Cheating in amateur sports

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Icelandic Trigirl Jun 2016 9:00pm, 1 Jun 2016 2,573 posts	0 Icelandic Trigirl Just read this in the Guardian. I'm not expecting the dopers to fess up here but any views on the motivation? I really, really don't get it. Where is the satisfaction if you know in your heart you didn't earn it? This being said, I am honest to the point of absurdity and once made my then boyfriend drive me back to Safeway-as-was to return a packet of donuts we hadn't paid for on the scan'n'go. It probably cost him more in gas. theguardian.com
Battlecat Jun 2016 9:43pm, 1 Jun 2016 4,937 posts	0 Battlecat I know people who are obsessed with posting their training and race results on social media to get likes/attention/adulation. I don't think they do dope but I wouldn't be surprised at all if I heard they were.
Velociraptor Jun 2016 10:06pm, 1 Jun 2016 33,870 posts	0 Velociraptor A few months ago, I saw someone in the course of my work who is a county-level amateur rugby player. When I asked, because it was relevant, he said that he took a variety of drugs including anabolic steroids. "Don't you have to worry about out-of-competition testing?" I asked him. "No, there's no testing, we're allowed to take steroids at this level," he assured me. I've said elsewhere, there will be people on this site who are competing against dopers in running, cycling, and triathlon.
Bazoaxe Jun 2016 10:27pm, 1 Jun 2016 10,175 posts	0 Bazoaxe I read that and started to wonder........... It really makes you think. I know I have worked hard to achieve all my times and am proud of each of those. As I am sure almost if not everyone on this site will beproud of their achievements. I cannot see what is to be gained by cheating, whether thats by cutting the course or taking illegal substances or whatever Thing is it would be easy to be suspicious of people, including me, when you look at times posted. 2011 to spring 2014 for me saw a range of marathon times below my best, largely due to injury issues but all of a sudden in autumn 14 I started to and have continued to PB, even as I kick on for 50. It would be easy to wonder about that and of course nothing I could say other than trust me to prove its just down to hard work and having avoided injury.
Icelandic Trigirl Jun 2016 7:55am, 2 Jun 2016 2,574 posts	0 Icelandic Trigirl I don't think I'm good enough for anyone to have suspicions - though I did once have a steroid cream for a wasp sting 2 days before a triathlon and then there was that one time that I couldn't remember how to work my Garmin so it registered a bike-ride as a run! I'm not naturally suspicious of anyone - but perhaps because I am not at that level and tbh, I don't really care if someone else is better. Bazo, I'm delighted you got a fab time at Edinburgh and if it indicates I can still be pushing pbs in 10 years time, all the better!
Velociraptor Jun 2016 8:47am, 2 Jun 2016 33,871 posts	0 Velociraptor If a professional athlete's performance was as erratic as mine, there would be a load of keyboard-wielding conspiracy theorists arguing over the precise nature of the doping programme that allowed them to turn out a few flash-in-the-pan performances once in a while. I'm suspicious of everyone. I know too much about human beings and too much about how easy it is to get hold of performance-enhancing drugs. Personally, I'd probably be willing to go as far as taking a few puffs of salbutamol before a race if I thought it would help (I don't have asthma) but I'm not convinced enough even to try it in training. The rest ... nope. Not even a swig of beetroot juice.
Fitz Jun 2016 9:08am, 2 Jun 2016 1,535 posts	0 Fitz "By any means necessary" could be the mindset of the amateur dopers. Like the body-builders down at your local gym taking all kinds of "help" to bulk up as much as possible. They're not in it for prizes or money, they're not in competition (except with their mates and themselves), they just want to progress as quickly as possible. I used to work with salespeople who were paid commission on the income from the contracts they had running. Contracts that had finished early, or that had never actually started, were often left on "the board" even though they were generating no income and therefore no commission. The reason? There was kudos in being at the top of the board, it was seen as an indicator of success. There would be frequent audits, the "ghosts" (as the non-running contracts were known) removed from the system and the offending salespeople and their managers beaten about the head with a sock stuffed with snooker balls (not really), but it would soon recur. Strange things, people.
TRO Saracen Jun 2016 9:21am, 2 Jun 2016 12,975 posts	0 TRO Saracen Pretty certain there is a substantial level of doping at top end amateur sports; a few have been caught but I think people will risk it to secure, for example, qualification for the Ironman World Champs in Kona. Main problems are the ease of availability of the drugs and the very low chances of actually being one of those tested. If anything it's more understandable than the Athletics/TdF etc - you cheat to try and get an Olympic medal, but KNOW if you achieve it you will be tested (so I imagine they think they will come out 'clean', but must know there is a decent chance of the sample being positive). You can dope, get to Kona and know that chances of being tested are very very remote. Worth the risk, in many eyes, I'm sure.
Icelandic Trigirl Jun 2016 9:25am, 2 Jun 2016 2,575 posts	0 Icelandic Trigirl Interesting point about qualifying times, TRO. I hadn't thought of that - not on my radar
Doctor K Jun 2016 9:27am, 2 Jun 2016 3,786 posts	0 Doctor K Is it a matter of degree? In tennis for example taking a lem-sip before a match to counter a cold (or not) is cheating but would anyone bother about that ? It is cheating though