Running Man
Sports cheats
In a previous column "Winning" I mentioned that some individuals would do anything to win at all cost. The subject of that column was La Salle that was suspended in the UAAP this year for fielding two ineligible players. Of course cheaters will never go away. Just recently the cycling community was shocked when it was heralded that this year's Tour de France champion American Floyd Landis tested positive for high testosterone level. Landis' team Phonak revealed that his urine sample showed "an unusual" level of testosterone / epistestosterone that can build muscle and strength and improve recovery time after exertion. The suspicion that Landis took drugs occurred when he won the 17th stage (130 km) after faring badly in the 16th stage that relegated him to 11th place over-all. Landis however claimed that his high testosterone level was naturally produced. We will know this week if Landis is innocent when his second test result confirms the first. If this happens, Landis will be stripped of his title. This year's Tour de France was rocked by drug scandals that saw nine cyclists including pre-race favorites, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, barred after they failed Spanish doping tests.
(Note: As I write this column I received reports that the second test on Landis also showed elevated level of testosterone, the same as the first.)
Track scandal
While we are eagerly awaiting the verdict on Landis, another scandal rocked the sporting world. World and Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin faces a lifetime ban from athletics after the IAAF confirmed that he has tested positive with testosterone. Again? Gatlin equaled Jamaican Asafa Powell's 100 m world mark of 9:77 seconds at a track event in Qatar last May. In 2001, Gatlin also tested positive for amphetamine Aderall at the 2001 US junior championships and was meted a two-year ban. However his suspension was lifted when he argued that the drug was contained in a medication prescribed for attention deficit disorder. Just like Landis, Gatlin said he was innocent. If found guilty, Gatlin will also lose his world and American 100 m titles. After soaring to the world record in the 1998 Seoul Olympics Ben Johnson of Canada was stripped of his title after failing a urine test. Not too long ago, another 100 m world champion Tim Montgomery also lost his title after testing positive for testosterone.