Sigh....

[-Metablade-]

So what's this mean?
Is this the smoking gun that he took PED's?

[Bill Glasheen]

They've confirmed that the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone is much higher than expected with a second split of the same sample from that same day.

• They need to confirm that samples were handled properly. Did they get the right one before making the split? Did they keep it at the right temperature? Somehow having the ratio high one day and having it low the days surrounding it is as odd as the result being high in the first place.
• They need to do the carbon isotope test and release that to the public. Right now all we have is heresay on that test being done. This would confirm (or eliminate) the fact that the testosterone was exogenous (of outside origin).
• If the testosterone IS exogenous, then he can still save his butt to a certain extent if he can explain how this happened (including sabotage). If he can do this, then his name may be cleared if not the title retained. That would allow him to continue racing this year.

Right now though it doesn't look good. At this point, the committee is considering him disqualified.

- Bill

[Mary S]

If it walks like a duck,
Looks like a duck,
Quacks like a duck...

They need to do the carbon isotope test and release that to the public.

Bill, do they normally do that?

[Bill Glasheen]

I don't know their procedure, but they absolutely should. This is an expensive test, but has a much lower false positive rate.

- Bill

[RACastanet]

According to the following study the mere handling of firearms can raise testosterone levels! Man, my levels must be of the charts. Floyd must have been to a shooting range the night before.

Bill: Is this junk science or what?

GALESBURG, Ill., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Researchers at Knox College in
Galesburg, Ill., say gun handling causes men's testosterone levels to
rise, making them more aggressive.

College men, ages 18 to 22, participated in the study done by
psychology student Jennifer Klinesmith and her professors, reports
WebMD. The study involved the effect of attention to detail on taste
sensitivity.

The participants had to take apart an object and put it back together
as instructed. For half the men, the object was a pellet gun that
mimicked an automatic handgun. Others worked with a child's game
called "Mouse Trap."

Using saliva samples and other measurements, the study found
testosterone went up about 100 times more in those who handled the
gun than in the men who handled the game.

"Although our study is clearly far from definitive, its results
suggest that guns may indeed increase aggressiveness partially via
changes in the hormone testosterone," the study said.

Rich

[Bill Glasheen]

I can't comment for sure, Rich. They'd have to get that study by the peer-review process first. And I'd like to see the study design.

Nevertheless, it is well known that competitive activity will change testosterone levels. For instance after a basketball game, the winners often have a slight increase in testosterone, and the losers a decrease. This partially explains things like winning and losing streaks. And it makes sense from the standpoint of the survival of a species. You want the strongest individuals in a group to pass their male genes on to the available females. Having a kick of testosterone after the chest-pounding rituals enables the stronger males to go procreate with a touch more vigor than the losers.

There's something to that expression "Chicks dig the long ball."

This however doesn't explain the test results for the Tour de France. For endogenous testosterone increases, you should see epitestosterone going up at the same rate. That wasn't the case here.

- Bill

[AAAhmed46]

I just dont understand.

If you win the gold by cheating, how can you feel good about the accomplishment when really you didnt do anything yourself?

Doesnt that defeat the purpose of competing?

[Bill Glasheen]

Cheating? Who's cheating?

[Valkenar]

Doesnt that defeat the purpose of competing?

Not if you just want fame and adulation

[Bruise* Lee]

Fame and adulation.... very good , but what about money?

If I understand it, he tested clean several days in a row, then dirty then clean again? And he knew he would be tested - not might, but would be tested.