Doping in Sport - Bi-Weekly Press round-up #137
A former Premier League doctor says doping is not 'part' of football, a British Olympian shares his therapeutic use exemption data and there are still concerns about AICAR use at the Tour de France.
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The French 400m hurdles European medallist Wilfried Happio, who competed at Paris 2024, has been suspended for eighteen months after he committed three whereabouts failures. “He even sends a bailiff to establish that the doorbell can be heard from outside the street. And to blame the inspector who should have understood that the doorbell wasn't working, and should have then opened the garden gate to access the house. Or to insist on the fact that the inspector should have called him on the phone to inform him of his presence,” (link). You can read the full decision here (link).
The British Olympic 1500m runner Josh Kerr shared his therapeutic use exemption data (TUE) with The Times to demonstrate that he has never improperly abused this system to enhance performance. His coach Danny Mackey has also called on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ban the use of thyroid medications, which can used by athletes for weight loss. “But, the way I look at it, when you’re doing things wrong and you know you’re doing things wrong, you’re at a mental disadvantage. You’re at a physical advantage but you’re at a mental disadvantage. So, as long as I’m working on my mental advantage, I can equal that,” (link). Mackey was a whistle-blower in the US Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) case against the Nike coach Alberto Salazar; Mackey says he was allegedly encouraged to take testosterone and thyroid medication by a Nike physiologist (link). In 2023, the American runner Allison Ostrander inadvertently tested positive for canrenone after leaving Mackey and Kerr’s training group (link).
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is soon set to rule in the case of the American Olympic sprinter Erriyon Knighton who tested positive for the anabolic steroid trenbolone after allegedly eating contaminated meat. “The USADA investigation included obtaining the meat and testing it, plus interviews with the manager of the bakery, Knighton, his girlfriend and his mother. They backed up the athlete’s claim of contamination,” (link). You can read the first instance decision in Knighton’s case here (link). In August, I reported that Knighton’s manager was caught doping during his career; “Knighton set an unratified junior world record of 19.49 in the 200m in 2022, and trains at the University of Florida under the coach Mike Holloway. Holloway also trains the Olympic heptathlete Anna Hall and the 110m hurdles Olympic champion Grant Holloway (no relation)” (link).