Re:Fighting an anti-doping finding
by Gualdrapo on Tuesday June 04, 2024 @10:14PM
(#40580793)
I happen to be related to Miguel Ángel López (his grandparent is one of my father's uncles). If you happen to not know who he is, he was in the Astana Pro Team and had an infamous short stint at Movistar. A few days ago UCI informed he was suspended from professional cycling due to an AAF, and was involved into a doping scandal but allegedly his name got clear about that.
I haven't met him personally so I can't tell if he's actually done any wrongdoing intentionally or not, but I do know for a fact he has spoken several times about retiring due to the mental toll competition has had on him and several colleagues of his, as far as back as 2017.
And if you take a look at it, it's something that it's not talked enough on the sport circles. In cycling specially, if someone becomes suspect of doping every "fan" will immediately point their fingers at them - unless it's one of your favorite cyclists. It happens everywhere online, from Facebook to Twitter to the rampant tribalism of r/peloton - immediately you'll become public enemy #1 no matter what. Cycling has had a bad story with doping and if the pressure to give results is not big enough, the stress of being labelled as a doper is a new whole level. I still can recall people throwed urine to Froome at some stages in the Tour de France.
Re:Fighting an anti-doping finding
by dogmatism on Friday June 07, 2024 @09:29PM
(#40614585)
MAL's finding is not exactly surprising, and Astana has been suspect since they became a thing in the wake of the demise of Liberty Seguros after Operacion Puerto
Re:Fighting an anti-doping finding
by nwiswell on Friday June 07, 2024 @05:12PM
(#40613043)
A great deal of the money trickles down from the Olympics/IOC (WADA).
Individual sporting bodies are also under a great deal of pressure to comply with WADA standards, since there is a very real threat of being kicked out of the Olympics for insufficiently draconian enforcement (a perennial story with Weightlifting / IWF). So in many cases the athletes themselves pay for it via their dues to their sporting body.
I haven't met him personally so I can't tell if he's actually done any wrongdoing intentionally or not, but I do know for a fact he has spoken several times about retiring due to the mental toll competition has had on him and several colleagues of his, as far as back as 2017.
And if you take a look at it, it's something that it's not talked enough on the sport circles. In cycling specially, if someone becomes suspect of doping every "fan" will immediately point their fingers at them - unless it's one of your favorite cyclists. It happens everywhere online, from Facebook to Twitter to the rampant tribalism of r/peloton - immediately you'll become public enemy #1 no matter what. Cycling has had a bad story with doping and if the pressure to give results is not big enough, the stress of being labelled as a doper is a new whole level. I still can recall people throwed urine to Froome at some stages in the Tour de France.
Superman ain't Lizzie Banks
Who pays for all this anti-doping bureaucracy? It sounds very expensive for both the agency and the athletes.
Individual sporting bodies are also under a great deal of pressure to comply with WADA standards, since there is a very real threat of being kicked out of the Olympics for insufficiently draconian enforcement (a perennial story with Weightlifting / IWF). So in many cases the athletes themselves pay for it via their dues to their sporting body.