Who Sport What?

No Heroes In Cycling

The first Tour de France winner to admit being doped during his winning ride came clean today. Bjarne Riis won in 1996 while riding on Team Telekom and has now admitted to using a cocktail of Erythropoeitin (EPO), steroids and human growth hormone from 1993 to 1998. He never failed a single drug test. But how many cycling fans will say to themselves: "I knew it the moment I saw him blow by Indurain, the day after Armstrong got off his bike and gave up"?

Indurain laché!

"It's possible that I'm not a hero anymore," Riis said. "I'm sorry if I've disappointed people. And for those for whom I was a hero, I'm sorry. They'll have to find new heroes now."

With the World Anti-Doping Agency statute of limitations set at eight years, Riis can keep his maillot jaune. And why give it back of his own accord? Second place winner was Jan Ullrich. Third place winner Richard Virenque was kicked off the Tour the following year as the Festina scandal rocked the world of sport.

"My jersey is at home in a cardboard box," Riis said. "They are welcome to come and get it. I have my memories for myself."

The UllRiis one-two, 1996.

It Never Rains...

Leading team Gerolsteiner also lost its directeur sportif today, as former Telekom (now T-Mobile) rider Udo Bölts resigned following a very public confession Wednesday night. He admitted using (EPO) as long ago as 1997. This takes us to six former Telekom riders who are known to have doped. 1997 saw Bölts ride as lieutenant to Jan Ullrich as the latter won the yellow jersey: after Riis had passed him the "torch". Telekom took the team prize both years. Last month, the team suspended two doctors over the furore.

At a press conference where star sprinter Eric Zabel admitted having used EPO, current T-Mobile manager Rolf Aldag said this week: "I am sorry, I lied to the press and the TV because I said to myself I would not be caught. In 1994, I discussed with several teammates what was happening in cycling and I decided to actively seek out doping products. I began taking EPO in 1995."

And he continued using it until 2002. But T-Mobile, convinced he is the best man for the job, rejected his offer to resign as manager.

Aldag will keep his job at T-Mobile after team boss Bob Stapleton rejected his offer to resign. Jan Ullrich has not yet been proven to have been doped in 1997. German criminologist Britta Bannenberg filed a court action against him for fraud last year, following Ullrich's linkage to the Spanish "Operacion Puerto" doping investigation.

A week ago, Swiss courts agreed that Ullrich's bank statements should be sent to the German authorities investigating. Paradoxically, the latest admissions would undermine a charge of fraud: "It is difficult to talk about fraud of an employee when it seems the team knew that doping was going in in their ranks," said Bannenberg on German television. Ullrich also won Olympic Gold in Sydney.

By way of reminder, the winner of last year's Tour de France, Floyd Landis, stands accused of doping. The second place rider Oscar Pereiro (a Salbutamol-using asthmatic) has said he will retire rather than give a DNA sample to dispel doping accusations. 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso is facing a two-year ban after admitting blood doping.

In Aigle, the Swiss home of the cycling federation, they must be asking themselves: "How did we let this happen?".

Meanwhile, Riis's winning tour was considerably slower than any of those won by Armstrong. Don''t expect to see that mentioned much.

Trusted Enough

"What I like most in cycling is going out on my own," says David Brower, reaching the end of ten days spent providing live coverage from Tour de France winner Floyd Landis's trial by arbitration at the Law School of Pepperdine University, Malibu. The sheer effort of his breakaway coverage at Trust But Verify echoes that of the mountain sortie which saw Landis claw his way back to contention for the 2006 Tour.  "Exceptionally comprehensive", the tag given by VeloNews journalist Jason Sumner, is typical. And while he may have started his effort solo, Brower has been joined in his blogging efforts by illustrious contributors including Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge William Hue. With more than 500,000 pages viewed, most of those with an interest in cycling and / or the case have already found their way to "TBV".

Brower, a 50 year-old software engineer and lifelong cycling fan has enjoyed watching the Tour de France with his wife for more than 20 years. "I really enjoyed last year's Tour," he adds, struck not only by the racing but by the contrast between Landis's diligent and approachable public persona compared to that of the prickly Texan, Armstrong. The doping allegation, with tests apparently showing Landis to have taken artificial testosterone before that epic mountain stage, proved to be a real shock. A search for understanding quickly began. The web was the obvious resource.

"My wife and I would be on opposite sides of the room, on our computers, saying 'look at this'," says Brower. He quickly found himself commenting on the bulletin boards of cycling and news sites, often reposting information he had researched elsewhere. Trust But Verify was the perfect solution for posting news summaries and links, just as Yahoo! once sprung from requests for two Stanford students to post a directory of their bookmarks online, just so other students could follow all those links to all that cool stuff. Brower's blog is not the only way the internet has shaped the response to the allegations against Landis. A wiki defense was joined by online fundraising and support.

A Whole New Ballgame

Even after the sustained impact of Lance on the US mediascape, cycling still receives little media coverage. Bloggers fill the void. As with other citizen sports reporting, fan sites can be hilariously funny but are rarely real serious. It is, perhaps, the nature of the game. Trust But Verify is something completely different, however. Page after page after page of deadly serious. Vying for column inches with stories of other misbehaving athletes, many mainstream journalists were happy to have salacious suggestions of attempted witness tampering to cover. This course of action proved to be a whole lot easier than learning the science of gas chromatography and dope test esoterica. TBV, however, continued to make room for research and detailed commentary. "With a blog, there are no limits on length," says Brower. "It costs nothing to be voluminous."

(Right: David Brower, Trust But Verify; left: Jason Sumner, VeloNews.)

But what of objectivity? Coupled with Brower's need to understand the allegations is a clear desire to see Landis absolved, yet TBV refers to lots of material unfavorable the cyclist.  Landis's defense pointed out during the hearing that testosterone has not been proven to help athletes recovery; TBV's research found an early application of synthetic testosterone was in helping WWII concentration camp internees be physically more productive. TBV commentary found the Landis defense 'slide show' to be unconvincing.

The integrity of Brower's work and his comprehensive approach has earned him the respect of leading journalists. An exemplary exchange from the press working room: his back-row seat was next to that of Pullitzer prize-winning Michael A. Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times. Hiltzik was writing about Will Geoghegan, fired as manager by Landis the day after that threatening phone call to likely witness and former Tour de France winner Greg LeMond. With no transcripts available, Hiltzik was trying to recall Landis's testimony on the matter:

Hiltzik "So didn't fire his manager right away because he wanted his advice?"
Brower: "No, he wanted the advice of his lawyers."

In his subsequent article, Hiltzik would write: "Landis defended his delay in firing Will Geoghegan, saying he wanted to consult his lawyers first."

With the trial concluded, a verdict is expected to take several weeks to reach. Whoever loses is then likely to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland. The process will take months. Thousands will continue to count on Trust But Verify for updates.

Barry's Tour De Farce

So at yesterday's owners' meeting, MLB Commissioner Selig sidestepped the question of Barry Bonds, who looks set to reach the all-time home run record this season. Or, more accurately, Selig tripped over and fell on his face again. He was asked if he would attend San Francisco Giants games as Bonds approached the record, as would be traditional in baseball:

"Is he really approaching?" Selig, a longtime friend of Aaron, said facetiously after owners finished their two-day meeting. "I don't have anything different to say today. I'll make a decision at some appropriate time."

Selig also shrugged off questions about Senator Mitchell's current steroid enquiry. No real surprises here: if baseball authorities had even the first clue about how to deal with the problem of Bonds and steroids, we wouldn't be here at all, would we? And for that matter, both baseball and softball might not have been thrown out of the Olympics. What a legacy. As a reminder to those who may have been sojourning on another planet for the past couple years, Bonds has admitted using the juice and the story is well chronicled.

All that really matters, for now, is the fans. There are few signs of them turning away in significant numbers. Indeed, like rubberneckers at the site of a car accident, fans seem to be congregating (not least in order to taunt Bonds). The true test will come after Bonds hits the record, retires and leaves behind him a game in disrepute (in much the same way as cycling is falling apart in the post-Lance era). There is even less chance of the MLB having the first clue as to how to cope with that.

Faster, Higher, Stronger (Thanks To Carbon Fiber)

Coverage by the New York Times has drawn fresh attention to the artificial limbs used by Paralympians. The athlete covered this time is South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius. He employs Cheetah carbon-fibre prosthetics to overcome having had both legs amputated below the knee as a baby. Pistorius's success in his category is clear, although his times are still well outside those required for full Olympic participation.

Jere Longman makes much of the fact that Pretorious's prostheses would disqualify him from the Olympics. Although of some scientific interest, this part of the debate is a red herring. Prostheses should no more be allowed among Olympic sprinters than wheelchairs among Olympic marathoners.

But the story does bring us smartly back to the question of body modification and the difficulties posed for sports ethicists and authorities. Sports authorities do need to give this stuff more thought. Where to draw the line? What about the Olympic shooter who has had LASIK surgery for the sole purpose of seeing better? Tiger Woods would have been legally blind by now but just went back under the laser. Is that fair to normally-sighted golfers?

During the search for answers, we'll be seeing more stories of athletes with prostheses and for all the wrong reasons. Landmines from former and ongoing conflicts continue to afflict poorer countries, such as  Sierra Leone.

(Photo: Issouf Sanogo / AFP)

Here in the U.S., the considerable numbers of amputees returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to swell the U.S. Paralympic team: the Paralympics are based on an event first held to encourage British WWII veterans with their physical rehabilitation.

To watch Paralympic sport, just point your browser at www.paralympicsport.tv. Far more inspiring than just checking out highlights of sports glories on YouTube (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Olympic Extremes: Fitter And Fatter

News from London that hosting the Olympic Games might not increase sporting participation merely echoes news from China of soaring childhood obesity and declining participation in school physical education (P.E.).

Unlike other nations, however, China's declining youth sports participation is likely to be masked in international sporting competition. While preparing to host the Games, China has concurrently developed a system of specialized sports schools, set to sustain the medal-table victory likely to be achieved in 2008.

(Photo: Mark Leong / Matrix)

That still leaves 15.1% of boys in Shanghai as "obese" (compared with 18% of boys in the U.S. as "overweight"). In an attempt to turn things around, the city authorities have mandated more P.E. and inclusion of P.E. grades in overall assessments of students' performances. Most Western societies would do well to flip the same switch.

The NFL Goes To Wembley: 2nd and nine

40,000 tickets for the first regular-season NFL game to be played in Europe were snapped up within 90 minutes of going online today. The New York Giants and Miami Dolphins will face off at London's new Wembley Stadium on October 28. But many of those with and without tickets were left unhappy. Following a huge expression of interest in the tickets, prices were higher than initially indicated.

Seats went for £45 - 90 (think double for dollars) and look pricey compared to £35 - 60 for the England vs. Brazil soccer match at the same venue. Scalpers are already aiming to multiply face value by at least five times on eBay.

NFL execs will be pleased by the demand. Figuring out how to manage interest is clearly preferable to the problem of empty seats. Pleasing those overseas will placating those at home is not likely to be easy, though. How will the Dolphins front office sell this to fans as a "home" game? Tailgating on a fleet of 747s chartered out of MIA? Just wait until they see that beer costs $7 at Wembley. Will Dolphins fans join the Brits' burger boycott?

If the game itself proves to be a winner, the NFL may expand the experiment, to have each team play a 17th Game each season outside the U.S.. Converting interest into real leagues may prove challenging in the long term, however, as witnessed by the failure of the World League of American Football (now known as NFL Europa and featuring only one team outside of Germany).

Perhaps it would be best if American football is simply enjoyed as spectacle rather than being widely played overseas. Can you imagine the embarassment of Team USA finishing last at a world championships won by Thailand?

Basketball, meanwhile, is opening a London office. As host to the 2012 Olympics, Great Britain automatically qualifies for the basketball tournament, so the NBA's timing looks smart.

Sly's Rocky Road To HGH Bust

Sylvester Stallone has been charged with trying to bring pled guilty to bringing 48 vials of recombinant Human Growth Hormone into Australia. But he denies having had anything to do with the four vials of testosterone that appear to have been thrown from his hotel room balcony minutes before a visit from Australian Customs...

What, you thought he got his 60 year-old body into this kind of shape for "Rocky Balboa" just by eating his Wheaties for breakfast?

Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Following the bust, he joins Anna Nicole-Smith as an outed Hollywood HGH (ab)user. Schwarzenegger only admitted to steroids.

By all accounts, the HGH Sly was smuggling was Jintropin, the market leader in China. 48 vials of it indeed, with no import license and without even a valid prescription. It’s surprising, perhaps, that he didn’t have a scrip: in Los Angeles 60 dollars will quickly and easily get you a note for marijuana to help with a bad back or a prescription for Viagra to help with stage fright.

The sheer quantity of HGH Sly was apparently carrying is bound to turn some heads in the sports medicine world. 48 vials is enough to build a roomful of bodies. Was he taking it to Thailand to beef up the extras on the set of Rambo IV, now shooting? The most likely answer: Jintropin is available over the internets, direct from the manufacturer, in 50 vial kits. With the Beijing 2008 Olympics just around the corner, what on Earth is the Chinese government doing, allowing Jintropin HGH directly onto the grey and black markets?

The Australian authorities are to be commended for their vigilance: the bust brings back memories of Willy Voets and Alexander Vinokourov's wife (in cycling, being busted by customs with bags full of drugs is relatively commonplace). The media reports the maximum fine Stallone will face is only 22,000 Aussie dollars.

Seeing HGH being caught yet again at a port of entry is also a stark reminder of the difficulties sports medicine has had in devising an effective test. WADA and the IOC claimed to have a test prior to the Athens Olympics. But not a single analytical positive has come back. Are we really to believe movie stars are the only ones to have been using HGH to boost performance? After Feds here in the USA raided the home of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley, finding HGH, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig downplayed the issue:

"I've asked that question [about the extent of HGH use] to a lot of [team] doctors and trainers," Selig said, during a question-and-answer session with members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. "The most I've gotten out of anybody is, 'If more than one or two people on our team is doing it, we'd be shocked.'"

Only one or two per team? Oh, so no real problem there, then.

Synthol: A Shortcut To Where?

Pictures of Gregg Valentino's arms have made it into The Times and subsequently my favourite website. Valentino has been linked with Synthol abuse, where bodybuilders take the shortest of shortcuts by injecting their muscles with oil to instantly increase volume. Valentino has credited other methods with aiding the development of what he claims to be the world's biggest arms. This is not real news. It's not even new news: Valentino was on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno four years ago and has been a media staple since. But it appears those guns still have shock value.

Of course, bodybuilders are no strangers to shortcuts. Here in California even our Governor has confessed to steroid abuse. For those notoriously hard-to-bulk spots, implants have been inserted for decades already.

It's worth noting that extreme body modification is one area where sport, art and societal trends have converged. Performance artists and porn stars have been at the public forefront, alongside "athletes", but weird stuff has been going on underground amid the simply curious for a long, long time.

Training for sport, meanwhile, has become an increasingly branded activity, simultaneously feeding and preying upon the body image disorders which are the source of much of this weirdness. The consequent challenge is to defend and enhance the simple enjoyment of physical activity and its context (think softball team, the great outdoors, etc.). Some companies get it. A tip of the hat is due to Reebok for capturing the zeitgeist with its sidewalk and new-media driven Run Easy campaign, reminding people that they're not meant to be killing themselves out there. It turns out no pain does not equal no gain. It just means no pain.

Beijing 2008: Darfur, Human Rights Update

China has acted quickly to head off the burgeoning "Genocide Olympics" campaign linking its government, Darfur and the Olympic Games. In response to a letter to Premier Hu Jintao signed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Lantos (D. Calif.) and 106 of his colleagues, China has appointed Liu Guijin to the newly created post of Special Representative on African Affairs.

"It would be a disaster for China if the Games were to be marred by protests, from concerned individuals and groups, who will undoubtedly link your government to the continued atrocities in Darfur, if there is no significant improvement in the conditions," said the letter.

The rub lies in "significant improvement". Can China ever do enough to satisfy the protest groups? Will the Games simply give rise to debate on how much human rights progress China has made and whether it was enough to match their bid's promises to the IOC?

What's certain is that the "Genocide Olympics" story will run and run. Pro baller Ira Newble is gathering NBA signatures for an open letter that is sure to score another news hit in the coming weeks.

The Chinese, meanwhile, continue to crack down hard on activists in advance of the Games. The order has come from the top. Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang said in March: "We must make efforts to create a harmonious society and a good social environment for successfully holding the 17th Communist Party Congress and the Beijing Olympic Games[…]We must strike hard at hostile forces at home and abroad, such as ethnic separatists, religious extremists, violent terrorists and ‘heretical organizations’ like the Falun Gong who carry out destabilizing activities."

Gene Doping: The Stable Door Is Open

From Scotland comes the news that gene therapy is being used at the clinical trial level, in an attempt to repair sight in humans. Piggybacking a harmless virus or “vector”, normal genes are being introduced to cells in the human eye. Once there, the normal genes should replace the bad gene that causes early-onset sight degeneration. It’s a timely reminder that at clinical trial level, genetic therapy is already being used to boost human performance

Remember the super mice that could run twice as far as regular mice? The drug employed to boost their performance (GlaxoSmithKline’s GW501516) is currently in phase two of the clinical trials on humans required for FDA approval. Bodybuilder drug sites already have their eye on it and according to the online bulletin boards, they can’t wait to get their hands on it.

Detection will be hugely daunting: how to tell between the genetically gifted and the genetically manipulated? "It's gonna be tough to detect this stuff and it's gonna work," said Eric Heiden an Olympic Gold medalist and, like the current head of the International Olympic Committee, also an orthopaedic surgeon.