabolites, at a race in Aubervilliers (France) in May 2011. The teenage cyclist was banned for three years from competition in what may be a record for an athlete caught using the most banned substances. [Read more…]
Dec
20
Accidental Steroid Use OK According to USADA
The concept of “strict liability” dictates that athletes are accountable for any positive result for anabolic steroids or performance-enhancing drugs regardless of whether it was intentional doping or unintentional doping. This concept has become fuzzy in recent years as anti-doping officials have become more open-minded with regard to plausible cases of inadvertent steroid use. [Read more…]
Nov
18
Tennis Legend Yannick Noah Advocates Legalized Doping in Sports
Former professional tennis player Yannick Noah recently wrote that the use of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs should be permitted in sports in a guest editorial entitled “La potion magique” for the French newspaper Le Monde. Noah argued that the athletes that win are the ones that have learned how to outsmart the anti-doping agencies. [Read more…]
Nov
14
Floyd Landis Convicted in Hacking Incident Related to Steroid Case
Floyd Landis has been convicted of receiving steroid-testing documents that were illegally obtained from a French laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The Chatenay-Malabry laboratory was responsible for testing Landis’ urine and blood samples for the presence of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the 2006 Tour de France. Landis was initially declared the winner of the 2006 Tour until anti-doping controls suggested that he had used the anabolic steroid testosterone. [Read more…]
Oct
27
No Mercy for Paralympic Athletes Who Use Steroids
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) has announced that paralympic cyclist Gregory Ball has been banned from competition for two years following a positive test result for anabolic steroids. He is also required to pay back A$27,00 in financial grants to the Australian Sports Commission.
Ball tested positive for stanozolol at the Scody Cycling Australia Track National Championships in Sydney on February 4, 2011. Stanozolol is the name of the synthetic anabolic steroid found in the popular bodybuilding drug known as Winstrol. Winstrol is available both as an oral and injectable steroid. [Read more…]
Oct
23
Cyclist Who Exposed Steroid Use in Cycling Avoids Jail
Cyclist Joe Papp was sentenced to three years probation and six months house arrest for selling performance-enhancing drugs online to amateur and professional athletes. In February 2010, Papp pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to distribute Jintropin-brand human growth hormone (hGH) and Eposino-brand erythropoietin (EPO). He admitted to selling $80,000 worth of the PEDs between September 2006 and September 2007. [Read more…]
