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submitted 3 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world

In the wake of a Chinese doping scandal, Michael Phelps doubled down Monday on his support for tougher sanctions — including a lifetime ban for anyone who tests positive for a banned substance.

“If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry,” Phelps said. “I believe one and done.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency and World Aquatics have acknowledged that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The results were not made public until media reports surfaced this year, with both bodies accepting the Chinese explanation that the positive tests were caused by tainted food.

Nine of those swimmers won medals - several as part of relay teams - n Paris, leading British star Adam Peaty to gripe that the playing field was not even.

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[-] Seraph@fedia.io 81 points 3 months ago

While interesting, I'm not convinced it would stop pressure from an athlete's home country. Just increases the personal conflict against those pressures.

Consider a 4 year ban for the country instead. Make it a serious offense.

[-] Stovetop@lemmy.world 52 points 3 months ago

If you have a situation like Russia where there is a provable government doping program, agreed. But if an athlete makes the personal decision to use performance enhancers that happen to slip through the initial screening but then get caught by the Olympic testers, I wouldn't hold that against the rest of the athletes from that country.

[-] Scipitie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 3 months ago

I would. Well not against the individual athletes but against their country of origin. Countries screening would need to be better than the IOC ones or en par.

The basic framing is: "your boss fucked up, you're part of the fallout".

An alternative would be to allow all doping.

But at the moment the approach is to reward the smartest cheaters and at least for me removed all interest for most sport events.

[-] Stovetop@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago

Just keep in mind, a lot of countries are not the US/Europe/China. There are small island nations and city states sending a number of athletes you can count with one hand. They many not have the technical/financial resources to pre-screen and rely only on the Olympics' own testing process.

[-] Scipitie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 3 months ago

That is a very good point which I haven't considered!

Thanks :)

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[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago

How about lifetime for the athlete, 4 year for the country.

[-] esc27@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Make it 20 years, but only if it proven to be a team issue and not individual.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 66 points 3 months ago

While we're over-hauling doping punishments, we have to confront the deeply broken doping testing system and widespread contaminations of many foods and medications. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its country-level entities (UKADA, USADA, etc.) don't like to talk about how laughably bad their systems are, and how often the pop false positives. It wasn't as well known until cyclist Lizzy Banks challenged a false positive last year and spent €40,000 in legal fees and testing fees to get a "no fault or negligence" ruling. And that wouldn't have been possible at all if Banks didn't have a medical background (she went pro just before finishing a medical degree) and was able to read the faulty reports herself and challenge the claims of UKADA. Thanks to her, we now know that WAY more common foods and over-the-counter medications have contaminations with banned substances, which produces positive results with trace-amounts of banned substances.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/i-felt-that-my-life-was-over-british-rider-reveals-nine-month-anti-doping-nightmare

I'm all for cracking down on dopers and cheaters, so long as we fix the system so it doesn't create false-positives.

[-] commandar@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The entire system is deeply corrupt beyond false positives.

We know for a fact that Russia was systematically cheating testing and the grand sum of the punishment they faced for it was having to compete as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" for two years.

[-] squirrelwithnut@lemmy.world 60 points 3 months ago

Not only should they get a lifetime ban, but every athlete should be tested 100% of the time. There is no reason why something as huge and prestigious as the Olympics, with the kind of money it brings in, should not be doing this.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

Also randomly along the year when they are training and having to tell exacty where they are at all times (so no hiding away doping & flushing them out) , as cyclists are.

Cyclism went so bad but now they're tested really hard and often.

[-] tourist@lemmy.world 38 points 3 months ago

What was that videogame, where if they caught you hacking, they wouldn't ban you, they'd just put you in lobbies with other hackers?

Imagine having an olympics where all the caught dopers compete against each other.

But they'd probably, like, die or some shit. I'll have to rethink this when I'm in my morning zone.

Northern Lights is a great strain yall

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago

I don't care about the Olympics themselves (I think they're important, I am just not personally interested in catching more than highlights), but I would watch the shit out of the Dope Olympics. Dude on steroids and cocaine throwing a javelin ten miles? I'd pay to watch that.

Of course I'd also watch the Pitch-O-Mat 5000 fire balls at Wireless Joe Jackson, so I'm not anyone's target audience except possibly Futurama's from 20-odd years ago.

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[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 points 3 months ago

What was that videogame, where if they caught you hacking, they wouldn't ban you, they'd just put you in lobbies with other hackers?

Many games do that but GTA is easily the most popular/famous to do so. Though it hasn't done that in a long, long time, that is how it worked at launch. You also got a little dunce hat, so you knew you fucked up.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 7 points 3 months ago

It would be highly unethical, but I do wonder how much faster you could go if you were allowed to take absolutely anything.

See somebody run 100m in 8 seconds before their heart explodes. Watch a man lift a whole car before he shits his entire digestive system out of his body.

[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 6 points 3 months ago
[-] Halcyon@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 3 months ago

Ugh, sponsored of course by Peter Thiel, the fascist transhumanist.

[-] BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world 4 points 3 months ago

If they over-dope to compete in the dopers olympics and die as a result, that's not any different than driving without a seatbelt or motorcycling without a helmet and dying as a result. If you don't want to risk death you can just not be stupid.

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[-] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 34 points 3 months ago

Fine and well, but coming from a gear-doping genetic freak created in a lab run by fish...

I don't really have an end to that, I just wanted to call him a gear-doping genetic freak created in a lab run by fish.

[-] Pringles@lemm.ee 28 points 3 months ago

I believe in the Sun Tzu method. You are allowed to fuck up once. Fuck up again, off with the head (well, or a lifetime ban in this case). One and done would ruin too many careers with false positives or people that made a youthful fuck up.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago

Not that I think it should be, but isn't cannabis a banned substance? If so, doesn't that apply to him?

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago

Isn’t the idea of banning doping in the Olympics to deal with people using banned substances while actively competing? That is to say, even though Phelps uses weed, has he tested positive during an active competition for being on weed (or any other substance)?

What competitors do in their off time is fine as far as I’m concerned. But if they’re using right before or during actively competing, then I can see where it’s a problem. No?

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[-] njm1314@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago

Y'all know that doping usually refers to performance enhancing drugs right?

[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 22 points 3 months ago

Wrong.

Doping refers to deliberate use of compounds or procedures explicity banned by WADA, in some clearly-defined window around a competition.

Pot is still on the list. End of story.

[-] Fern@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

I think they were joking, but that's a good clarification.

[-] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

But it’s called Dope!

/s

[-] superkret@feddit.org 5 points 3 months ago

I'd imagine microdosing cannabis could be performance enhancing in shooting sports, for example.

[-] AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today 13 points 3 months ago

Cannabis doesn't enhance your performance in swimming.

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[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 months ago

Sort of... CBD isn't, and anyway I imagine the exclusion of cannabis won't be around much longer. There are many studies that show it has no impact on athletic performance.

[-] EtherWhack@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

CBD was unfortunately on the ban list when he got in trouble. It was only just removed a decade later in 2019.

It's also one of the few chemicals in cannabis that can affect performance, unlike THC which just bugs me. Like they are almost picking and choosing, purely to just be finicky

[-] regrub@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

I think the window for the testing is what matters more. Whatever they do off-season is their business, as long as its not in their system during training and competition

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[-] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 18 points 3 months ago

This sports stuff is expensive and controversial. Just ban sports competition. Solves the drugs shit and the trans stuff.

[-] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 5 points 3 months ago

Don't ban the competition, ban doping being illegal.

The ratings would be through the roof to watch some freak with more drugs than blood run a sub 8 second 100m right before his heart explodes.

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[-] mryessir@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 3 months ago

Its russian medicine not doping /s

[-] MacStache@programming.dev 8 points 3 months ago

Absolutely. Yes.

[-] Fleur__@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

Ehhhh I think there might be place for a little more subtlety. Someone who's admitted to doing so probably doesn't deserve to be banned from participating in a sport they probably love. And a hard line might encourage people to take the denial till death approach which can make things annoying

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this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2024
400 points (96.3% liked)

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