Text 35009, 56 rader
Skriven 2006-07-28 15:20:50 av SHANNON TALLEY (1:275/311)
     Kommentar till en text av Ward Dossche
Ärende: Re: Le Tour
===================
Hi Ward,

As you know, I'm a professional athlete (cross country).  While I was 
training for the Olympics in 2004, I had a team of trainers and two 
physicians staffed on our team. They made it absolutely abundantly clear 
about taking "anything" without them handing it to us.  Everything has 
become so completely scientific.  If I experienced a headache, they wanted 
to know about it and they would hypothesize for hours regarding the possible 
cause and how to prevent it in the future.  I was on so many different 
supplements, I would be nauseous every evening after eating a butt load of 
food and cramming all those pills down my throat.

I'm not saying that he did 'dope' or didn't 'dope', the evidence seems to 
point to the possibility that he did dope, but there is a possibility 
(however remote) of another (completely hypothetical) reason.  Without 
having competed in professional sports such as cross country running, or 
other sports, it's hard to imagine what it's like on the other side of the 
camera.  The competition and rivalry between athletes is unbelievably 
fierce.  There is potentially millions of dollars in endorsements at stake, 
and all of it goes to the "winner".  Number 2 means little these days. 
There are people who are so competitive, they would do "anything" to win by 
"any means necessary" including cheating.  I think it's possible that 
(completely hypothetical) a cheater could inject a drug into a bottle of 
water that an athlete could then drink and test positive.

During this last Olympics, there WAS an incident where an entire case of 
bottled water was found to have small pin prick holes in them destined for 
an American team competing in Greece.  The water was disguarded and the team 
made it a point to go get their own water instead of ordering it like they 
were suppose to.  In retrospect, we all wish that water had been tested 
instead of just thrown away.

During several runs, that was honestly one of my concerns.  I was afraid of 
food poisoning and someone spiking my water to make me sick and miss a race. 
It never dawned on me a the time that someone could slip dope into my food 
or water, but again -- it's entirely possible.

Landis had a very different childhood then mainstream Americans.  He was a 
"Mennonite" -- akin to the Amish.  No TV, no modern conveniences, -- they 
live a throw back life to the early 1800's.  They are deeply religious and 
teach intrinsic values to their children.  Because of this, I've found it 
hard to believe that Landis would "dope".  But, then again, anything is 
certainly within the realm of possibilities.

> Landis has a known ailment with his hips, he may have used a pain-reliever
> without the knowledge/approval of the team-doctor.
> And then his luck may have run-out...

(for others, I never made it to Greece. I injured my left LCL, but still 
made a 2:16 marathon time in the trials)

Warmest regard,
Shannon

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