July 26, 2005

I was not aware of this equation: Austrian skier = unable to do your own research and reading Thanks for the info, Hans, and enjoy your retirement.

posted by wfrazerjr at 12:04 PM on July 26, 2005

Are these just everyday supplements that he's going to a healthfood store to buy? Or is there someone in the loop, I.E. a trainer who is is saying shut up and take this it will help you. I for one cannot believe at this day in age, that someone doe not know what he/she is ingesting. Look at an athele's diet regimen. Everything is broken down into how much of this and only so much of that. Then you would let someone give you something that you have know idea what it is? I for one find all these stories hard to buy.

posted by volfire at 05:02 PM on July 26, 2005

volfire, it could be either. The point is that the supplement industry in most of the world is essentially unregulated, and what's listed on the label may not be the whole story. Nandrolone in particular seems to have a habit of showing up in off-the-shelf nutritional products, without being noted in the list of ingredients. I agree that these claims have to be treated with a lot of skepticism; however, with Nandrolone there have been several proven cases of cross-contamination. The link I posted above documents a case where the ATP discovered that an "electrolyte replacement product" (probably a sports drink) was contaminated with Nandrolone. In that case all positive tests were voided by the ATP because their own trainers had been distributing the product. Here are three links to my own blog dealing with this same issue. The linked news stories in each case are still available and are worth reading. The first one in particular gives a good background on the regulatory issues in the US. Culture of Pills and Powders (April 10) Doping News (May 18), scroll down to Kicker Vencill lawsuit. Supplements, Diet, and Drugs in China (July 20)

posted by Amateur at 06:58 AM on July 27, 2005

Is he saying the CAS (based in Switzerland) has it in for Austrians? Or is this a more general paranoia on the ski circuit? LBB? It's paranoia, but that doesn't mean they're not out to get them -- in the general case. The Austrians are kind of the Yankees of the World Cup: they've won so much and so consistently that, yeah, people do sort of love to see 'em lose sometimes, or at least see someone else win. In Austria, skiing is it -- they're not dominant in any other sport and they know it, so they invest a lot in staying number one in skiing. And they have a lot of natural advantages, including the terrain and the country's small size, and it's been quite an uphill climb for the other teams' athletes to beat them, and there's sometimes been a certain amount of celebration when the Austrians lose. But I really, really doubt that that was a factor in Knauss being tested. I'm betting it was either just a random test, or they had a specific reason to suspect him. Anyway, the Yankees analogy fits in more than one way, because besides the historical dominance and all the factors that would favor them to still dominate now, the Austrians are getting beat a lot these days. The Austrian women haven't had an overall World Cup winner since 2002, and the USA's Bode Miller broke the Austrian men's streak this year. And that's gotta rankle. I mean, sure, an Austrian might lose sometimes to a German or a Swiss or a French or even an Italian racer...but a Croatian? A Swede? An American? No no no no, that's not the way it's sposed to be. So the Austrians have been making whiny, "The better racer didn't win today; the dog ate my ski poles," remarks when they lose races, and pouty, "They hate us because we're beautiful," type comments whenever they get dinged for a violation. (And Bode Miller is cooler than the entire Austrian squad and their cousins, so there)

posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:44 AM on July 27, 2005