Finegan blames nasal decongestant for Kamloops drug positive
Two days after being labeled a drug cheat, W40 world champion Geraldine Finnegan (or Finegan) issued a vigorous defense. According to Irish press reports, Finegan “insisted she has ‘never knowingly taken an illegal or legal substance to help (her) performance,’ after Athletics Ireland announced she had tested positive for the prohibited substance ephedrine (at Kamloops worlds) . . . . Finegan said she had used a nasal decongestant, purchased in a local health shop, before the race, and had been assured by the shop manager that it was legal and ‘supplied to adults and children alike.’ ”
Minutes after finishing the 60-meter hurdles at Kamloops, Geraldine was summoned for drug-testing. (Photo by Lesley Richardson)
The story continued:
In a statement today (May 22), Finegan said she bought the decongestant the day after she had received medical attention to relieve symptoms of asthma and nasal decongestion. “The next day whilst still suffering from the same symptoms and, having to compete in further events, I purchased an nasal decongestant from the health shop company,” she said, saying she would advise all sports people to be aware of the full ingredients of any over-the-counter cold and flu remedies. “I take pride in knowing that my achievements have been gained through my own endeavours and hard training.”
This opens up new questions, including:
Similar ephedrine cases in the past have resulted in public warnings — and no suspensions from competition. Will World Masters Athletics consider leniency in this case, or will officials adopt a stance of zero tolerance?
Can Geraldine produce a dated proof of purchase of the cold medicine, and have it tested for ephedrine?
What is the status of her appeal? Will she go before a CAS panel?
In 2004, American elite sprinter Torri Edwards tested positive for a banned stimulant (but not ephedrine) that she said was in a medication she took in Martinique. She was suspended for two years, but fought hard.
Though she missed the 2004 Athens Olympics, her suspension was reduced to one year. (See detailed story here.)
A summary of her case:
In April 2004, Edwards was bound for the Athens Olympics in the 100 and the 200 when she tested positive for nikethamide, a stimulant that carried a two-year ban. The drug had come from pills she had taken at a meet in Martinique to combat a minor illness.
Though arbitrators decided Edwards had taken the drug inadvertently, saying in their ruling that she had conducted herself with “honesty, integrity and character,” they did not overturn the suspension. The rules were strict. If there was a banned substance in her body, Edwards had to be penalized for it.
In November 2005, her two-year ban was shortened when the World Anti-Doping Agency downgraded nikethamide infractions to maximum one-year suspensions. By then, Edwards had already suffered.
Russian middle-distancer Anna Alminova got off easier:
She had her best ever global level performance in Doha at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, running 4:09.81 for seventh place in the 1500 m final. However, she tested positive for pseudoephedrine at the championships as a result of having taken an over-the-counter medicine to treat a cold. She received a ban for three months – a light sentence to reflect the low-level seriousness of the drug and that she had not ingested the substance for competitive reasons.
More telling was the case of four-time Olympic medalist Ato Boldon:
In 2001, Boldon tested positive at an early-season relay meet for the stimulant ephedrine, and was given a warning, but was not suspended or sanctioned, since ephedrine is a substance found in many over the counter remedies, and Boldon had been treating a cold. “It is in no way something where the blame is laid on the athlete,” said IAAF General Secretary Istvan Gyulai of the positive result.
In fact, at least a half-dozen elite track athletes have been given only a “public warning” as punishment for ephedrine ingestion. (See this list.)
And this USATF doping list shows nine athletes getting public warnings — but no suspension — for ephedrine or psuedoephedrine:
Ephedrine 01-13-04 Mickey Grimes 2003 Pan American Games 08-06-03 1st Place 100m
Ephedrine 10-11-02 Crystal Cox 2002 NACAC Under 25 Championships 08-11-02 1st Place 100m
Ephedrine 12-10-02 Leon Settle 2002 Cezmi Athletics Championships 06-08-02 1st Place 300m
Pseudoephedrine 07-30-02 James Hamilton 2002 Pittsburg Marathon 05-05-02 10th Place
Pseudoephedrine 06-14-02 Louis Bordes 2002 Penn Relays 04-25-02 4th Place 10,000m
Ephedrine 03-15-02 Joyce Bates 2002 Boston Indoor Games 01-27-02 2nd Place 60m Hurdles
Ephedrine 07-30-01 Bobby Smith 2001 Junior National Championships 06-17-01 1st Place Javelin Throw
Ephedrine 05-14-01 Robert Howard 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix USA Indoor Track & Field Championships 03-03-01 2nd Place Triple Jump
Pseudoephedrine 05-10-01 Hazel Clark 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix USA Indoor Track & Field Championships 03-03-01
Finally, there was the case of Carl Lewis. You might have heard of him.
In 2003, Dr. Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee’s director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to Sports Illustrated which revealed that some 100 American athletes who failed drug tests and should have been prevented from competing in the Olympics were nevertheless cleared to compete. Among those athletes was Carl Lewis.
It was revealed that Lewis tested positive three times before the 1988 Olympics for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine, banned stimulants and bronchodilators also found in cold medication, and had been banned from the Seoul Olympics and from competition for six months. The USOC accepted his claim of inadvertent use and overturned the decision. Fellow Santa Monica Track Club teammates Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard were also found to have the same banned stimulants in their systems, and were cleared to compete for the same reason.
The positive results occurred at the Olympic Trials in July 1988 where athletes were required to declare on the drug-testing forms “over-the-counter medication, prescription drugs and any other substances you have taken by mouth, injection or by suppository.”
“Carl did nothing wrong. There was never intent. He was never told, you violated the rules,” said Martin D. Singer, Lewis’s lawyer, who also said that Lewis had inadvertently taken the banned stimulants in an over-the-counter herbal remedy.
So now it’s up to WMA and her national federation to decide on the proper punishment.
You can vote, too:
32 Responses
Sorry to hear this. I completely understand how what she says can be exactly the truth. The problem is that MANY of us are on medications just to survive in a somewhat normal fashion, without regard to athletics. In fact, many people pick up sports because they are trying to improve a health condition that requires medication.
Seems our drug tests should allow for some of these common prescriptions for the aging that don’t give us a clear advantage. The only thing I take is Meloxicam (generic Mobic) for arthritis inflammation. If that were a banned drug, am I just supposed to live in pain? My wife is a Type 2 diabetic and takes a few things to control it. If one of those is on the banned list what does she do? She can’t stop the exercise or the condition gets worse.
My point is that these are COMMON ailments we deal with and present day drug tests are designed for the elite athlete. Just thinking out loud. Bubba
Assuming that what she said she took is true – chalk up another victim to the nasty cold/virus that was spreading around the arena in Kamloops. I sat next to a number of people who were coughing and sneezing because of a “cold” and I had the misfortune of coming down with this illness on my way home. It went from being a nasty head cold to a nasty chest cold and made hash of my efforts at the National Masters in Boston. No I did not use a decongestant as they make me dizzy and give me raging insomnia that lasts for days just in case you think my pathetic result in the 800 was helped by a PED.
Since most of us do not run around thinking about PEDS and drug testing – I can believe she just took an over the counter decongestant without giving it much thought. And no doubt who ever gave her the advice about it being ok – does not have a clue about the long list of banned substances on the WADA list.
Hopefully the WMA drug folks will not want to make this a capital offense – “off with her head” for two years. But – I would not place money on it. Already she is stained with the “doper” title – which in my opinion should be reserved for those using true PEDS and not those who catch a cold and want something to clear out the sinuses. This is hardly in the same category as Val Barnwell.
remember this as you go for the OTC decongestant or the advice of someone in a health food store.
Personally I think the current list of banned substances needs to be seriously modified to take into account the needs of older athletes and not turn into a “gotcha” for masters who need to clear out their sinuses.
I can add to Mary H.’s narrative…my head and chest cold surfaced in Kamloops and made me miserable. I took a decongestant on my one day that was free of competition but the rest of the time I only relied on Tylenol, gargling with warm salt water, and saline rinses for my sinuses –all to avoid any possible contamination by an item on banned list. I can see my fears were not unfounded.
I hope that this works out in Geraldine’s favor.
Thank you, Bubba, for your thoughtful response. At the Penn Relays this year we had one of our top sprinters, the wonderful Joe Summerlin, win the 75+ 100 dash in a brilliant 15.46 seconds. Yikes, that man is in shape. And yet he had a stroke in January 2009, I think it was. Please don’t say he should take no drugs to, at the very least, reduce the chances of another stroke. In my view, Joe is a very healthy man and would be the envy of other men and women his age.
As you indicate, Bubba, it is common for people of a certain age to take some medications — in your case for arthritis and in your wife’s case type 2 diabetes. These are extremely common problems in the US today.
Several months ago we had a commentator who insisted that healthy people do not take drugs — I believed he was wrong then and believe he is wrong now. For masters athletics, we need rules that make sense for people aged 35 to 100 (or higher, if they still want to compete).
I believe Geraldine should be issued a public warning and allowed to keep her medals and titles. Trust me, this comes from the heart as I would have quite a bit to gain otherwise. I have seen her in action and she is a great athlete with wonderful technical skills as a jumper and thrower. There should definately be zero tolerance for hormones and anabolic steriods (please note that there are two different kinds of steriods, anabolic and corticoid and their functions are NOT the same) And, if she had been found to be taking them, I would be clamoring for my medal. But, really, does ephedrine fall into the same catagory? Is there much difference between taking ephedrine before a race, and the cup of coffee I had before the 4×200 relay? A public warning would serve to alert her and everyone else to be very picky about what goes into their bodies in and around competition, and she would get to keep the awards that she earned.
It’s unfortunate that a simple mistake could cause such a disappointment. The drug issues lead to a Witch Hunt, which leads to the innocent getting thrown in with the guilty. It kills the sport and if you run well, you are suspect, which is ridiculous. Where does it start and when does it end. Is their a list everyone can see that would help not fall into the drug trap?
Ken, I can’t do anything with your reports in doping cases. It does not help. I am not convinced of these “pity-for-Geraldine”-statements, too. Rules are rules. Antidoping rules as well as others like distances, weights, false start etc.
And btw do you really believe, taking ephedrine was just “a simple mistake” (Tony E.)? GF told, she has asked the shop manager. Well, that means, she knew taking unkown substances could be a problem. But, Tony, would you really ask the manager of a health shop if the pill or the nasal decongestant you are buying is unprohibited?
And why has she not read (or skip-read) the package insert? GF would have find the word ephedrine. She could know she is going to use a prohibited substance.
At least: Geraldine’s advice is not really a new one. All sports people should “be aware of the full ingredients of any over-the-counter cold and flu remedies”. It is known by each athlete since decades.
Since colds and travel so often go together for athletes, especially at “worlds”, wouldn’t it be sensible for there to be a “meet-medic” who could verify and document on-the-spot any of those dreaded cold/sinus symptoms, to offer advice on legal medications, and to help masters athletes to still compete legally.
Let’s face it, if you have a cruddy cold, your performance is going to be depressed – is that factored into the research studies on how cold meds boost performance, or where the studies done on cold-free athletes only?
Masters age group or not, she was competing in an international competition subject to WADA testing and it was her responsibility to know the rules and what she was putting into her body. Since Brit Graham Bell had his Winter Olympic medal taken away at Salt Lake for using over the counter cold medication it has been no secret that branded OTC medications can have different ingredients in different countries. Simple enough to read the label and protect your reputation.
Lots of interesting opinion, but not much fact here so far. Perhaps someone with more meical/chemical knowledge can help move this thread forwards?
I have taken decongestant remedies before, although not in competitions. These drugs seem to contain pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine as the active ingredient. A simple search of the Wikipedia entry for these chemicals acknowledges their decongestant effect, but says nothing to suggest they might serve as PEDs.
However, ephedrine appears to be a different matter altogether, with its entry barely mentioning a significant decongestant effect. Much more is said about its stimulating effect, and the controls over its distribution.
So, what was the drug detected? Are there really “over the counter” decongestants easily available that contain ephedrine itself, as opposed to the other similar sounding chemicals which seem to have a decongestant effect, but no apparent stimulating influence?
And what dosage of ephedrine would give a decongestant effect? Is that dosage comparable in any way to levels of the drug that would show up in the type of test administered in Kamloops, and which we are led to believe are regarded as performance enhancing?
I ask these things as genuine questions, but also as someone who has become heartily skeptical of hearing about sports people who seem to want us all to believe they “accidentally” took something on the banned list.
Facts please.
Thanks for your input as always Peter. Small world – Joe Summerlin has a son who ran track with me in high school, named Joe Summerlin. I have a father named Doug who went to high school with the elder Joe Summerlin, who lives less than four miles from me.
I think we all need to stop speculating and wait for the full report and the WMA decision. Meanwhile – for WMA and USATF national masters track meets where there is to be drug testing (something that will be a first for many US athletes who have not competed abroad) – be aware that you could take an OTC drug that could cause you to test positive for a prohibited ingredient. And you may be taking a prescribed medication that requires either a TUE or is banned by USADA. Read up on the USADA website – and make friends with a pharmacist. Do not assume that your prescribing doctor knows anything about the USADA or WADA drug rules. Download the material and read it carefully. While it is not rocket science – a degree in chemistry might be helpful. And as for the PED effect of some the the drugs that are banned – as I understand it – some are banned because they are used as masking agents for “real” performance enhancing drugs and as such do not do anything to aid performance.
We are all pretty much on our own when it comes to dealing with anti-doping issues. Now that USATF National Masters meets are supposed to do drug testing – it will be necessary for all of us who participate to educate ourselves about what we can and cannot take.
Smaller world – I just heard that Joe Summerlin’s wife Charlene passed away this afternoon at 1:30.
Very sorry to hear that, Bubba. When he was at the Penn Relays, Joe expressed great concern about his wife’s condition. He and I discussed the situation with Edward Cox, MD, who was at the meet and of course finished second to Joe. Please give him my condolences, Bubba.
Facts are pretty easy to get – just stick “ephedrine” into Google.
In fact if you search on ephedrine and WADA the very first hit sends you to a WADA release saying that pseudoephedrine has been reintroduced to the prohibited list.
It should not be beyond an athlete’s intelligence to be able to read an ingredients list and check it against a list of banned substances, especially when in the middle of a world-class competition with doping controls.
Going to Wikipedfia for information about chemicals that may be prohibited is as useless as expecting a health food store or pharnmacy to know whether the remedy is “safe” or not. It’s not their job to know.
As Paula R says, it is the athlete’s responsibility, as always, to stay up on these things and know what he or she is putting into the body.
As Maray Harada says, all the info is right there to be downloaded. The WADA prohibited list is a simple list of ingredients organized into categories; it’s easy enough to identify what’s banned.
Where a degree in chemistry or a friendly pharmacist MIGHT come in useful is because stimulants such as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine – and caffeine as well, Susan – are banned at high doses. So if you want to live dangerously, you need to know how many cups of coffee or shots of ephedrine you can get away with.
Does ephedrine fall into the same category as hormones including steroids as Susan W asks? No, but in my opinion ephedrine and co are WORSE, not better. They were originally banned because athletes were abusing them literally to death. They are stimulants and give a clear advantage. No one has ever suffered from an ephedrine or caffeine deficiency.
In contrast, there is an obvious “healthcare” or “preventative medicine” case to be made that athletes should be allowed to replace testosterone and other hormones when tests show they are at low levels – but you cannot get a TUE for that purpose.
Robert,
I’m not sure if ephedrine can improve performance and personally I don’t care. I also don’t know Mrs. Finnegan, I just saying its possible. Personally I wouldn’t ask a store employee either unless they were a member of WADA.
Question: Do all masters athletes know what’s banned and what’s not banned because I don’t and I am concerned. Does one look on the WADA website for a the list of banned substances?
I gather from the above comments that:
1) all but two respondents are concerned about the same drug testing rules being applied to people of all ages.
2)No provisions are being made to recognize the many medications needed by older people when drug testing begins for US Masters.
3)The Irish authorities and authorities in other countries apply the same drug rules to people of all ages.
4) Many potential masters competitors with respiratory challenges should forget about masters track meets.
5) Increasing proportions of humans in various countries are suffering from respiratory problems.
In Hawaii we have had a volcano erupting for 10,000 days, spewing ash and sulphur dioxide in the air. There was a 45 minute delay at this year’s state high school championship meet when a young woman from Maui suffered an athsma attack during the 400 meter relay. Daughters of track coaches have suffered exercise induced athsma. When I lived in Reno, many people suffered athsma due to high altitude, forest fires, pollen and desert dust.
Since I have been treated for mild athsma conditions twice, I am seriously considering never competing in masters track meets where drug testing is conducted. The risk of testing positive is not worth the entry fees, travel costs and time.
There is no way that use of the various medications needed for certain illnesses should be placed in the same banned list as steroids and other truly performance enhancing drugs. Different drug testing rules need to be established for every five year age bracket from age 35 to 100! Until the science is available to create recognition of this aging process, drug testing for masters athletes in any sport will lead to unfair findings and ruining of reputations.
I have competed in masters track since 1972. Yes, there have been those who abused steroids regularly. In most cases they did well for a while, maybe winning some glory, but they crashed way too early in life. Let’s just have some fun with masters track, forget drug testing and let the real druggies destroy themselves.
Without revisiting the 80+ comments for and against Masters drug testing posted on this blog a couple of months ago, I think the Finnegan incident is another example of why drug testing for a population that regularly takes drugs for a myriad of health reasons won’t work…and may in fact decrease the number of people participating in Masters athletics.
Finnegan may have been innocent in her intentions and may not be banned, but the damage to her reputation, I fear, has already been done.
Who in their right mind would want to compete in a sport in which by virtue of taking a cold medicine they are then labelled a “cheat”?
I bet Ms. Finnegan wishes the considerable amount of money she no doubt spent flying from Ireland to Kamloops would have been put to better uses.
Thanks for your input, Jack. I did a little searching, which immediately prompted one question: What if you apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) and are denied? Insulin is a prohibited substance, apparently, but if athletes have type 1 diabetes it looks like they could get a TUE. I saw no mention of type 2 diabetes, but maybe I missed it. I was wondering what would happen if someone with type 2 was prescribed insulin by her/his physician. Would they get a TUE?
This question, of course, is far afield from Geraldine Finnegan’s immediate situation but is relevant to the general problem of drug testing in masters T&F. Masters athletes in the US commonly use prescribed drugs — will they get their TUEs? And how long will it take? And what if they are denied?
wada 2010 prohibited list
http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/World_Anti-Doping_Program/WADP-Prohibited-list/WADA_Prohibited_List_2010_EN.pdf
From „entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity” (William of Occam) over “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” (Gertrude Stein) to “my mother is just a mother” (Niki Lauda) we are arrived finally to the very simplistic “rules are rules “ (Robert Koop et.al.).
But, for a lawyer, to differentiate in the case (in this “case”) of doping, is maybe not easy but possible – please!
Pino,
Any lawyer will tell you that “ignorance of the law is no defense”…even if that law is as stupid as the one of Finnegan supposedly violated. Unfortunately, Finnegan got caught up in a well-intentioned system that has stupid ramifications.
And if Finnegan is treated differently from Val Barnwell…well, that opens another can of worms.
If drug testing is to be applied to an older population, the entire existing program has to be re-examined and re-evaluated from medical and legal points-of-view before more reputations are destroyed and people just stop competing.
Tony, you asked a question regarding good and credible information about prohibited substances. I just received the German monthly Senioren Leichtathletik that is published by the Masters Community promasters. They have this feature called FINDEX. It is well known in Europe and was heavily promoted in Kamloops. FINDEX is published in English, French German, Italian, Polish and Spanish. It is a very good source, indeed: http://www.promasters-la.de/html/findex.phtml
Thank you John & Stefan, I have never looked at the list since I started competing again and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Thanks for the help!
FR: David E. Ortman (M57) Seattle, WA
For one of my False Start columns on drug testing see:
http://www.ortmanmarchand.com/fsh.html
David, Great Article!
I have reviewed the World Anti Doping Agency list of banned substances, the Web Findex system and Dave Ortman’s article.
The WADA list should be included in entry forms for all masters meets where drug testing is conducted along with a web site which must be reviewed by entrants to determine if any other substances have been added to the banned list. Athletes should have to sign when they enter the meet that they have read the banned list of substances and verify that they have not taken any banned drugs. A review of the WADA list requires a chemistry or med school degree. All I learned for sure is that people cannot show up for a track meet having used pot but that a meet director may have trouble banning an athlete who has alcohol on their breath.
In order to use the Web Findex system, an athlete has to know how to spell correctly the “Substance X” which they enter in order to find out if it banned. Most masters rely on their physician to write a prescription. How much will masters have to pay their physician to log on to Web Findex or to read the WADA list and attest to their patients that the medication being prescribed will in no way lead to a positive test at a masters track meet? What does the masters athlete do if the physician tells them that they should not compete if they do not take the banned medication which the physician believes is the best prescription for their condition?
Neither the WADA list or the Web Findex sites acknowledge age or sex in developing the set of banned substances. Drug testing for masters should not be started until separate banned substances are established which recognize the aging process related to every five year age bracket for men and women.
David Ortman states in his article in reference to track and field, “It’s all about world records.” Wrong, David, masters track and field was not developed by David Pain for the primary purpose of setting records.
Let us keep the focus on encouraging men and women of all ages, particularly the oldest living beings, to enjoy training and competing in track and field without fear of being labeled a druggie.
As Mary Harada said: “Assuming that what she said she took is true”…
“The shop manager of the local health shop assured her that it was legal for World Championship.” Well, that is good enough for me…
Interesting, Jack. My personal interest is in the athlete who takes drugs for a chronic disease; I must say after going to the doping site and a couple of other sites I was still uncertain about a scenario I mentioned earlier. I realize, of course, that I am in danger of being like someone a bunch of us knew several decades ago (quote is approximate):
“He can tell you every reason why something won’t work, but he never has solutions to anything.”
I was looking for something on type 2 diabetes (far more common than type 1), and I am still not clear what the situation would be for someone with that disease. Would they get a Therapeutic Use Exemption for using insulin, for example?
According to Robert Tanenberg, MD (Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University), writing in Diabetes Health (December 2007):
“As recently as 1994, there were only two options for patients with type 2 diabetes: insulin and the sulfonylureas (such as glyburide and glipizide). The good news is that today, seven totally different classes of medications are available, as well as much better insulins.”
…
“The overwhelming majority of type 2s eventually require insulin to obtain or preserve satisfactory glucose control and an A1c of 7% or less.”
…
Jack, from looking at various sites I am confident that people with type 1 diabetes (which used to be called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) would get an exemption for using insulin. But I am not at all sure that people with type 2 (which used to be called noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) would get an exemption for taking insulin.
Moreover, I am not sure whether hurdler “Joseph Everyman,” while discussing his therapeutic options with his internist, Dr. Kildare, would have the time or inclination to say: “Now, the one thing we have to ensure is that whatever choice we make, whether it is insulin or some of these new drugs, or a combination of insulin and drugs, will not prohibit me from getting a Therapeutic Use Exemption.”
This is fairly detailed, Jack, but type 2 diabetes is a very common problem, and yet I am still not at all sure what would happen to our hypothetical hurdler in 2010 or in some future year (when treatments have changed). And this is just one scenario of hundreds or even thousands.
Olympic champion rower and now “Sir” Steve Redgrave, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1997 and won his fifth Olympic gold in 2000.
(http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/diabetes-how-it-affects-sports-and-how-to-combat-it-33405)
Presumably he got a TUE, but maybe it helps, being an Olympic champion.
Meanwhile, what do you make of this comment I found on a cycling site (posted in 2008)?
“Today’s Cycling News mentioned that 76 of the 180 riders who started the Tour De France had a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).
“Does this mean that one of the pre-requisites for becoming a professional cyclist is that you’ve got a pre-existing medical condition that requires permanent medication? Now I’ve been enlightened, I’m all the more impressed with the efforts of these guys, knowing that they’re all so sick!
“A quick poll of my office colleagues has shown that, on average, we’re healthier than a TdF cyclist.”
(http://survey.cyclingnews.com/letters.php?id=letters/2008/08-15letters)
Until reading this blog I was under the impression pseudoephedrine was no longer on the banned list! I occasionally check the list to see if my asthma medications have been removed. I take the risk of using these during the spring if only competing at low level events and completely stop, risking attacks, if intending competing at national level or higher.
Apparently pseudoephedrine was put back on the list in Jan 2010 and one of the Asthma medications “Salbutamol” has a changed status (just looked it up because of this blog). My point is- How do you keep up with changes? If I had a cold or flu recently I could have taken what I thought was a legal drug. In fact recently in conversation I have mentioned the legal status of this drug to other athletes.
I would expect that even one caffeine tablet (still legal?) would have given Geraldine greater benefit. Surely in the case of stimulants, the level in the athlete’s sample would make it very clear if it was a trace such as from a nasal spray, or at a level likely to boost performance.
Check the levels in her sample. They were taken straight after the event. If the level would help then ban her. If the level clearly would give no help and was likely to be the low level caused by topical use suspended ban. If she ever tests positive again give her 4 years ban.
I have never been tested but will be “pissing myself” worried that something has inadvertently got into my system if / when I am!
I was mistaken in my previous post – CAFFEINE is no longer on the prohibited list. I misread CATHINE for caffeine.
Having said that, and assuming your eyeglass prescription is up to date (unlike mine), to “stay up on these things” you only have to check one website, once a year.
That’s because the WADA prohibited list is updated annually. The next revised list is due to be published in October 2010 and will come into force January 1, 2011.
When the new list is published WADA routinely includes an FAQ and a summary highlighting what’s changed.
So if you check the list in October, you have 2-3 months to make whatever adjustments to your medications are necessary.
WADA reintroduced pseudoephedrine becauee, it says, “Results of the Monitoring Program over the past five years have shown a sustained increase in samples containing pseudoephedrine. The Program indicated clear abuse of this substance with high concentrations in a number of sports and regions. In addition, available literature shows scientific evidence of the performance-enhancing effects of pseudoephedrine beyond certain doses…”
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