Floyd Landis And Doping
Over the past few days I've read enough to become conversant in the topic of doping as it pertains to testosterone. There is a great doping article by the incomparable Malcom Gladwell which was written in 2001. This article is disgusting in its contents and accusations. The second half of the article discusses testosterone doping.
While it appears many sports medicine doctors have come to the defense of Landis, I believe we may never know the truth. It is interesting to note that the Tour De France has ratcheted down the 6:1 T/E ratio to 4:1 this year. So, did Landis test at 4:1 which may be explainable or did he test at 18:1 as the East German athlete did in Gladwell's article? Well normal is around 1:1 unless you have a natural predisposition to something a little higher, whatever that might be. 18:1 is a clear doper. 4:1? Well, the docs need to chime in on that one. It is funny that patches are mentioned as a smoothing method of cheating T/E tests and it seems to be common practice for biking dopers to use patches after bonking. While testosterone wouldn't obviously have much if any impact overnight, athletes will try anything for an angle.
So, if you thought your race was over after an awful stage at the Tdf, would you risk it for the potential glory of tens of millions if you could pull a miracle? Knowing you were having a hip surgery and this might be your only chance to achieve what you have trained your whole life for? Or, for those who say that alcohol may raise testosterone levels, what if Landis knew that, as he obviously would IF he were a doper. Would you drink alcohol in a public forum with witnesses while also using a patch after your bonk to provide an alibi? "Oh, I was drinking."
I want to believe he is innocent and I want him to have the fair shake he has not had, but I guess we may never know the truth.
UPDATE: It appears there is a test which will tell us if Landis indeed did cheat. It is the carbon isotope test and appears precise. It looks as though it measures synthetic epitestosterone ingested by dopers in an attempt to keep the T/E ratio within limits. But, the question arises if Landis's T/E ratio was elevated, did he actually take epitestosterone as well. Or, is there some way to determine if the testosterone is synthetic as well? Clarity is developing as more experts and doctors speak out. I hope he is innocent but I fear he is guilty if this T/E ratio was 11:1 as was leaked. More waiting.
While it appears many sports medicine doctors have come to the defense of Landis, I believe we may never know the truth. It is interesting to note that the Tour De France has ratcheted down the 6:1 T/E ratio to 4:1 this year. So, did Landis test at 4:1 which may be explainable or did he test at 18:1 as the East German athlete did in Gladwell's article? Well normal is around 1:1 unless you have a natural predisposition to something a little higher, whatever that might be. 18:1 is a clear doper. 4:1? Well, the docs need to chime in on that one. It is funny that patches are mentioned as a smoothing method of cheating T/E tests and it seems to be common practice for biking dopers to use patches after bonking. While testosterone wouldn't obviously have much if any impact overnight, athletes will try anything for an angle.
So, if you thought your race was over after an awful stage at the Tdf, would you risk it for the potential glory of tens of millions if you could pull a miracle? Knowing you were having a hip surgery and this might be your only chance to achieve what you have trained your whole life for? Or, for those who say that alcohol may raise testosterone levels, what if Landis knew that, as he obviously would IF he were a doper. Would you drink alcohol in a public forum with witnesses while also using a patch after your bonk to provide an alibi? "Oh, I was drinking."
I want to believe he is innocent and I want him to have the fair shake he has not had, but I guess we may never know the truth.
UPDATE: It appears there is a test which will tell us if Landis indeed did cheat. It is the carbon isotope test and appears precise. It looks as though it measures synthetic epitestosterone ingested by dopers in an attempt to keep the T/E ratio within limits. But, the question arises if Landis's T/E ratio was elevated, did he actually take epitestosterone as well. Or, is there some way to determine if the testosterone is synthetic as well? Clarity is developing as more experts and doctors speak out. I hope he is innocent but I fear he is guilty if this T/E ratio was 11:1 as was leaked. More waiting.
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