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Olympics drug cheats easier to detect?

Posted by Ian in science & medicine, sport on July 25th, 2008

Apparently athletes are using drugs like Viagra and Cialis to improve their performance - and I don’t mean their horizontal dance performance.

Drug testers say they are regularly turning up traces of the drugs in urine samples they examine, but the drugs are not on the sports list of banned substances. It is thought the drug helps the delivery of oxygen to muscles. Some experts believe it could help in events requiring spurts of power, like sprinting. Others think it might help endurance athletes, especially at altitude.

At least in the male athletes this will be easy to detect, no drug tests needed.

Dr Don Catlin, an American anti-doping expert, said:

“There has actually been a study in mountaineers, people climbing at high altitude on or off of Viagra, showing that it does produce marginal improvements,”

Not only that, it gives them an extra piton to use if they get in trouble during the climb, perhaps another brake bar on their rappel rack?

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3 Responses to “Olympics drug cheats easier to detect?”

  1. Comment by Nunyaa (18 comments.)

    I imagine if one of them runners was taking viagra, he he would be first to cross the line without his whole body going over.

  2. Comment by Nairobian (1 comments.)

    thanks for dropping by my blog,its sad that cheating continues to permeate all levels of daily life including sports, i think there will be more cheats in China this year than ever before

  3. Comment by Ethan Nobles (2 comments.)

    I guess the “little blue pill” really is the miracle drug, huh?

    Thanks for the head-shaking report. That’s one of those “damndest things” stories…

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