Clarifying Some Points on Landis

ESPN.com carried a very good article yesterday by Bonnie DeSimone that clarifies and corrects some of the things that have been said about Floyd Landis this week. I just wanted to point it out, because it's definitely worth reading.

Some of the points she makes in her article:

• "No doping test is considered positive until it's confirmed by a backup analysis."
  

• "The [testosterone] test performed on elite athletes measures a ratio, not an absolute number."
  

• "...it should be mentioned that synthetic testosterone isn't generally used for instant recovery purposes, but taken in long cycles during strength training to help with workout recovery and build muscle mass."
  

• "Guilt by association...don't assume that every single shot fired in this battle is going to hit the right target."

Source

• DeSimone's Article

Date

Sun 07/30/06, 9:43 am EST

OpinionatedLittle Leaguer

1248 days ago

Score 1

I read this Saturday and agree that the media has provided much mis-information on this story. It really doesnt make sense for Landis to have an elevated testostorone level or and out of wack ratio. It would've seemed potentially valid had he tested positive for EPO or the like.

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ASwaffAll-American

1248 days ago

Score 0

I agree, but I don't think the media was intentionally providing bad information. I think it was such a big story that they jumped the gun and started reporting without stopping to figure out what exactly was going on. That's the problem with 24-hour news coverage on t.v. Breaking the news first becomes more important than reporting the news accurately.

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Iamadonut

1248 days ago

Score 0

on the other hand, tests on the "b" sample almost always confirm the "a" sample. given this and the intense scrutiny on the tour after the pre-race fiasco, it is a story. then again there is evidence out there that this test can produce false positives - here's another article worth reading - http://sport...2762,00.html

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