12/21/24
August 30, 2003
Kelli White: Double Gold... Loser?: What would a track-and-field championships be without a drugs 'scandal'? After taking the women's sprint double, Kelli White now faces forfeiting her medals after a urine sample turned up traces of the 'psycho-motor stimulant' modafinil. [more inside]
According to my local paper this morning, she suffers from asthma and thought this would be an acceptable medication. I think these drug rules are foolish and ought to be deleted from the books.
posted by billsaysthis at 07:56 PM on August 30, 2003
No, billsaysthis, she has been very foolish.No athlete would take medication without advice from a doctor. If she took this substance "unwittingly" then she deserves a 2 year ban for stupidity. Steve Cram says that it doesn't matter that the substance is not explicitly on the banned list. I can't believe people are just ready to give up on the doping issue
posted by salmacis at 04:22 AM on August 31, 2003
According to the linked article, her doctor prescribed her this drug to treat a tiredness disorder, called narcolepsy. A world-class sprinter? And she doesn't think the stuff that keeps her awake isn't a stimulant/performance enhancer? 2 years for idiocy.
posted by garfield at 07:57 AM on September 02, 2003
Either that or its just a cruel, cruel world for the nacroleptic sprinter. Like really tall people - nothing is made for them.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:22 AM on September 02, 2003
On second thought, I'll take 'a cruel, cruel world' for $500 Alex.
posted by garfield at 09:40 AM on September 02, 2003
Another hitch to this is that all the competing athlete's are required to fill out medical forms prior to the competition, where in part they are to list any medications they are taking. Mysteriously, White forgot to include Modafinil on her forms. I don't believe this was stupidity at all. She may very well have needed the drug for her asthma but I feel quite certain she knew about its secondary benefits as well.
posted by kloeprich at 01:03 AM on September 03, 2003
posted by garfield at 04:05 PM on September 09, 2003
sort of.
posted by garfield at 05:22 PM on September 09, 2003
Here's the catch: Modafinil is not on the IAAF's banned list (though will probably be there in 2004 before the Olympics) but it can still be treated as a doping case because of its similarity to substances that are on the banned list. With the proliferation of supplements and OTC remedies, all of which use different active ingredients, often simply to avoid patent infringement, it seems as if anti-doping regulations are set for a head-on collision with the modern pharmaceutical industry. Any solutions beyond allowing a free-for-all?