Chip

Rusedski fails drugs test

British tennis star Greg Rusedski has tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone.
The British number two confirmed that he had failed a drugs test, but pleaded his innocence.

"In response to media inquiries, I can confirm that a sample has tested positive for a low level of nandrolone," he said in a statement.

The 30-year-old will face a hearing in Montreal on 9 February.


"I shall attend and I fully expect to be found innocent. I do not and have not taken performance-enhancing drugs," he added.

The test dates from a tournament he played in the summer in Indianapolis during an injury-plagued season when he competed in only six tournaments.


Chip.

David Brent

Surely they can see by his results that he hasn't taken any performace enhancing drugs. If he has, imagine how **** he would be then......

lightning101

Also, the thing that is never mentioned is that the body (especially athletes) produces small amounts of Nandralone. Seems to be an waful lot of people getting failures for Nandralone and nothing else.

Scumbag

Spot on lightning

Especially the athletes, so many were done for nandrolone over an 18 month period...if they had been taking it they would have soon switched to something else pretty quickly.
Linford Christie being done was bizarre...after he had retired (18 months IIRC), he came back to run over 60m in an indoor meet in Germany, and was done for nandrolone...no way on earth would he have taken it for that, when he was the most tested man on the planet for the previous 2 years...something very odd in this area.

Chris29

i know he's innocent, its a performance enhancing drug and he's still crap!!

Phil

If he has taken drugs then he must be Canadian

MooseRacer

LOL

thecirsch

Phil you swine, you beat me too it!!

CC

nandrolone metabolites stay in the body for ages even after they have stopped being used.

Scumbag

but unless the allowable levels of the metabolites have been changed, how come none of the athletes who were found with them were caught in previous tests? Implies that they had used it since those tests which would be plain daft.
IIRC the big question is does the test for those metabolites actually pick up other similar compounds? I believe this is where (some) medical opinion was split.

It is just very bizarre that so many were caught for that one steroid over such a long period.

super_si

"Guy's I see the humour in your post, but he could have been using it for rehabilitation of his joints. Nandrolone Decanoate / Decanate, Deca Durabolin, is primarily used to hasten the recovery of damaged joints and ligaments. Deca, as it is called commonly, is very often used by pro athletes to hasten recovery time while nursing bad injuries. Basicly, it triples the synthesis of essential proteins and inreases nitrogen levels. It is not a testosterone steroid. It's anabolic effect is determined by the amount of complex calories, essential fats, and cholesterol ingested. It's rehabilitative properties are second to none regarding the aches and pains associated with intense physical strain. I would wager this was the reason he would have been taking this particular steroid. More then likely, we can blame his doctor for his testing positive."

Off another forum

Si

ozzy

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what the use is. If it's on a banned list, then it's simply not allowed. It's the same with the Scottish slalom skier who failed simply because the drug was found in some medicine he was taking for flu symptoms.

You could argue that taking a drug to minimise recovery times is just as much an "enhancement" as a drug used to improve performance during a match.

The problem we have now is that it's unclear why athletes fail drug tests other than the simple fact that some level of a banned drug was found in their system. It doesn't cover what the levels were or how it managed to work into their systems, whether naturally, inadvertantly or directly to improve performance (i.e. cheating in the laws view). That leaves the athlete brandished a cheat regardless and guilty until proven innocent.

Stefan