After Dara Torres qualified for the U.S. Olympic swimming team at age 41, some questioned whether such an accomplishment was evidence that she is cheating. On the Today Show this morning, Matt Lauer put the question directly to Torres:
"Have you in the past or are you currently taking or using anything that is banned by your sport?" Lauer asked.
"Absolutely not," Torres said. "In fact, I've taken a proactive approach. I went to [the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] and I met with the CEO there, and said, 'Hey, people are talking about me, they can't believe I'm doing this. I'm an open book. DNA test me, blood test me, urine test me, do whatever you want.' I want to show people I'm clean."
If Torres is a liar, she's as good a liar as she is a swimmer.
The 41-year-old American swimmer Dara Torres won the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials, and she credited her training regimen for her success at such an advanced age.
But ESPN.com's Pat Forde is not convinced. Forde thinks that the simplest explanation for a super-human athletic performance is that the athlete is using performance-enhancing drugs. He quotes Torres saying, "Anyone who makes any accusations, I see it as a compliment," and writes that she should "take this column as one long compliment."
The meat of Forde's argument is this:
It shouldn't even be possible for a woman in her 40s.
Which is the sticking point. This is all unprecedented -- and after years of being conned, we've become conditioned to question the unprecedented.
Who swims this well at that age? After having a child? Nobody. Ever.
Who takes six years off and comes back better than ever, lowering her best time in the 100 meters from 54.43 seconds in 2000 to 53.78 Friday night? Nobody. Ever.
Who has shoulder and knee surgery and comes back to whip women half her age less than a year later? Nobody. Ever.
Of course, for as long as sports have existed, we've been marveling at achievements that nobody ever accomplished before. Now we seem to have reached the point where instead of marveling, we scoff.
Efforts to ensure a clean U.S. Olympic team have taken a step forward. According to a report in the Tampa Tribune, athletes competing at the trials for the track and field and swimming teams will have their blood tested for the first time in history.
They'll undergo the more familiar urinalysis as well but the blood tests are designed to stop athletes from using HGH and drugs which aid in the enhancement of oxygen transfer to red blood cells. The top finishers at the track trials will be tested, along with other random athletes. In American team sports, blood testing has been controversial because some believe it violates the privacy rights of athletes. With public belief in track at an all time low, however, they can't be quite as choosy about the methods of screening.
"I don't like needles but I don't like people cheating, either," said long jumper Rose Richmond. "They have to do what they have to do. I'll just close my eyes and hold someone's hand when they take my blood."
With the IOC's own methods for detecting EPO, one such drug, called into serious question, blood testing seems a necessary step to qualify any event or team as truly drug free.
The International Olympic Committee is adamant that its drug tests are necessary to maintain the integrity of its competitions. But what if those tests don't work?
Gina Kolata of the New York Times has a report that demonstrates that with at least one performance-enhancing drug -- EPO -- the tests don't work.
Track coach Trevor Graham was convicted today of lying to investigators about his relationship with a steroids dealer, and the U.S. government is now 2-0 in prosecuting people associated with the BALCO performance-enhancing drug ring.
The first person to be convicted at trial was former cyclist Tammy Thomas, who was found guilty of lying to a federal grand jury when she denied taking steroids. Several others, including BALCO founder Victor Conte (pictured), chemist Patrick Arnold, Olympic sprinter Marion Jones and personal trainer Greg Anderson have taken plea deals. Other athletes, including Barry Bonds, are expected to go on trial this year or next.
Graham was the original BALCO whistle-blower. In 2003 he anonymously sent a syringe containing the designer steroid THG to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which until then didn't know THG, also known as "The Clear," existed. In the early days of the BALCO story Graham was lauded for turning in the evidence, but as more details emerged about Graham encouraging his own athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs, he became a target of prosecutors.
I might be getting a little bit ahead of myself with that headline, but only a little bit.
American sprinter Antonio Pettigrew, who was part of Team USA's gold-medal winning 1600-meter relay team at the 2000 Olympics, admitted under oath today that he used performance-enhancing drugs from 1997 to 2001. According to the rules governing international sports, that should result in Team USA being stripped of its gold medal, and the silver medal winners, Nigeria, being awarded the gold.
Maurice Greene became the latest high-profile U.S. Olympian dragged into the doping muck over the weekend, clouding the world of track a little bit more as we move toward Beijing. The New York Times article containing the allegation against Greene, which he's denied, also hints that it could just be the tip of the iceberg as the case against Marion Jones's coach, Trevor Graham, makes its way through court.
"[With] the changes we've made to our doping programs, the protocols we've had in place, we're very confident that this team is clean and we'll field a clean team in Beijing," said Scherr. "Of course there's no way we can guarantee anything. But we feel very good about this team and the progress we've made [against] doping."
"This will be a clean team," Ueberroth said.
Scherr went on to call the doping problems part of the past when it's quite clear, from cycling to weightlifting to track, that it is very much a problem of the present. It's great to fight against it, it's great to strive for a clean team but shouldn't Ueberroth know better than to guarantee a clean team?
A verdict was reached Friday in the first trial related to the BALCO investigation, and Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas has been convicted of three counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for lying to a grand jury about her steroid use.
The feds' investigation of BALCO cast a wide net, with eight of the accused already pleading guilty. Thomas was the first to fight the charges at trial, and her conviction is bad news for Barry Bonds, whose case closely resembles Thomas's.
Among those who have taken guilty pleas are BALCO founder Victor Conte, former Olympic sprinter Marion Jones, Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson and chemist Patrick Arnold.
The New York Times is reporting that the World Anti-Doping Agency has purchased thousands of kits to screen blood for human growth hormone, which will facilitate the testing of all athletes participating in the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
HGH testing is not new -- some athletes were tested at the 2004 and 2006 Olympics -- but conducting the testing on a large scale is unprecedented because in the past there have been problems with manufacturing the thousands of testing kits needed to test every athlete. WADA says it has purchased the kits from a European company it would not name.
"We are pleased that the test will be in place for Beijing," David Howman, WADA's director general, said in a telephone interview. "The test has been around for a while; it was a matter of finding the manufacturer."
If the tests prove reliable, and if the company is able to produce the thousands of kits it says it will sell to WADA, there will be increased pressure on American sports leagues, including the NFL and Major League Baseball, to adopt blood testing for HGH.
Among the Olympians who have admitted to HGH use is Marion Jones, who is currently serving time in federal prison for lying to federal investigators.
Female Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas is the first athlete to face a criminal trial on charges related to the BALCO investigation, and testimony in her perjury trial reveals odd side effects of her alleged steroid use. Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Thomas seemed to be in the midst of shaving her face when an Olympic drug tester paid her an unannounced visit. ...
Prosecutors have called Thomas a "hard-core" steroid user who underwent a physical transformation while using banned drugs. On Monday, a Colorado endocrinologist who examined Thomas in 2000 said the cyclist's use of the steroid depo-testosterone had caused "severe virilization."
Thomas had a deep voice, full beard, chest hair and even signs of male pattern baldness, Dr. Margaret Weirman testified.
Thomas told the grand jury that investigated BALCO that she never used banned drugs. She is now charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for those statements. Seven people have pleaded guilty to crimes arising from the BALCO case. Barry Bonds is expected to face trial on charges similar to Thomas's late this year or early next year.
The 41-year-old American swimmer 
Efforts to ensure a clean U.S. Olympic team have taken a step forward. According to a report in the 
Track coach 
Maurice Greene
A verdict was reached Friday in the first trial related to the 
The 
Female Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas is the first athlete to face a criminal trial on charges related to the BALCO investigation, and testimony in her perjury trial reveals odd side effects of her alleged steroid use. 
