A comment to Landis Star Decision...

This brief post is to point, once again, to a valuable comment and link to a serious article that we'll be reading over the weekend...

Just the first paragraph makes this a must-read for anyone annoyed or discomfited by the lack of progress in the system WADA 'owns'.

Supplement Testing: Who is Watching Out for the Athletes?

Most professional athletes wake up every day faced with a dilemma. They ask themselves “Will today be the day that I inadvertently consume a supplement that’s been tainted with a prohibited substance? Or should I go through my day working at a less-than-optimal level so I don’t risk a false positive drug test?” The mental games go on with “I’m being told that it’s my responsibility to watch what I eat and anything that is found in my urine or blood is my fault, but nobody is giving me the tools to help me determine if what I’m eating is safe. Will today be the day?” Thankfully, for the vast majority of athletes, this nightmare never becomes reality. But really: Who is watching out for athletes?

Thanks to correspondent Whareagle for this pointer, and his comment bears coming on the front page here:

"I don't know if you saw this, but this was just published on slowtwitch. You may want to read it and contact the PhD. "

Thanks to readership in the know, Ww can continue to help Athletes, who sometimes are left wondering how WADA views them...

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by WADAwatch are
strictly formed with the purpose of inciting WADA to adhere
to its Fundamental Rationale, achieve its goals and fulfil
the aspirations of its Signatories, in achieving the
highest possible level of objective, neutral
science in sport-doping control.

Watching WADA...

.................@...............WADAwatch

2008 all copyrights reserved

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SEQUEL on supplements...

We at WADAwatch would like to thank a reader for a comment, of such value, that we are going to make a post out of it, to extend the reach of the audience of 'those who follow WADAwatch'...

From yesterday's post, Watch your Supplements Daily... (or just scroll down: there it be!), an informed reader (in the system) wrote:

As a coach, I've been forced to self-educate myself on the topic of supplements for years now. Do some digging on the DSHEA act, an oxymoron for a bill if there ever was one, and the result of it... Billions for the supplement industry (a lot of it centered in Orrin Hatch's home state), and a paltry enforcement code and funding for it on the Federal side.


I've said for years that I could sell you sawdust in a capsule under some extraordinary claim, and before you ever got around to figuring out that it was useless, I'd have your money, and several thousand other folks' money, in an offshore account, and I'd be sipping drinks with an umbrella on a beach somewhere safe.

Supplements can and are an unregulated and tainted industry whose products are prone to 'contamination', either accidental or intentional, with no protection for the consumer. Educate yourself via this website - greatearth.com, and go to "Education". It's an interesting read. And ask ANY supplement company for government-backed proof of Purity, Potency, and Delivery. They make Tylenol do that, why not your wonder pills?

So some of us might do a bit of reading this weekend, and as Ww replied to our reader, we hope to put online in the next two weeks, an interview with a company representative that markets nutritional supplements... stay tuned.

+ + + + + + + + +

On another matter ...


Information provided by the UCI several days or more ago, indicated some rider in its biological passport program revealed parameters above established norms.


(Nevermind the spiteful reasons for which WADA decided to withdraw support, showing the stains of animosity that fester still, now long enough after the passing of Pound from Power at WADA)


Curiously, the UCI announced one rider, and then said that he (presumably "Mister, Herr or Monsieur X") was one of 23 riders that had suspicious factors to be followed and studied.


WADAwatch, now sadly habituated to the scandals offered through French journal l'Equipe, has waited with baited breath for an appearance of the national origin of this suspected violator of the WADA CODE, or the UCI program.


Nothing yet...


Two possible conclusions reveal themselves by the absence of 'scandal'; the rider himself is being protected as he should be, by proper (finally? Has it sunk in at last?) results management procedures.


OR... could WADAwatch stoop to the level long known at l'Equipe, and insinuate spectacularly that, MAYBE, perhaps, there's a possibility... of this rider being ... gasp... French???


As was discussed over some legal Rioja last evening: "How could l'Equipe not publish, given its long history of knowing the sales-power of 'les Scandales du dopage' (in terms of boosting its revenue through publication of illicitly received and prematurely published information regarding A Sample doping control results), such news... unless it may be a French rider?"


This is a test: this is only a test - of the New, Improved Results management system... had this been a real scandal, you would have been informed.... etc.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by WADAwatch are
strictly formed with the purpose of inciting WADA to adhere
to its Fundamental Rationale, achieve its goals and fulfil
the aspirations of its Signatories, in achieving the
highest possible level of objective, neutral
science in sport-doping control.

Watching WADA pursue Nutrient Suppliers...

.................@...............WADAwatch

2008 all copyrights reserved

Watch your Supplements daily...

A quick review of some recent news items, that beg for a question to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

That question is: "If your mandate calls for cleaning the world of Sport from Doping, whose responsibility is it to police the purveyors of Nutritional Supplements?"

And that isn't even THE harsh question, which would be reserved to the purveyors of 'so-called' Athletic Nutritional Supplements:

"Dude! Would you rather keep your profits, or see them lost in another Court Case?"

With that introduction, WADAwatch points to this recent article...

Austrian skier wins settlement with drug company

By NATHANIEL VINTON

Quote:
The case was about to go to trial in U.S District Court in New Haven when the skier's American lawyer, Howard Jacobs, won a dismissal with the settlement, the terms of which are confidential.

"I can tell you that Hans was very happy with the terms of the settlement, and he's looking forward to the next thing," Jacobs, who represents numerous athletes accused of doping, told the Daily News. "That's one of the things that doesn't get talked about. A lot of the athletes have positives not because they're trying to cheat. It's because of inadvertent things."

Inadvertent things, which do happen to be 'the responsibility' of the Athlete, no doubt about it. But their task of monitoring 'supplements' should be easier.


Governments that have signed the UNESCO Convention (Article TEN), which treaty helped to justify legally the existence of WADA and its mandate(s), are theoretically charged with efforts to (amongst many other things):

● Encourage producers and distributors of nutritional supplements to establish ‘best practice’ in the labelling, marketing and distribution of products which might contain prohibited substances

WADA's work on this topic, vital to its established goals, seems to have no coherent recent measures taken, if searching by its website for 'nutritional supplements' is any indication (the majority of the top ten 'hits' for that search reveal documents from 2004, 2005, 2003: where's the BEEF?).


When will WADA convene the Member States to start this huge snowball rolling? Working within the intergovernmental systems, such as the UN, are not rapid engagements.


And don't forget: a State not in compliance with ALL the WADA-System, is ineligible to bid, after January, 2009, for the Olympics. WADA CODE 20.1.8 reminds us of one of the responsibilities that WADA has charged to the International Olympic Committee:

20.1.8
To accept bids for the Olympic Games only from countries where the government has ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to the UNESCO Convention and the National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee and National Anti-Doping Organization are in compliance with the Code.

So there's no time to be a-wasting, friends.


Before ONE MORE Athlete is screwed for life, by a hasty and ill-timed purchase, it would be nice to see WADA working with the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory, of England (see our piece from October 2007), to put together such a program that makes profit-seeking nutrient sales companies aware of the damage they do, to some innocent, some purposeful customers.


NB: the details of the above settlement that Jacobs engineered, are confidential, but it wouldn't surprise us if skier Knauss could afford to buy himself and his family a nice little Austrian Alpine Hotel... he deserves no less.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by WADAwatch are
strictly formed with the purpose of inciting WADA to adhere
to its Fundamental Rationale, achieve its goals and fulfil
the aspirations of its Signatories, in achieving the
highest possible level of objective, neutral
science in sport-doping control.

Watching WADA... and Nutrient Suppliers?

.................@...............WADAwatch

2008 all copyrights reserved

WADA FIVE: the morning interventions

While the Government Delegates and the Federation Representatives are getting their moments in front of the podium, to address the issues of the Education Committee, a brief aside on the status of WADAworld as 'Observer'.

Without a Press-pass (note to Self: acquire a Press-pass), about 50 'Observers' are relegated to a lower-level auditorium, without direct access to the audience. There is a very feeble internet-wifi network, bleeding through the walls from the Press level.

However, the Press representatives themselves, are also relegated to a intermediate-level foyer, where they have massive tables to work from, combined with a very fast wifi network (I've noted that there are networks labelled Press-1, 2, 3, 4... but no 'Observers' network... did WADA really think those of us were here just to stare at the screen?

As I type this, the Spanish Delegation is intervening, stressing Prevention through Education, and discussing how 'weekend warriors' are finding these substances that they've heard about, in their gyms, cycling or futbal clubs: wherever weekend athletes congregate.

Next post on the Athletes... whoooaaah...

Watch WADA!Live!

..........@.........WADAwatch

FLASH: the late intervention from the Islamic Republic of Iran, having their Delegate discussing how Athletes were discussing their worries about some of the nutritional supplements they ingest...