One journalist investigating doping, and sports medicine, in elite sport
On this Substack, with your support, I publish unique, thoroughly researched deep dives into doping networks across all elite sports including football, tennis, swimming, athletics and cycling, and presenting evidence of doping that the average sports fan prefers to ignore.
Also, every Monday and Thursday, I send a newsletter to your inbox with the URLs to all the major doping stories in the press over the past seven days. It’s a perfect newsletter for anyone looking to keep up with all the doping news (link).
Whereas the Town Square is a place where I cover recent anti-doping issues, and answer any questions you may have have about my doping investigations. It also has resources to learn about doping in sports (link).
Support my Substack by subscribing and sharing.
Why I do my work?
Athletes and academics estimate that the prevalence of doping in the highest echelons of the major professional sports is likely above 20%. This number is therefore the starting probability that your favourite elite athlete is doping - irrespective of whether they are a good person or not.
While individual ethics will always make some athletes less prone to doping, the cold hard reality of sport is that the drugs work. And athletes understand that. A doped athlete is more likely to beat a clean athlete of comparable natural ability. There are some performance advantages that some clean athletes just cannot overcome.
Therefore as you move higher in medals tables in elite sports, the likelihood of doping only increases from that starting figure of 20%.
Then consider that your hero may work with a dodgy coach, train with other athletes that have failed doping tests, or had unique success at an advanced age, and that probability starts to increase exponentially.
As a result, over the last six years, in my work as an investigative journalist for major newspapers and TV stations, I have had a strong inclination to investigate the coaching and doping networks that may lie behind some of the world’s best athletes and teams. All in a bid to understand how likely it is, or not, that much of their success is down to doping, rather than yoga sessions or healthy diets.
While I have published many major stories in the press, for example about a secret British research programme before London 2012 and more, much of the vast research I have performed has never been published - until now.
Doping obeys no borders, and I will focus my stories on all countries whether that be Russia or the United States, the United Kingdom or Kenya.
(Editor’s note: While the majority of articles on this website will cover doping in sports, I will also post articles about the medicalisation of elite sport - which does not always involve prohibited doping substances or methods.)
Support my investigations by subscribing
I have amassed a body of research about doping, and sports medicine, in the major elite sports that I feel compelled to share more widely and I believe Substack provides the perfect place to do so.
I publish heavily detailed, exhaustive investigations on doping, and sports medicine, in elite sport.
This work takes considerable time and resources, and it is only with your support that I can continue to do it. So please show your support by subscribing and you will receive all of my stories and newsletters in your inbox. Thank You.
Discuss the intricacies of doping with others
If you are someone who has a keen interest in doping in sports, whether casually or professionally, this Substack will provide a place to discuss the topic with similarly interested individuals.
Report Doping
While I uncover many of my doping stories through classic investigative journalism and open sources, the biggest doping stories are often broken thanks to brave whistle-blowers or individuals who report doping, sometimes anonymously, to journalists and anti-doping officials.
If you have information, or documents, that can expose doping in elite sports please reach out confidentially on the email below.
