11/21/24
October 13, 2005
World kayak champion tests positive (twice): Three-time world champion and Olympic double silver medallist Nathan Baggaley of Australia has tested positive for two banned substances, one the infamous stanazolol. I know this is going to generate a big "who cares" but I found a nice quote in his Athens training diary and I just had to share it: "[on the pros and cons of being an elite athlete] Con: Having to train four times a day in some of the most boring locations in the world to try to get fit and to feel good about myself. Surely there's an easier way!" Guess he found one.
He coulda become a whitewater kayaker. Then he coulda trained in places like Costa Rica. Once he got a little sponsorship money, that is...
posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:37 PM on October 13, 2005
No way. That Costa Rican chiba will blast the athlete right outta ya. First you're righteously carving through the magnificent natural wonders of the land with a goal towards Olympic majesty, next thing ya know you're sitting on a beach trying to figure out where to get a really, really good taco.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:42 PM on October 13, 2005
Now kayaking. is nothing sacred anymore
posted by HATER 187 at 01:54 PM on October 13, 2005
...next thing ya know you're sitting on a beach trying to figure out where to get a really, really good taco. Now there's a workout routine I can get onboard with. Oh wait, I already did that there.
posted by NoMich at 02:15 PM on October 13, 2005
IOC says: "Don't call me Shirley!" And WeedyMcSmokey lives up to his name. This stuff has got to happen a lot, especially in sports where only the elitest of the elite can manage to do it year-round and make anything close to a living and/or a reputation at it. I feel for the guy and the punishment he's about to go through in public and with the sport he loves, but it's gonna be hard to plead no-contest to two positives.
posted by chicobangs at 02:15 PM on October 13, 2005
It appears that he is going to adopt the "I didn't know what I was taking" defense, although this is not much more than speculation at this point.
posted by Amateur at 02:40 PM on October 13, 2005
Hopefully the Tigers can get him in the draft, we could use a juiced slugger.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 03:01 PM on October 13, 2005
Hopefully this puts him out of the running for the Kayak Hall of Fame and eliminates him from the kayak record book. The last thing the sport of kayaking needed was cheaters such as this. It's like I always say, kayakers are NOT role models. Parents are.
posted by dyams at 03:41 PM on October 13, 2005
The "I didn't know what I was taking" defense didn't get Alain Baxter off the hook at the '02 Olympics, and it won't get Baggaley off either. You might get away with that in MLB (might), but the IOC has always been right up front with their stance: they don't care how it got in your bloodstream, they only care that it's there. Now, it may be the case that a plausible "I didn't know" can reduce the severity of the sanctions...but Baggeley isn't gonna get off scot-free.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:03 PM on October 13, 2005
Australian sports bodies have a rich history of helping their athletes weasel out of punishments for failed drug tests, l_b_b. Ask Ben Tune and Shane Warne.
posted by rodgerd at 05:29 PM on October 13, 2005
There is some wiggle room, actually. If you could demonstrate that the substances were in your body with no fault or negligence on your part --- for example, if there was a deliberate sabotage by a competitor --- then you could escape suspension according to the WADA code. I cannot recall that ever happening, however.
posted by Amateur at 09:39 PM on October 13, 2005
Nathan B comes from the north coast of NSW (just down the road from me in fact). Growing up in this area, he should be able to identify a drug at 100 paces on a dark night wearing a blindfold.
posted by owlhouse at 11:06 PM on October 13, 2005
And Shane Warne was innocent. His mother did it.
posted by owlhouse at 11:09 PM on October 13, 2005
I guess he's up a creek.
posted by Bill Lumbergh at 06:32 AM on October 14, 2005
OFFICIALS PROBABLY BECAME CONCERNED WHEN THEY NOTICED HE WAS NO LONGER USING A PADDLE.
posted by CLEANER at 08:42 AM on October 14, 2005
I want to know if Mrs Warne has been interviewed yet in this case yet.
posted by JJ at 10:06 AM on October 14, 2005
I DONT GET IT LOL
posted by yerfatma at 10:06 AM on October 14, 2005
Your name was the headline the day after Warne got caught. "Yer fat!" - Ma
posted by JJ at 02:00 PM on October 14, 2005
That was way too subtle, JJ. But funny.
posted by owlhouse at 04:18 PM on October 14, 2005
Just to close this out, here's Baggaley's story about how he managed to accidentally ingest stanazolol and methandienone. For what it's worth, I really want to believe him.
posted by Amateur at 08:02 PM on October 14, 2005
owlhouse - if I'd a penny for everyone that had ever said that to me... Amateur - I'd like to believe him too (that he is guilty of being stupid rather than cheating).
posted by JJ at 04:26 AM on October 17, 2005
Brilliant quote. Caught him right at that crossroads between, "Gotta push myself harder to be the best" and "Hey, pass me some o' them li'l yeller pills."