Weeks after the death of Marco Pantani, former Cofidis rider Philippe Gaumont has been talking in Le Monde about how easy it is for riders to get away with drug cheating.
This really is a big issue in sport at the moment, and it’s worrying how relaxed many of our authorities still are about it. Rusedski was found not guilty last week of having Nandrolene in his body. Rio Ferdinand is on the sidelines at the moment serving an eight month ban while still hoping (I believe) to appeal his ban for failing to take a drugs test.
It’s all a mess. Depending on what sport you’re taking part in, you can get away with more or less. And sports men and women are willing to take enormous risks with their bodies to seek short term reward. Is it really healthy that so many young cyclists have died recently?
And what about American professional sports? Could it be possible that some Baseball pros take steroids? Or NFL players?
It’s all a horrible mess, with “nutritional supplements” possibly having side effects as well. But as long as we keep testing, keep investing in new tests and try to stay ahead of the cheats, then we’re doing what we can. But I’m not sure every sports body is doing quite as much as they should.