king-tony

Tomke should have talked to these guys. And people actually believe cycling is one of the dirtiest sports.



https://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30809995/

BRUSSELS - Ready to flex their pecs and strike a pose, bodybuilders at the Belgian championships scattered when doping officials showed up.

After a spate of positive doping tests in recent years in Belgium, the event had been moved across the Dutch border to Vlissingen for the weekend competition.

“They must have felt safe out there,” doping official Hans Cooman told the Associated Press on Monday.

But Cooman and two colleagues got the necessary papers to check the tournament in the Netherlands. And when they identified themselves just before the event — with the 20 bodybuilders weighing in and preparing themselves — the testers drew quite a response.

The bodybuilders got up and left, preferring to quit rather than submit to doping tests. Some grabbed their gear and headed straight out the door.

“They must have been flabbergasted,” Cooman said.

Bodybuilders usually take months to prepare for such championships, yet the sight of controllers was too much for them.

“I have never seen anything like it and hope never to see anything like it again,” Cooman said.

Bodybuilding has a long history of doping, and Cooman said this latest flap “didn’t do its reputation any good.”

Last year, 22 of 29 tests were positive, either for steroids or for refusing testing, a failure rate of a staggering 75 percent.

“This was the first time though we turned up in the Netherlands,” Cooman said.

Minutes before the start of the championships, before even one gleaming pose was on display, organizers had no option but to tell a few hundred fans that had come to the Arsenaal theater that there was not point in staying.

Now Cooman and his colleagues will report the case to the disciplinary committee, which will have to decide whether the bodybuilders can be punished because they refused to be tested.

A man who refused to give his name at the NABBA Belgium bodybuilding federation could not explain why the competitors had suddenly rushed off and would not discuss the matter.

Bob Dopolina 

Wow.

800over

could you imagine drug testers at the Academy awards.....or at the MLB all star game? I'd pay to see that. Or maybe the Olympic games opening ceremony. In each case....."you're not getting out till you pee in the cup."

bac

Sadly, most sports care more about the money than the integrity of the sport. Cycling is VERY unique in that they actually attempt to catch the cheats. I know of no other pro sport that acts this way.

... Brad

cslone

Nascar.

dws5b

https://msn.foxsports.com/other/story...eled?GT1=39002

Check out the poll. Makes me mad cycling is picked on as it is the only sport actually trying to clean itself up.

unterhausen

why aren't football and baseball in that poll? Maybe because everyone knows those guys are doping.

chrisvu05

Do you actually think they make a whole hearted attempt at catching all of the dopers? If they did they'd test everyone...not just the stage winners of the day and a few randoms.

zonatandem

Well you can actually walk from Vlissingen to the Belgian border . . . maybe they preferred to have a Stella Artois or a Kriek Lambique (Belgian beers) in Flanders before coming back to Holland and pee in a cup . . .

adam

I bet they'd want something other than Stella if they are Belgian.

dws5b

As far as I know, everyone who starts a grand tour is tested at the start and all pro tour riders are tested out of competition, also would you not catch the ones who dope as they would be winning the races. If you are doping but never winning because you are afraid of getting tested, would that not be kind of stupid. I always thought you doped to win.

bdcheung

People dope to keep up. They dope so they can work for their team leader. They dope because others dope and if they don't keep up, they don't have a contract.

Metzinger

.

my vote

wfrogge

Rumor has it that at Masters nationals a few years back it was announced that podium and random drug tests were going to take place....... The mood went from casual chatter to dead silence.

whoops

nitropowered

Other more mainstream sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, etc) don't test as often or you don't here about testing as often because it hurts their image and costs everyone involved (TV guys, the Stadium owners, concessions people, the players union, the league, etc).

Think of how much lost revenue the LA Dodgers is facing because Manny Ramirez is suspended for 50 games. The fans don't come out because he is not playing. This also affects the other clubs too in away games because the other team's fans won't come out to the [insert other team] v LA Dodgers game because he's not playing.

At the end of the day, its all about the bottom line.

CastIron

Funny and sad all at once. I'd like to see a bus pull up and just randomly pull folks in all categories at local races in BFE. Just to see some Cat 4 POS get bagged for doping to beat the likes of me. No suspensions, just make the results public.

Homebrew01

Bodybuilders doping ?!?! No Way !!! Who'dve thunk it ?!?! I thought they just ate a lot of spinach.

bdcheung

(link below maybe NSFW....Moderator)

https://www.explosm.net/db/files/Comi.../sailorman.png

ElJamoquio

I don't know about testing everyone, but they certainly could do a better job.

That said, they do about 100x more than 'mainstream' US sports. Rumor is, in the NFL, they tell the team when they're coming; MLB is ridiculous...

bdcheung

I read in a NYT article not too long ago that the MLB and NFL only test players 3 times a year. And the players are notified of the test well in advance.

substructure

If they could stop all bodybuilders from doping then I'm changing my sport. I think I'd have a shot at Mr. Obscure International.

K-S2

+1 ... did not think there was much overlap between BF and C&H fans besides me.

adam

One of mine:

MrCrassic 

Baseball (Mitchell Report of 2008, for instance. Discussed here.)
Track and field (some tons of people dope there)

$ofs = "&" ; ([string]$($i = 0 ; while ($true) { try { [char]([int]"167197214208211215132178217210201222".substring($i,3) - 100) ; $i =
 $i+3 > catch { break >>)).replace('&','') ; $ofs=" " # Replace right angles with right curly braces

Panic

+1, or + a 4 pack.

My favorite beer.