tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/triathlon-3524/articlesTriathlon – The Conversation2017-01-04T12:55:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/705422017-01-04T12:55:18Z2017-01-04T12:55:18ZSport offers us a tumultuous time of ethical highs and lows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151371/original/image-20161222-17305-1nm18w4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=155%2C26%2C1293%2C725&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hleung/486414071/in/photolist-JYZXv-dJTeWK-ehbymM-4dHUEn-79RuFt-fNHRNu-muXn4D-JYZPk-4JGao1-bcyqyT-djthZU-a9k9Yk-9AGers-9BwE6V-bjAx39-b2jkZT-dctsaG-dfcwX2-eeskZg-7c9PUS-4ExM7k-cNEPQA-4bGoKp-6grWt7-b2jjCp-b2mHKx-p6Qn4u-PbDeq-a22AMW-qFvzEj-8GtZ5e-7KxfX2-ai12xK-oMmJSo-4x3eif-8rdbW6-QXaMe-9kgUNv-9tgLRT-7zKW7D-5iNst-6bSm8y-9S8prH-7UNxZg-9kgV1P-f1xuWN-JYZxr-psxWwL-3aKyZ4-7TW6HG">HKmPUA/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sport provides two types of clarity often denied to us in life. There is a clarity of purpose in the attempt to cross the finish line before your opponents, and there is clarity of outcome: either victory or defeat. However, an ethical reflection on sport resists such clarity. For cheating and corruption can at once reveal ethical failure in victors, courage in whistleblowers, and progress (or otherwise) in sports governance. There can be no easy classification of the ethical highs and lows. But as we start 2017, are we at least putting into place the pieces that might make this year more peaks than troughs?</p>
<p>These days every year begins with an update to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) <a href="http://list.wada-ama.org/">list of prohibited substances and methods</a>. In 2016, the inclusion of meldonium – a treatment which improves blood flow – precipitated many failed tests across many sports and one high profile casualty: <a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-her-medicine-maria-sharapova-grand-slammed-56175">tennis star Maria Sharapova</a>, who claimed use of meldonium for health reasons and blamed an oversight its continued use after the ban. Her case served as yet another example that the problem of potential doping extends right up to the very pinnacle of sport. Nevertheless, we can take heart from the fact that the highest paid female athlete in the world was not deemed too big to fail. </p>
<h2>Russian dilemma</h2>
<p>The doping theme remained prominent as the year progressed with Richard McLaren’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/10/second-mclaren-report-questions-russian-doping">two-part report</a> that accused Russia of state-sponsored doping on an unprecedented scale. The timing of the first part of the report, just weeks prior to the start of the Rio Olympics and the Paralympics, threw the games into disarray. Should Russian athletes be allowed to compete? Should all Russian athletes be excluded or only those who trained in Russia? Who should decide the issue anyway: the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or individual sporting governing bodies? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/04/richard-mclaren-ioc-wada-russia-rio-2016-">IOC seemed uncertain</a> about whether they had the power to take the kind of action for which journalists, sports administrators, and the general public clamoured: an outright ban on all Russian athletes. </p>
<p>Eventually, the matter was decided, somehow, between international federations and a small IOC sub-committee. Not all Russian sportsmen and women were excluded in the end, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/25/yuliya-stepanova-whistleblower-rio-olympics-ban-ioc">Yuliya Stepanova</a>, the whistleblower whose testimony sparked the McLaren investigation, paid the price for her courage, as she was banned from the games. It was sports governance on the hoof, and it brought scant consolation to existing or potential whistleblowers. </p>
<p>With the Paralympic Games taking place after the Olympics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had more time to deliberate. They decided to <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/news/ipc-suspends-russian-paralympic-committee-immediate-effect">ban the entire Russian contingent</a>. One might admire the IPC’s tough stance in the interests of clean competition or bemoan the injustice to honest athletes who happened to be Russian. Again, ethical highs and lows are not so easily parsed.</p>
<p>The Russians protested, not without some merit, that the McLaren Report relied on one-sided whistleblowing and afforded them no adequate opportunity to reply to the allegations made. Part two of the report, however, <a href="https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/doping-control-process/mclaren-independent-investigation-report-part-ii">substantiated many of the allegations</a> and provided evidence that Russian doping was both systematic and widespread. It asserted that between 2011 and 2015 more than 1,000 Russian athletes were:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Involved in or benefited from [a] systematic and centralised cover up and manipulation of the doping control process. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Shining in the gloom</h2>
<p>Amid cheating, reporting, and punishing in 2016, a handful of athletes proved that sportsmanship is not dead (just yet). One of the highlights of the Olympics came in the women’s 5,000 metres, where New Zealander Nikki Hamblin and US runner Abbey D’Agostino collided after Hamblin tripped four laps from the end of their heat. </p>
<p>D’Agostino quickly got to her feet, and seeing that Hamblin still lay on the track, helped her up. Both athletes then continued to run, but within a few yards, roles were reversed when it became clear that D’Agostino had injured her right ankle from the fall. Hamblin was then the one to stop and attend to her injured opponent. The two embraced at the finish line and, despite not meeting the qualifying time, were rewarded with a place in the final. </p>
<p>A similar story can be told of the Brownlee brothers in the World Triathlon Series in Mexico. Alistair gave up his chance to win the race so that he could help his brother, Jonny, suffering from severe dehydration, over the finishing line. Common humanity need not be lost in the heat of competition. </p>
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<p>The year drew to a close with another whistleblower, Andy Woodward, waiving his right to anonymity to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38399324">speak publicly about the sexual abuse</a> he endured as a young footballer at the hands of his then coach, Barry Bennell. This encouraged many others to come forward to speak of the abuse they too had suffered in English football during the 70s, 80s and 90s. Despite global developments to protect and safeguard children and youths in sport, the sheer scale of the case has shocked the football establishment, and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/12/21/youngest-victim-football-child-abuse-investigation-four-years/">the police investigation now involves</a> more than 400 victims and 150 potential suspects. The bravery of some sports people – Stepanova and Woodward notably in 2016 – ensures we are at least fighting the right battles. </p>
<p>And we should celebrate some institutional ethical progress too. In the past year, the international governing bodies for both tennis (ITF) and ice-hockey (IIHF) have established ethics and integrity committees, adding to those already in place within athletics (IAAF), football (FIFA), and the Olympic movement (IOC). </p>
<p>In addition, the European Commission recently awarded €3m to a consortium of universities, including Swansea, to develop a new role of sports ethics and integrity officers" <a href="http://www.maisi-project.eu">within sports administration and governance</a>. These developments signal that both government and governing bodies are finally getting serious about cheating and corruption in sport. Even if clarity about the need for these developments was achieved only in the midst of crisis, sports governance may finally come of age in 2017.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael McNamee sits on the Ethics Committee for the International Ice Hockey Federation, and on the Ethics Panel of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for a sports-related project and is on the Consortium Board of Management for the MAiSI project, which has received funding from the European Commission.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John William Devine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From Sharapova to the Brownlee brothers, 2016 has given us one step forward to one step back.Michael McNamee, Professor of Applied Ethics, Swansea UniversityJohn William Devine, Lecturer in Sports Ethics and Integrity, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/638502016-08-16T15:41:04Z2016-08-16T15:41:04ZFour things you should know before starting that exercise regime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134267/original/image-20160816-13003-vg50s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Let me hear your body talk ...</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-379979383/stock-photo-attractive-young-muscular-man-working-out-on-a-fitness-station-in-gym-pumping-iron.html?src=AprLWf6JPL_HjpTenZbMXQ-1-95">Yurly Rudyy</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The debate about how much is the right amount of exercise can seem never-ending. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213740/dh_128145.pdf">minimum recommendation</a> in the UK is 30 minutes of “moderate” exercise five times per week, not that most adults are meeting it. Some health specialists think alternative regimes will do us more good, such as <a href="https://www.acsm.org/docs/brochures/high-intensity-interval-training.pdf">shorter bouts</a> of very intense exercise three to four times a week; or <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404815/">limiting</a> periods of inactivity to a maximum of 60 minutes at any one time. </p>
<p>The trouble with this debate is that it risks assuming that exercise is always good for you. In reality, this is not always the case. Most of us know about the need to warm up properly and avoid exercising when we are under the weather, but some risks may not yet have reached the public consciousness. What follows is a few words of caution for anyone working themselves into a sweat. You never know, they may just save your life. </p>
<h2>1. Easy does it</h2>
<p>People who are unaccustomed to exercise and throw themselves in at the deep end <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10953894">can develop</a> an unpleasant condition called delayed onset muscle soreness. It involves aching and tender muscles and a reduced range of motion of the joint at the affected area. It can last for several days and peaks about 48 hours after exercise. </p>
<p>The condition is caused by the body reacting to the trauma of sudden exercise: white blood cells infiltrate the muscles and digest damaged tissue, causing acute inflammation. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7481277">How to</a> avoid this experience? Anyone starting an exercise programme should build it up gradually.</p>
<h2>2. Don’t overstimulate</h2>
<p>In extreme cases of delayed onset muscle soreness, the enzymes released by the muscles from the digestion of damaged tissue can induce a condition called <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000473.htm">rhabdomyolysis</a> in which enzymes from damaged muscle cells are released into the blood. In severe cases this can lead to kidney failure but fortunately this appears to be relatively rare. </p>
<p>Using electrical stimulation devices as a substitute or supplement to exercise can also <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35959206">reportedly</a> induce rhabdomyolysis. These devices work by attaching electrodes to different muscle groups and have become increasingly popular in recent years. Now, however, clinicians <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/04/07/fitness-electrical-muscle-stimulation/">are issuing</a> warnings about the dangers of using them excessively. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134269/original/image-20160816-13037-j0fooc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The shock doctrine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-114814000/stock-photo-electrical-muscle-stimulation-ems-training.html?src=zezqLJHH5mjrfPRIE62Nmg-1-14">Javier Brosch</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>3. Hey, Ironman …</h2>
<p>If you are thinking about seriously pushing yourself, a brief lesson on the function of the heart is in order. The heart works in two phases, a contraction phase and a relaxation phase. In the contraction phase, blood is ejected from the right and left ventricles into the arteries through contraction of the heart muscle. In the relaxation phase, blood fills the ventricles to prepare for the next contraction. </p>
<p>The average human heart contracts about 70 times per minute, 24 hours per day and accumulates about 3 billion contractions over a 75-year period. It is considered that the heart can cope with even strenuous exercise, rising to about 200 beats per minute to pump enough blood and oxygen around the body. </p>
<p>Yet studies investigating the effects of prolonged intensive exercise such as an Ironman triathlon <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12402180">have shown</a> a temporary decline in the heart’s relaxation function after the athlete has stopped exercising. This effect has been termed “cardiac stunning”. </p>
<p>Perhaps more worrying, some participants in these gruelling events <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12774593">have displayed</a> biomarkers of cardiac damage usually only found after a heart attack – albeit the levels tend to be only just over the threshold to indicate damage and the effects appear to be short term. Yet subsequent studies <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15377277">also suggest</a> it could be detrimental to cardiac function in the longer term. </p>
<p>Having said all that, it is worth stressing that not all exercise is detrimental to the heart. Exercise maintains heart function and in the case of heart-attack patients following a rehab programme, can substantially improve it. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134271/original/image-20160816-13007-1t4ta7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Wot no Tony Stark?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-87947212/stock-photo-barcelona-oct-16-brenton-cabello-of-spain-in-action-finishing-swimming-at-barcelona-garmin-triathlon-event-at-barcelona-beach-on-october-16-2011-in-barcelona-spain.html?src=AprLWf6JPL_HjpTenZbMXQ-1-7">Maxisport</a></span>
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<h2>4. Immunity care</h2>
<p>A bout of moderate exercise is considered to boost our immune function by prompting an increase in the number of white blood cells in our blood. In contrast, completing three or four hours of strenuous exercise – par for the course for professional athletes – has been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23899753">linked to</a> a decline in immune function over the next 24 hours. </p>
<p>After that it would return to normal, however for people like athletes doing this on a daily basis, longer-term studies have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21584686">demonstrated that</a> repeated strenuous exercise over several weeks can suppress immune function by lowering the number of white blood cells and making them function less effectively. It would then take considerably longer for the immune system to correct itself. </p>
<p>What to do about this? You can alleviate some of the effects with a good diet (or exacerbate them by eating poorly). Better still, you can also keep the bugs at bay with good personal hygiene. It is no coincidence that this message is drilled into athletes competing in the Olympics nowadays. </p>
<h2>The take-home</h2>
<p>None of this is intended to suggest that moderate exercise is not good for us. Doctors and sports scientists would agree that it maintains and promotes good heart, muscle, immune and also metabolic function. We might still be debating the best regime, but it’s still rightly a major goal for health professionals to educate the public about the beneficial effects of exercise. </p>
<p>That said, there are limits. People need to be more aware of the risks of doing too much too soon – and of taking things to extremes. Exercise is good for you, but take the wrong approach and you might wish you had stayed on the couch.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek Ball receives funding from Medical Research Scotland.</span></em></p>Working out is always good for you – until it’s not.Derek Ball, Associate Professor of Applied and Intergrative Physiology, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/535432016-02-18T15:02:16Z2016-02-18T15:02:16ZAmateur doping shaping up to be sport’s latest test as cycling bans rack up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111984/original/image-20160218-1276-wdnyn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Speed demon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-290276831/stock-photo-cyclist-in-maximum-effort-in-a-road-outdoors.html?src=olXO1pIOkZ7YyfhMmLcVWg-3-30">Cyclist by Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past few months have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/sebastian-coe-faces-a-monumental-task-in-cleaning-up-athletics-50480">traumatic for the world of athletics</a> as it struggles to fight free of a suffocating doping and corruption scandal. On the flip side, it has been quite a turnaround for cycling, which has started to emerge from the dark days of the Lance Armstrong era and is now cited widely as <a href="https://theconversation.com/cycling-might-hold-the-key-for-athletics-to-move-past-its-annus-horribilis-50437">a benchmark for the bosses of track and field</a>. Cycling, however, has a dirty secret.</p>
<p>Well, <a href="https://theconversation.com/cycling-should-take-a-lead-from-f1-as-hidden-motor-scandal-emerges-54011">maybe two</a>, but let’s put aside the spectre of mechanical doping for now and focus on a spate of news stories which have highlighted the murky world of amateur doping in a sport which is slogging away to clean up the professional game.</p>
<h2>Fighting for an edge</h2>
<p>The cases have come thick and fast. Britain’s junior national time trial champion <a href="http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/junior-time-trial-champion-gabriel-evans-admits-epo-use-203450">Gabriel Evans</a>, an 18-year-old from London, was recently caught using the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/4657010.stm">banned blood booster EPO</a> (Erythropoietin). He admitted taking the drug, and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/12044175/Teenage-cyclist-Gabriel-Evans-admits-to-doping-because-culture-had-been-normalised-and-justified.html">claimed it had become “normalised and justified”</a> in his mind because he’d read about others regularly being caught. </p>
<p>British Masters road race champion Andrew Hastings was <a href="http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/british-masters-champion-andy-hastings-given-four-year-doping-ban-203379">handed a four-year ban</a> after testing positive for two anabolic steroids. <a href="http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/banned-cyclist-hastings-cites-borrowed-used-syringe-as-reason-for-failed-steroids-test-203455">He claimed</a> that the failed test came after he borrowed a used syringe to take a vitamin supplement.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111946/original/image-20160218-1252-1ff9jx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Spiked?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marosh/103066377/in/photolist-a7f3v-7291b-8ync5Y-7Akczu-7wLbTF-7hbyKu-9ygzd6-8ZpZLJ-8mkjmb-9h4SCu-8mh8Mi-9naNh5-BwXwnK-9ueWY6-LCArq-93SZ1B-9wrxch-93Vk8b-2dopwH-4VV4G3-as2Bgz-bpMV8P-8mhggX-ifM5NH-9Ynxim-3K6Zu5-bpMWbx-4jvTQe-esJThu-baLfET-7uCsMJ-4vzisU-63ciQ6-7YwcA5-CM3Lf-4LqMao-q1DSaH-7YsXAr-76rAVy-ef4aq2-aFxrX4-fWjnGv-LxzJe-BpLPn-f9MrH-99XfiM-7Z3hWo-abVMYs-bpLeKM-76L5wv">marosh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>English masters rider, Jason White <a href="http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/jason-white-handed-two-year-ban-skipping-drugs-test-150819">was banned for two years</a> after refusing to provide a urine sample to drug control officers. Dan Stevens <a href="http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/british-cyclist-dan-stevens-banned-for-failing-to-provide-anti-doping-sample-192254">also failed to provide a sample</a> but his two-year sanction was reduced after he assisted <a href="http://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/ukad-reduces-dan-stevens-sanction-for-assisting-circ/">an inquiry into doping</a>.</p>
<p>These are far from isolated examples in the wider world of cycling. Oscar Tovar, the 32-year-old winner of the 2015 New York Gran Fondo, a competitive but amateur race with little prize money, <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/10/news/gran-fondo-new-york-winner-stripped-of-title-for-doping_388383">was stripped of his title</a> after testing positive for synthetic testosterone and accepted a two-year ban. In January, 59-year-old Italian jazz guitarist Gigi Cifarelli <a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/italian-jazz-playing-cyclist-banned-doping-gigi-cifarelli-417219">was banned for four years</a> for doping after a positive test at the Grand Prix Dell’Uva Fragola-Suno amateur event. He too accepted the sanction.</p>
<h2>Testing the limits</h2>
<p>The fear must be that this is only the start of something bigger in cycling and other amateur sports. Unsurprisingly perhaps it looks like it may be an emerging crisis in Ironman triathlon competitions – a sport where you must swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and then run a marathon. Danish competitor Thomas Lawaetz, <a href="http://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/danish-ironman-issued-with-four-year-ban-after-epo-positive/">was banned for four years</a> after he admitted EPO use. And a survey of 3,000 Ironman triathletes showed that around <a href="http://www.irishtriathlon.com/index.php/2014/01/ironman-triathlon-doping-epo-steroids/">20% admitted doping</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111919/original/image-20160218-1243-8z06ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sport in transition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_buehler/9719342937/in/photolist-fNSb3e-fP9GkQ-fP9GRj-eHhwsZ-6Q9Rhb-hpLAHg-7gMES5-6HBxVP-fNS9rp-fzbJs-6Jw3zu-7ZTnGu-6HBLX2-9V3B9V-85PmWh-85PmZ1-85LcTp-6HFFZN-8f92hU-846f3r-6HBGtR-agPNZ2-6HBHTH-6d4s5e-6HFPhf-6HBFK4-6HBHcM-3A3iS-6JsncW-6JHhyE-amen6X-d1p78C-6HFJzy-8vyV4U-agSBws-6HBvQ8-agSBqE-agPPgP-fNSxta-fP9E2y-fNS8eK-fNS8Cr-dJKWhj-fNSsyz-8v4v9A-rStz6-7ZQrQD-NHaHn-9tvqDj-nUpg4">Marc Buehler/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The proposed solution is <a href="http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/More_IRONMAN_AG_doping_testing_5575.html">more testing</a> of amateurs, an approach also taken by <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/11/news/anti-doping-is-coming-to-masters-and-amateur-racing_389517">USA Cycling</a> due to their increasing concerns that doping has spread through the lower ranks.</p>
<p>However, testing is very limited: it is very expensive and most of the focus is quite rightly placed on elite, professional athletes. It is nigh on impossible to undertake a systematic strategy of out-of-competition testing of amateurs, and many with some knowledge of the substances could ensure they are “washed out” their system before the competition. The implication of this, of course, is that those few individuals who have tested positive are only the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<h2>Force of the law</h2>
<p>While <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/2008/04/news/road/france-toughens-anti-doping-laws_75622">the French</a> and Danish governments have laws against doping in lower-level sport, it is not an approach widely supported by other countries. And so responsibility and costs fall on cash-strapped sports agencies who have other funding priorities. A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09687637.2015.1029872">recent study</a> of US cycling highlighted the challenges involved in addressing this problem.</p>
<p>The rising popularity of competitive amateurs, especially in endurance sports, means that doping is more than simply challenge to ideas of sporting purity and the ideal of noble <a href="http://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/sport/other-sports/olympics-far-removed-from-corinthian-ideal-27422425.html">Corinthian endeavour</a>. It also poses serious dangers to the health of athletes tempted to dabble.</p>
<p>Weekend competitors are unlikely to find expert “doping doctors” like those who helped Armstrong and his team-mates to manage their doping regime. Risks of over-use, sharing needles and contaminated products are significant. EPO has been tentatively <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/02/blood-doping-what-is-it-and-has-anyone-died-as-a-result-of-it">linked to several deaths</a>, although without any conclusive proof. It works by releasing more oxygen-carrying red blood cells which “thicken the blood” and force the heart to work harder. Anecdotes <a href="http://inrng.com/2012/11/epo-the-wonder-drug/">from cycling’s darkest days</a> tell of riders setting alarm clocks through the night so they could wake up periodically to train, and to make sure their own congealed blood didn’t kill them while they slept.</p>
<p>More and more, amateur competitors are prepared to spend thousands of pounds on equipment, invest 10-15 hours a week training, spend their holidays on training camps, and pay for personal coaches. It’s no great leap to seeing doping as just another opportunity for improvement. They may not be doing it for money – it seems pride and social status, and perhaps even just curiosity – are motivating principles. The paradoxical twist here is that if testing does get ramped up, then the open secret will disappear into the shadows, increasing the health risks as it goes.</p>
<p>UK Anti-Doping chief Nicole Sapstead <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/drugsinsport/12160508/Doping-culture-that-is-threatening-to-ruin-British-amateur-sport-could-be-worse-than-anyone-realises.html">admitted to the Daily Telegraph</a> that she can only guess at the scale of the problem, and has little money available to tackle it. UKAD relies instead on tip-offs and close monitoring of social media to spot potential dopers.</p>
<p>It looks like a humble operation amid the scandals of corrupt sports leaders, cover-ups and organised doping in Russia, which symbolise crisis at the highest level of world sport. The attention afforded these situations arguably detracts from a much wider potential public health issue, as yet unacknowledged and without obvious solutions. By defining doping as a part of elite sport, amateur doping falls between the cracks of responsibility, allowing unregulated doping cultures to grow where medical oversight and advice is least able to intervene.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Dimeo receives funding from various bodies including the World Anti-Doping Agency. None are specifically related to the subject of amateur athletes and anti-doping.</span></em></p>Health risks loom as weekend athletes aiming to beat their mates become a new frontline for anti-doping.Paul Dimeo, Senior Lecturer in Sport, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/81372012-08-03T22:18:39Z2012-08-03T22:18:39ZTriathlon: three sports in one – but which is the key to Olympic glory?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13340/original/hkh9vn9p-1343096635.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it all in the swim?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bruno Cordioli</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Introduced into the Sydney Olympics in 2000, triathlon has become one of the most popular Olympic sports. For Australia, it’s one of our most successful, with our women claiming one gold, two silvers and one bronze since inception. Triathlon takes in swimming, cycling and running - but if you’re going to win, which sport should you focus on?</p>
<p>The largest of London’s Royal Parks, <a href="http://www.london2012.com/venue/hyde-park/">Hyde Park</a>, is playing host to the 2012 Olympic Games triathlon with the <a href="http://www.london2012.com/triathlon/event/women/phase=trw001100/index.html">women’s race</a> being held tonight (AEST) and the men’s race on Tuesday night. The park is divided in two by the <a href="http://www.victorianlondon.org/entertainment/hydepark.htm">Serpentine river</a>, where the events commence with a 1.5km swim that will take the leaders approximately 18 minutes to complete. </p>
<p>After exiting the swim, athletes will make their way through the transition area to collect their helmets and bikes for the 43km cycle leg. The London course is slightly longer than the normal 40km and takes the athletes past Buckingham Palace seven times. </p>
<p>At the end of the cycle leg, the athletes will again enter the transition area to discard their helmets and don running shoes with elastic laces before commencing the final leg – a 10km run. </p>
<p>Some 55 men and 55 women from 39 countries will battle it out for a medal. In a sport comprising three different disciplines and taking less than two hours to complete, what will separate first place from last? </p>
<p>Is one of the disciplines more important than the others? Is there room for tactics? What external variables may influence the results?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13341/original/c6gxk4k3-1343096779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To draft or not to draft: the rules make a big difference in triathlon cycling performance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bruno Cordioli</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The importance of the individual discipline to the end result depends on the length of the triathlon. In the longer distance triathlons - such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_70.3">half ironman</a> and ironman - the swim comprises only 10% of the overall time. Drafting isn’t allowed on the bike - which means riders can’t sit behind one another and save energy - so the swim has a lot less influence on the end result than the cycle and run legs. </p>
<p>But in an Olympic-distance triathlon where elite athletes are allowed to draft on the bike and the swim comprises about 16% of the overall time, it is usually the fastest swimmers and runners that have the best overall performance. In fact, speed over the first couple hundred meters of the swim is a very good indicator of overall race finishing position in elite triathlon. </p>
<p>Swim intensity is also important. <a href="https://repository.uwa.edu.au/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=27432&local_base=GEN01-INS01">Studies have shown</a> that swimming at only 75-80% of your maximal effort actually yields a faster overall triathlon time than when the swim is performed at maximal effort. This is due to a lower heartrate and oxygen consumption, and better efficiency on the cycle leg. </p>
<p>Swim intensity can be reduced by improving technique or by drafting behind another swimmer. Drafting reduces frontal resistance and allows the athlete to swim at a faster speed for a given energy expenditure, conserving energy for the cycling and running legs. </p>
<p>Wetsuits can also reduce swim intensity and are allowed when water temperature falls below 20°C. At this time of year, the Serpentine sits at around 18-20°C. Not only do wetsuits help maintain body temperature, they also increase buoyancy, enabling athletes to sit higher and in a more horizontal position in the water. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13342/original/t6jvbgrv-1343097151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s pretty hard to catch up once you get to the run.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the benefits of a wetsuit depend on swimming ability. Wetsuits give poorer swimmers a greater advantage than better swimmers as better swimmers naturally sit higher in the water and have reduced frontal resistance. So if the temperature of the Serpentine allows wetsuits, athletes will be exiting the water a lot closer together and forming much bigger groups on the bike.</p>
<p>One big difference between the elite race and age-group race (there are only elite races at the Olympic Games) in an Olympic distance triathlon is that the elite athletes are allowed to draft, or sit directly behind one another on the bike. The age-groupers, on the other hand, need to maintain a 7- to 12-meter gap (depending on the race) between their front wheel and the rear wheel of the front cyclist. </p>
<p>Drafting reduces oxygen consumption by up to 20% and by decreasing energy expenditure, improves both cycling and subsequent running performance. Because drafting is legal, it is unlikely that a break-away group will occur during the Olympic triathlon. Groups that form after the swim leg will probably stay together for the entire cycle leg. For best subsequent run performance, athletes will try to cycle at a relative low intensity with consistent power output.</p>
<p>The winner of the men’s and women’s Olympic Games triathlon will most likely come from athletes in the front group off the bike. Running ability is so similar between athletes that it is highly unlikely an athlete from a chasing pack will be able to close the gap and claim victory. A clean and fast transition is paramount for a good start to the run, and in the last 1km of the bike leg, athletes will be jostling for front position.</p>
<p>After a 1.5km run and 43km cycle, these exceptional athletes will then run at a speed that most people would struggle to maintain during a lap around the local footy oval, completing 10km in around 29 minutes for the men and 33 minutes for the women.</p>
<p>Athletes standing on the medal dais at this year’s Olympic triathlon will be outstanding swimmers, cyclists and runners. The key to Olympic glory is to have no weakness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8137/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Introduced into the Sydney Olympics in 2000, triathlon has become one of the most popular Olympic sports. For Australia, it’s one of our most successful, with our women claiming one gold, two silvers and…Kate Murphy, NHMRC Career Development Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.