Olympics and doping

1997/01/01 Otaolaurretxi, Jon Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

The first feature that must have chemical assistance to the athlete is its undetectability. With new products at your fingertips, avoiding doping controls is not difficult. Growth hormone, for example, is not detectable in controls, although the International Olympics Commission, in a September 1995 report, acknowledged that it affected high-level athletes. Hemophilia and sprinter are highly appreciated and taken when strong or live muscles are needed.

When significant changes are observed in the athlete's body, it is often a growth hormone at the base, but the presence of large muscles is not the total proof of having taken this hormone, as some athletes received maintain their appearance as thin. The best experts in this drug are in the United States, and many athletes are heading towards it.

Another undetectable product is erythropoietin (Epo). This is appreciated by those who practice background sport, cyclists or background racing.

Since these undetectable elements have been incorporated into sports, it can be said that there are two types of athletes. Some, who do not yet have the latest advances at their disposal, risk doping and trapping in control with regular products. Others, for their part, take themes that leave no trace. The cost of preparing these last athletes is approximately ten million pesetas (400 thousand pounds) per person per year.

To detect these products in the athlete it would be necessary to perform a blood test, but for “ethical” reasons, athletes and federations give up this control system. At the moment they just analyze the urine. If the blood was analyzed, logically the results of the Olympics would be very different.

Need to “help” the body

When sports and money are combined, athletes become mercenaries. When there are billions to the bottom of the hundredth second, with the help of chemistry it overpowers athletes. Dr. Hervé Stoicheff, dedicated to sports medicine in Bordeaux, says that in athletes who prepare “natural” the participation in the results is 20% training, 20% genetic trends, 10% life hygiene and 50% mental hygiene. The coach's role will therefore be to achieve the most appropriate balance between these factors.

However, once this balance is reached, it is increasingly difficult for the athlete to exceed its limit. All sports medicine professionals recognize that the athlete's improvement curve stops growing to become a horizontal line. Then the line starts down.

To get out of this stop, athletes who prepare “natural” tend to increase workouts, but the results are very bad. Because the body gets too tired, the first marks do not get even. And the body has no room to recover what it won in the exercises. It is the most dangerous moment for the athlete, because he believes that doping is the only way to improve the results.

Evolution is logical. First, the athlete looks for products to be able to withstand the workouts. You will initially take anabolic steroids and hyperprotein diet. This increases a greater load and increases muscle strength. Due to biological change, the athlete will continue to improve their brands.

In addition, once these anabolic products are ingested, the day of the sport test is given a push to the body with amphetamines. It increases self-confidence and the desire to compete. That is why he will win the most rage when two athletes with the same physical capacity compete.

But doping also has other obstacles. The athlete sees that workouts can be more frequent and intense, but this causes muscle tears, tendinitis and psychological disorders. In addition, damage occurs depending on the products received in the long term.

Drug type Begins to use

Amphetamines Anabolizers Beta-blockers Coramines Corticosteroids Diuretics Erythropoietin Ephedrine Heptaminola Growth Hormone Testosterone

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The doping of each sport

1. Necessary strength (especially in weightlifting and sprints)

• Growth hormone (or peptide hormones) Trade names of the product: Genotonorm, Maxomat, Umatrope. Young people increase their muscle mass (10-20 kilos in a few months). The damage it causes are swelling of soft tissues, swelling of bones and hypertrophy, hypertrophy of organs (salivary glands, liver, kidneys, heart, spleen...), polyps in the colon, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. The drug is undetectable and is used in all sports except when concentration is needed.
• Nandrolone (anabolic steroid) Product trade names: Trophobolene, Durabolin, Dynabolon. It increases muscle mass, increases training capacity and improves pain resistance. The damage it causes are: liver cancer, hepatitis, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension crisis, diabetes, sterility, stop the growth of young people, that women appear in men and that they violate the muscles. This drug is detectable and is mainly used in background races (over 10,000 meters), rowing, boxing, cycling and throwing.
• Testosterone (anabolic steroid) Product trade names: Halotestin, Androtardyl, Proviron. It increases muscle mass, increases training capacity, provokes aggressiveness and quickly cures muscle and left-handed injuries. The damages produced are: prostate cancer, prostate adenoma, breast cancer in men, kidney, liver or heart failure and aggressiveness. This drug can be detected. It is mainly used in testosterone sports mentioned and also in sprint sports.

2. When duration is required (especially cycling and background racing)

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  When sports and money are combined, athletes become mercenaries. When there are billions to the bottom of the hundredth second, with the help of chemistry it overpowers athletes.
  Erythropoietin (peptide hormone) Trade names of the product: Eprex, Recormon. Increases oxygenation capacity, increases duration and decreases adaptation time to altitude competitions. The damages produced are: hypertension, thrombosis, seizures, flu symptoms, bone pain and skin reactions. The drug is undetectable, and in addition to the sports mentioned, it is mainly used in swimming, cross-country skiing and soccer.
• Blood transfusions Improves oxygenation capacity, increases maximum oxygen consumption, increases maximum aerobic power and increases duration. The damages produced are: incompatibility between white blood cells and two blood platelets, simulation of malaria crisis, chills, temperature increase, pulmonary edema, severe hypocalcemia, sashes, malaise, viral hepatitis, rubella, diabetes and heart weakness. Transfusions are undetectable and are used in sports mentioned in the case of erythropoietin.

3. Agility required (especially in sprints and cycling)

• Clenbuterol (Betastimulant) Product Trade Names: Ventkulmin (veterinarian), Planipart (veterinarian). Increased breathing capacity, airway extension, muscle growth and maintenance of final acceleration. The damage produced is muscle vibrations, tachycardia and headaches. This drug is detectable and is used, in addition to the sports mentioned, in shots (weight, disk, hammer and javelin) and in hemophilia.
• Cortisone (corticosteroids) Product trade name: Cortisone Roussel. It increases the will, generates euphoria and eliminates pain, fatigue and stress. Its effects are: ulcers, viral infections, cushioning of body defenses, neuropsychological accidents, bone decalcification, diabetes, edemas, tendinitis, hypertension, weakening of all tissues and adrenal insufficiency. The drug is undetectable and is used not only in sports mentioned so far in this group, but also in gymnastics.
• Ephedrine (stimulant) Trade names of the product: Clarix, Stopasthme, Tedralan. It stimulates, increases self-confidence, generates a lot of desire to win and stops feeling tired. The damage caused are headaches, insomnia, heartbeat, arterial hypotension, slow heart function and faster food passage in the intestine. This drug is undetectable and in addition to the sports mentioned in this section, consumers are ice hockey, boxing, rowing and fencing.

4th concentration required (in shooting sports)

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  Clenbuterol, cortisone and ephedrine are the most commonly used drugs in fast sports. The first is not, but the other two can be detected.
  Propanolol (beta-blocker) Product trade names: Avlocardyl, Hemipralon. Stabilizes emotional state, improves concentration and relaxes by decreasing tachycardia, stress or vibrations. It eliminates fear, slows the rhythm of the heart and facilitates shooting between pulsations. Its effects are hypoglycemia, asthenia, vertigo, heart failure and rhythm and mood disorders. This drug is not detectable and is consumed mainly in shooting sports, biathlon, pentathlon, car racing, golf, ski jumps and tennis.
• Benzodiazepine (sedative) Trade names of the product: Temesta, Tranxene, Valium. It reduces fear, nervousness and psychic tension. Eliminates anxiety. It can cause respiratory failure. In addition to the sports mentioned so far in this section, consumers are fencing, bobsleigh and horse sports.
• Cocaine (stimulant) Increases brain activity, improves perception, accelerates memory and strengthens reflexes and luminosity. It produces cold sweat, aggressiveness, obesity, anxiety, headache, loss of appetite and thinning, nasal injuries, chest pain, tremors, etc. This drug can be detected. To the sports mentioned in this first section we must add athletics (sprints), basketball, boxing, cycling, ice hockey, swimming and tennis.