How many times have athletes tested clean, but were later found to be doping?

[cthulu2016]

I consider doping in sport to be our most wicked drug problem because it effectively compels other people to use dangerous drugs.

Say, hypothetically, that baseball is what you are best at. It is your dream. And it potentially pays millions and millions of dollars. And say drug enhancement is widespread in the major leagues. Your dream was never to use crazy drugs, your dream was to play in the majors. But you find that you are at a gross competitive disadvantage... if it is a league of dopers then you must dope or walk away.

And that arms race cascades down throughout sport. Next thing you know, a talented high school student has to juice to get a college scholarship, and so on.

You should not have to chose brain cancer at 40 in exchange for a scholarship today.

The potential pay-offs from sports doping are so high that there is constant research and refinement to find methods that the current tests do not detect.

This leads to a weird situation where there are people that everyone knows is doping, but who keep coming up clean.

Did Barry Bonds ever test positive for anything? I don't remember. God knows Lance Armstrong must have come up clean a zillion times when he wasn't clean. As an Orioles fan at the time, I watched Brady Anderson (a brilliant defensive outfielder but never a power hitter) turn into the second coming of Babe Ruth for a year, then fade back to normal. It wasn't a dominant story, though, because the power hitters that were juicing that same year were hitting more HRs than Ruth dreamed of.

Then Barry Bonds (one of the greatest players in history before he ever juiced) wants to know why Mark McGwire, a player with 10% of Bond's talent, is everyone's hero. So Bond's decides to show the world what a true Hall-of-Famer would look like on the juice and smashes every record in sight.

Everyone knew what was going on, but these guys kept competing.

I have seen a lot of stuff about how doping allegations against Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen are sour grapes, and that some people are too bitter to appreciate human excellence. And how she tested clean, so case closed.

But, unfortunately, we have been hearing that song for decades! All sorts of beloved athletes have done amazing things that were obviously enhanced and tested clean. Until the technology caught up with them or somebody talked. (As an older guy, I was THRILLED to see what Roger Clemens could do at 40. But part of me knew it was a little too good to be true.)

It is sad that some teenage girl might have done something amazing, and that accomplishment will be tarnished. It is sad that great athletes are distrusted almost presumptively.

But the Chinese swimming program lost more than 40 swimmers to improved dope-testing in the 1990s. One would have to be a little naieve to accept the thing at face value.

This arms race between doping technology and testing technology inevitably mean that a lot of great athletic achievements will continue to be cheating using techniques that are a few years ahead of the tests.

Sad.

[valerief]

1. I thought clean results were bought. You know, like elections. nt

[dballance]

2. Good Post

I appreciate your point about how the pros and the kids get drawn into doping just to remain competitive. It's a vicious cycle. I have unfortunately witnessd some body building friends ruin their health just to be able to put on a few more lbs of muscle and push another couple of reps.