The IOC and USOC are all primed and pumped up for the Beijing Olympics, which begin on Aug. 8th. And they’re especially excited (at least outwardly) at the prospect of putting on a drug-free Games.
U.S. officials have even gone so far as to vow that their team will be clean, and enlisted 12 prominent athletes to submit to extensive blood and urine testing, going even beyond what the IOC requires.
Of course, with all the bluster comes some caution, as one official told the Washington Post:
“We are confident that, within the means we have of detection, we are doing everything we can to ensure we catch or deter any of our athletes from doping,” U.S. Olympic Committee Chief of Sport Performance Steve Roush said from Beijing. “It’s a high degree of confidence, but at the same time, you don’t say ‘guarantee’ because something could come up that surprises you, something that nobody saw coming.”
Which is what will happen, of course. Rest assured, there will be positive drug tests in China. And even if none of them involve Americans, that doesn’t mean the U.S. team will be clean. Here are some things to consider…
- Marion Jones never failed a drug test.She’s currently in jail for lying to the feds about her doping habits after getting caught in the BALCO investigation.
- Trevor Graham, Jones’ coach, has been banned from the sport for life, and he’s the guy who sparked the BALCO scandal by sending a sample of the designer steroid THG to the USADA, a drug that officials had no clue even existed.
- Others star athletes who never failed drug tests? Barry Bonds (being investigated by feds), Roger Clemens (ditto), Jason Giambi (admitted using under oath), Gary Sheffield (said it was all Bonds’ idea), and Tammy Thomas (serving time).
Clearly, there are ways to beat the tests, and who knows what new drug is out there now that can slip past the screeners? Already there are whispers about swimmer Dara Torres, who has defied the odds by qualifying for the Olympics at age 41. Torres, to be fair, is a part of the USOC’s extended testing program.
So what are the odds of these Games actually being contested on a fair and level playing field?
- About the same as these guys remaining friends.
- About the same as a pirate winning a horse race.
- Slightly better than these guys winning the Nobel Prize.
[...] Original post by Average Bob [...]