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In the wake of the Alex Rodriguez admission to steroid use, you'd think athletes are doing whatever they can to keep their name and steroids as far apart as possible, especially if they've been questioned in the past.
Not the case for seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who, after announcing his comeback to cycling, claimed that he would be undergoing some comprehensive testing , basically the Tiger Woods of anti-doping scientists. The tests were to be extremely strict and available for everyone on the Internet, but have since been canceled without Catlin ever getting a chance to test Armstrong even once.
"In the real world, when you try to implement a program as grandiose as what you had in mind, it just becomes so complicated that it's better not to try," Catlin said, adding that a contract with Armstrong had never been signed. "We're all disappointed, but it's just not going to be possible."
Basically, the story explains that in a world where testing cyclists is now even more important than ever, having such an intense assignment to just one athlete is too much for either party to handle. Armstrong announced on his Twitter page that as of Feb. 4, he has been tested 16 times, and will continue to be tested by the International Cycling Union and the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
As you probably can assume, people are a little suspect of this thing not working out.
Dick Pound, former chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency, last week said: "Armstrong made all the big announcements and the testing has dropped right off the radar. No sign that anything is actually getting done."
Sports
From the article, it appears it was just more trouble than the whole thing was worth. The "making it public on the Internet" thing was solid in theory but proved to be a burden when concern arose that normal people, like you and I that don't speak Biology lingo, wouldn't totally understand that charts and might make false assumptions.
As for the testing, Catlin said he couldn't even find a spot during Armstrong's race in Australia to test the American rider.
"There are so many people lining up to test cyclists right now," Catlin said. "We tried to do one sample in Australia, but we didn't even get that done because it was so hectic. There are practical issues, but I think someday that will change."
I guess being really good at something these days just isn't enough. If you're good, you must have cheated and if you didn't cheat the system, you cheated the results. I guess when on a bike, there is no "innocent until proven guilty" business. There's just guilty.
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