Rugby League player banned for cocaine use

World Cup DHers are much lower paid than top level tennis players, got to factor that in

Aaron Gwinn estimated that his earnings (with sponsorship) was over a million dollars last year. Obviously that’s 1. a lot less than the top tennis players, and 2. Very very few are earning that sort of money, and 3. I’m not suggesting for one minute the he’s taking PEDS.

BUT, the incentive is clearly there, it’s a livelihood, sponsors to please, the pressure to perform and get back to riding as soon as possible if you have a crash. I’m not naive enough to think the DH is any cleaner (or dirtier) than any other professional sport.

Exactly what aspect of “performance” do you want to enhance in DH? I’d have thought blocking the effects of outright fear might be the most obvious, as opposed to cardiovascular improvements from traditional cycling PED fayre. And obviously heavier riders go down hills faster, so perhaps bulking agents like anabolic steroids. Are pork pies PED’s? 😉

Recovery agents and possibly supplements that aid that might also be used, but I can’t think of much else of interest, and excepting contamination, these are routine at higher levels of competition.

3. I’m not suggesting for one minute the he’s taking PEDS.

Jesus is his PED, and there’s no test for that

Oh.. .I think you’ll find there is. 😉

Maybe there’s more that can go wrong on an average DH run, and therefore the benefits of taking the drugs are diluted by chance that your outright fitness won’t make the difference at the end of the day.

Also, could you argue that a DHer and their sponsor would be more likely to be shunned if they got caught doping? i.e. the ‘omerta’ that exists in road cycling doesn’t exist in DH so you’d become a pariah much more easily?

Pretty sure Gee Atherton was already taking an unfair amount of flack simply for being fit and strong when people preferred to see the Stevie Smith style of fast but laid back, whips over jumps etc.

They are tested – even at British level. I remember the testers turning up at the British Champs at Innerleithen a few years ago, and testing the male and female winners and some randoms from the also rans.

The podiums were delayed for ages as the male winner who shall remain nameless was having trouble producing a sample. It was a hot day !

Testing at a race is the most obvious place you could ever do it though, and therefore easiest to get around. Would need to be random testing, bio-passports and all that stuff to start making it worthwhile

[b]
“Fooookin’ ‘ot that day! wunnit? Maaaate.. ehehhehehee” [/b]

It wouldn’t surprise me if a top dh rider had doped, there’s always one bell end, but I really can’t see it being endemic. As people have said above, the advantages and rewards aren’t worth it.
Now, BMX, 4x and enduro, that’s a different matter. There has been various rumours about positive tests in enduro hushed up, and there’s money in BMX.

I thought it was because downhillers aren’t mentally capable of following a doping program

That too 😀

make doping in sport a criminal offence in the way that it is in France. I can’t see any practical reason why it shouldn’t be so

Couldn’t taking drugs to cheat and then winning prize money be prosecuted as fraud or obtaining money by deception? Has this ever been tried in this country? Would it only be an option where the perpetrator obtained something of value rather than just improved their results?

I’m going to betray my sheltered upbringing by asking what THC is.

Thoroughly Horrible Cake? – nope, that doesn’t exist.

Actually speaking of hush ups I thought a well known french rider (not trying to insinuate, genuinely can’t remember which one) HAD been caught doping in the early days of Enduro?

THC is the active ingredient in canabis

Karim Amour.

I thought Chris Ball had said there was a lifetime ban on dopers in the EWS, but he won the masters cat last year IIRC.

Current EWS 40+ world series champion. Karim Amour?

There’s plenty to read online about it if you’re interested.

<SNAP>

I wouldnt be suprised if there is doping. Its professional sport. Whether its done in training to help recovery and boost strength and power or on raceday to calm nerves and reduce stress.

The real problem for all sport is that doping control cant keep up. In my view all you can say now is that an athlete has passed doing control or failed. Unfortunatley passing is no guarantee they are clean.

I honestly don’t know why anyone not competing even cares.

I’m sure i’ve read somewhere (maybe in a discussion about bryceland..) that the DH riders are only tested at events.

i.e. if you are clean on race day, then you’re good to go.

I thought it was all about the social media profile these days, the more followers the more money form sponsors. You don’t need to be winning races or even getting on the podium to be successful in that side of things so the incentive isn’t quite there to dope for race results.

From DRUGS.COM

“As a rough guide: if you smoke the occasional joint, weed will stay in your system for up to 10 days. If you smoke regularly, up to 45 days and if you smoke constantly, 90 days.

As for being detectable in a drug test, well this depends on the type of drug test. A Urine test will detect up to a month prior, but a blood test will show positive if you’ve smoked any weed in the last 6 months.

Also important to note that marijuana/thc residue is stored in the fat cells, so if you’re skinny or have a high metabolism, the time it takes to leave your system may be reduced.”

HTH