You Are What You Eat (Do You Know What It Is?)

In 5 days the Games begin, literally and figuratively, in Beijing, China.

The Games of course mean the Olympic Games themselves. The "figuratively" part we refer to here is the never-ending contest between the agencies charged with catching the cheaters and the users and abusers of chemical aids to enhanced sport performance. Track and field along with weight lifting have generally garnered their fare share of the headlines. This summer swimming was briefly thrust into the spotlight with the positive test of Jessica Hardy. Hardy has withdrawn from the team, meaning she will not contest the positive test at this time. We only know what we read in the papers and have no more information than do you. This makes us reluctant to postulate on the details of her specific situation.

With Jessica Hardy having tested positive for Clenbuterol and linked to Advocare this is a good time to take a moment and read this important message on supplements from Bill Krumm and US Swimming. What may or may not be in supplements can be surprising.

The message from the USADA is:
"The use of nutritional or dietary supplements is completely at the athlete's own risk - even if the supplements label says 'approved' or 'verified.' USADA's drug reference resources DO NOT provide information about dietary supplements."

For those of you who are curious for more information about this whole subject we include the following links. It is sad but true that much of the coverage will focus on this subject. But then again, there are 23 hours of coverage daily and they need to sell advertising and negative news sells...so be prepared!

USDA Test Alert Card
USADA Doping Control Process
Drug Reference Online


A final thought today...much as when you read about some well conceived plan to defraud a group of investors, or even a high tech crime spree, when you read about an athlete who has tested positive for a banned substance - a substance that is already on a published list - do you ever wonder how fast the athlete might have been if they put as much effort into his/her training and total race preparation as she/he put into finding and trying and then masking the substance?

Your comments please...

Three Times 8 = ?

The answer today is 8-8-08, the day the Olympics begin in Beijing, China.

Swimmer Jessica Hardy apparently will not be on the US Team as it makes its way to training in Singapore prior to its final stop at the Olympic Village. Hardy has tested positive for Clenbuterol. News stories are running rampant from the main stream media as well as the swimming related sites. Swimming World Magazine broke the story earlier this week.

Time will tell if Hardy, as she is claiming, is innocent. And we prefer to leave that part of the discussion to others. Our interest in this story goes down a slightly different path.

At what price is glory justified? We have no pat answer but we think about it constantly. As coaches we are always asking athletes to think hard about the choices they make. How do they use their time; what activities support their dreams; are they making the best possible decisions on a daily basis?

Some times our society puts such an emphasis on winning that the pressures on athletes become enormous. We wonder about the costs.

The great football (soccer) manager Bill Shankly had a quote for the ages that rushed to mind when the Hardy story broke.

'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.
I'm very disappointed with that attitude.
I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'