Fred Kieser faults GNC product Oxy Elite Pro for drug positive
Fred Kieser
Fred continued:
Here’s the story in a nutshell. … As soon as I found out [about the suspension], I emailed my friends and competitors so that they knew from the beginning and didn’t find out via websites!
1. I took a product from GNC called Oxy Elite Pro. I did NOT check the ingredients. (I should have!)
2. USATF told us months in advance that we would be tested at masters track nationals, but in my mind I was clean, so I didn’t change anything.
3. I got the positive test for that dimethylhexaneamine stuff. I have never heard of it before and still don’t know what it does. Not that it matters, but I did NOT run well this year. So if it IS a PED, it didn’t work for me!
4. As per USATF and USADA protocol, I accepted the “A” test and filed my appeal, which they considered. My understanding is that a reduction to 8 months from 24 is about as much of a reduction as they give.I hate that this happened and I’m certainly not proud. My friends and competitors have been very gracious and supportive because they know I’m all about putting in the miles, etc.
I still run because I enjoy it. I’ll race when I can and wait for the ban to end. At that point, I’ll assess what I want to do, but that’s how I’ve always approached it.
I really don’t have much else to say, except I hope everyone reads their labels.
That substance is listed as a stimulant on the WADA database. Not sure what that means, but I definitely did not ever get rolling this year. Perhaps it’s old age, but it’s more likely other things like dehydration, overtraining, bad diet, and no specificity. I tend to do all distances instead of focusing on one. That gets me in trouble when its time for a big race.
29 Responses
I have minimal sympathy for Fred. Why would a competitive runner be taking a chemical supplement that supposed to aid in burning fat? Many of us read the labels on almost every food product we purchase, and I’d definitely do that on a bottle of pills that costs close to $50. The label clearly warns about the possibility of ingredients banned by sports organizations. A google search brings up many video testimonials, but also cases where there have been unpleasant side effects.
I don’t leave home without my 5-Hour Energy. Label, here I come. Smartty
“I did NOT run well this year. So if it IS a PED, it didn’t work for me!”
What kind of logic is this? He might have been much worse without it!
It’s evident to me based on how he’s handling this that he’s a stand up guy. He’s already getting punished, maybe the posters on this board could lighten up on the barely concealed schadenfreude.
Very well said, Troy. I don’t want to compete in an environment where I have to read the label on my Gatorade for fear I’m going to light up my drug test.
[Better eat chicken nuggets from McDonalds.] [Per Usain Bolt at the Olympics. He didn’t want to eat anything that would make him have a positive testing, so he ate chicken nuggets.]
If I had checked the ‘Supplement Facts’ tab (the label’s too small), I still would have taken it. Germanium stem, some leaf, pod, leaf, plant, and caffeine. Hmm, probably good for me and man, the caffeine really gives me a jolt!
Sure, Fred could be lying his ass off and be ‘the worst person in the world!’, but I’ve met too many masters to think that.
Famous words from more than one teacher and coach to the class and/or team:
Dumb = I didn’t know.
Stupid = I did know but did so anyway.
I knew I remembered the name Oxy Elite Pro- GNC gave free sample bottles during Gold card week for September and August. Of course I didn’t take it, the name scared me off. I called my local GNC today and asked them about it and the fact it contained a banned substance for USATF athletes,and was told “well I guess you shouldn’t take it then.”
WOW!!!
Reducing his ban to 8 months seems fair given the circumstances -first offense & stimulant in over-the-counter supplement.
However, a competive distance runner taking a fat burner sure does leave me scratching my head!
And to top that, he is 40 years old and unhappy about running sub-4:10 for 1500 & sub-16:00 for 5K. Oy vey!!!
Reply to #5 (Stephen Robbins). Funny you should mention Gatorade. Until last summer, I had been getting Powerade more frequently because it was usually cheaper and I thought it was interchangable with Gatorade. But I never felt that it was being metabolized as effectively. I compared the ingredients and discovered the Powerade is made with high fructose corn syrup while Gatorade is made with natural sugar. That’s consistent with the reaction I have to soft drinks, barbeque sauces and other things commonly made with high fructose corn syrup. I know they claim there is no difference, but my body tells me otherwise.
Anyway, I hope Fred is only out of commission for 8 months and is able to compete in the USATF meet next summer.
Sub-4:10 1500 and sub-16:00 5k and “I did not run well this year.” What would have been running well – sub 4:00 and sub-15:00 5k? Give me a break!
I am a fairly good local runner here in Northern Ohio and know this guy, one thing he is not is a cheater.
What ever happened to hard work and One A Days?
Flyman1- they went out with the 8-track.
🙂
Wow Linda now thats old school.
whos your daddy,most gnc stores will tell you that some products will not pass, most do have creatine,or some type of fat burner they do have a list that tells you what will not pass ncaa test.
Creatine itself will not cause anyone to fail a test. Purchase something that contains nothing other than creatine, and you’ll be fine.
It appears to me the guy made a mistake and will now serve out his suspension, as he should. With all due respect to response # 10 & 13, What do his current PR’s have to do with anything? What’s fast and mind-blowing to one athlete (the two of you), may be considered slow — with room to improve — to another. We all have different levels of what we consider fast.
Reply to #5 Stephen–
“I don’t want to compete in an environment where I have to read the label on my Gatorade for fear I’m going to light up my drug test.”
Yes, you do–otherwise you wouldn’t be running in sanctioned events.
Either that, or you have no fear of any sanction that would be applied in response to a rule violation, and hence you don’t feel that you “have to” read the label on your Gatorade for any particular reason.
If the first statement is true, your comment was hypocritical.
If the second statement is true, it evidences a fundamental lack of respect for the ethos of the sport.
If there is another alternative to these two, I’m all ears–otherwise either quit complaining, continue to run sanctioned events, and at least try to adhere to the rules, or quit running sanctioned events and continue complaining if you wish.
There is of course at least a third possible alternative, that you were inarticulate, and that certain other posters here will magically “know what you meant” by your comment–likely they will take it as a generalized expression of dissatisfaction with the status quo, and not look at the details.
I would say to them that even if any such explanation were accepted, a generalized expression of dissatisfaction with the status quo, without offering any serious solution (a serious solution being one that is discussed, argued, and defended) is mere complaining.
In any event, the comment is better interpreted for what it explicitly states, than for what any particular reader imagines that it means.
The existing rules should be maintained, and should be enforced to the greatest extent possible.
And on another issue, I don’t think the title of this thread was fair to Fred. I know nothing about his case except what is written here, but it seems to me that he is faulting not the product, but himself.
The thread title makes it seem as if he is trying to avoid responsibility, which is not the impression that I get.
It’s about time masters are tested for banned substances. I believe that there are a number who have slipped under the radar prior to the “testing” being enforced like it is today. Unfortunately, these runners have no moral values or integrity and see cheating as a “means to and end.” A number of master records have been shattered over the past ten years by athletes who realy didn’t do much of anything in their youth other than drink and use recreational drugs. Does anyone think an individual like this would give a second thought to taking PED’s? The sad thing is these “cheaters” destroy any motivating factors those of us who don’t cheat may have to run at our possible best, especially when there are records that “were” within reach until someone put them “way out of reach.”
It’s about time masters are tested for banned substances. I believe that there are a number who have slipped under the radar prior to the “testing” being enforced like it is today. Unfortunately, these runners have no moral values or integrity and see cheating as a “means to and end.” A number of master records have been shattered over the past ten years by athletes who realy didn’t do much of anything in their youth other than drink and use recreational drugs. Does anyone think an individual like this would give a second thought to taking PED’s? The sad thing is these “cheaters” destroy any motivating factors those of us who don’t cheat may have to run at our possible best, especially when there are records that “were” within reach until someone put them “way out of reach.”
well said Rich,im 52 and I never used any type of drugs or smoked drink uncontrolable,I train very hard,your correct where was these people when we was in college or T.A.C DAYS may be we all should be tested.we will loose a lot of M50 runners for two years.
Oh stop your all’s cry babying. I’m totally against the use of illegal substances to gain an uneven advantage, but I think some of you are using this as an excuse to justify your slower times. Some of you ran mediocre times in college and are still running mediocre times today, and are just jealous because some new up and comer who started running in his 30s or 40s realized he had a real talent and is now blowing by you like its nothing. Stop your crying. I’m a pretty competitive 53 year old who has been running since HS, but I realize I’m never going to compete with a Pete Magill, I just don’t have his plumbing. But I can still take great pleasure in what I am able to do, namely, run the pants off of most people half my age.
Rich, that’s a pretty thinly veiled reference to a certain record-setting top masters runner who is an outspoken opponent of PED use. He was a top runner in HS and certainly had talent. He has lost money to a masters aged drug cheat (EPO).
While you have assumed that alcohol and drug use in his youth means he takes drugs now, I think it is equally plausible that he has transferred that addictive side of his personality to an extremely regimented training program. Actually, I am quite sure of it. I believe that he would pass a random drug test at any time – and at any competition.
Keith post #24, that is incredibly insulting to the M50 group to say if they were all tested you would “loose” a lot of them. I realize you are in that group but you owe the rest of them an apology.
Hi poster #21! I’m one of those that you refer to that”magically” know what poster #5 meant, just like I suspect the vast majority of the readers of this forum do. I even “magically” know what you mean when you say “The existing rules should be maintained,and should be enforced to the greatest extent possible.”…..even though I suspect you mean practical, not “possible”. See how easy that is?………Magic.
Hi Troy–
Thank-you for presenting definitive proof that your magic leads to wrong answers.
Ref. post 28. That’s pretty weak but thanks for posting a reply where you haven’t misused (the already overused)word “paradigm” again. At least that’s something we can all be grateful for.
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