Doping Again !

Spectator · All-time great

Doping Again !

JonH · All-time great

Reports coming out that Sara Errani has been caught doping, taking Anastrozole (known as Arimidex in the US). I must admit this confused me at first as my wife takes Anastrazole as an ongoing treatment following breast cancer, but it seems it is a masking agent for PED's and therefore banned.

Shame if this proves to be correct but a press conference is planned for Wednesday apparently

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Tennis_Stories/46146/sara-errani-fails-a-doping-test/

Anastrozole has a few side effects and you wouldnt ideally want to take it unless you had to ie to help fight cancer; so someone doing it for doping purposes must be shortsighted and stupid in my humble opinion.

-- Edited by JonH on Monday 7th of August 2017 01:37:07 PM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Apparently she has been given a 2 month ban for "accidentally" taking some of her mother's cancer treatment drug mixed in with the food - Tortellini/Broth to be more exact.

JonH · All-time great

Well, there you go. That beggars belief. And they believed that? Anyone knows you don't mix these things into food, they are in tablet form. And to imagine that somehow, having mixed it into a broth that your family in turn will share in that broth with the tablets in it.

If the authorities believe that story , and they must have if she has got a 2 month ban, then I really do despair. We will never win this war against PED's.

I think I will just give up now - let them take whatever they want and be done with it. Hurrah.

Jeez.

PS not having a go at you Bob, I am just flabbergasted. My flab is gasted.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

For those interested, here is the full statement with regard to this matter.

www.itftennis.com/media/267586/267586.pdf

JonH · All-time great

Bob in Spain wrote:
For those interested, here is the full statement with regard to this matter.

www.itftennis.com/media/267586/267586.pdf

Just read this - fell off the counter, fell in the food.

Preposterous. Outrageous. With Errani's background as well, her links with the Spanish Doctor. And her changing body shape in the recent years as she rose up the rankings.

Astounded.

The rule should be changed - it seems you can come up with a outrageous claim as to what might have happened, show that it is theoretically possible and the ITF have no way of poving you wrong. This is up there with Gasquet and cocaine from kissing in a night club and Greg Rusedski's ATP sweety jar of drugs stories.

the addict · Tennis legend

The basis of Errani's tortellini defense. Only in Italy

(quoted from a tweet by Christopher Clarey of the NYT)

thejester · Satellite level

Evo should have gone for the Gasquet excuse. The idea of him being in a nightclub and cracking on (excuse the pun) with some coked up lass seems more believable than this Errani BS in my opinion!

JonH · All-time great

here is the best bit, in the ITF report "...Mrs Errani (mum Errani) explained that she has a part-time job as a pharmacist..."

Brilliant!!!

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

I hope Evo's script writers are working overtime right now. Maybe he could employ J.K. Rowling.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
here is the best bit, in the ITF report "...Mrs Errani (mum Errani) explained that she has a part-time job as a pharmacist..."

Brilliant!!!

Yes, that bit cracked me up.

Because qualified and experienced pharmacists always pop out two pills when they're trying to just pop out one, and/or forget if they've popped out one in the first place, and then inadvertently drop them into cooking pots even when they do manage to pop them out....

JonH · All-time great

Coup Droit wrote:
JonH wrote:
here is the best bit, in the ITF report "...Mrs Errani (mum Errani) explained that she has a part-time job as a pharmacist..."

Brilliant!!!
Yes, that bit cracked me up.
Because qualified and experienced pharmacists always pop out two pills when they're trying to just pop out one, and/or forget if they've popped out one in the first place, and then inadvertently drop them into cooking pots even when they do manage to pop them out....

I know, it is so hard. My wife and I were just this morning trying to pop a pill out of her anastrozole packet, pills were going everywhere, just as well we werent cooking at the time as they would have been in that pot, but boy we had to stop the dog from eating them all up off the floor. Such a hoot, we laughed and laughed.

ITF need to look at their evidential process v closely I think.

Wakey · Junior player

Crazy thing is she gets two months for clearly telling lies as everything about the story makes no sense when what she took does provide a PED but Dan will get 2 years for holding up his hands and admitting he did wrong for something where the only PED benefit he could have go was if he was snorting it on the court at every change over.

Any drug with a PED factor should be treated worse that a recreational drug and certainly holding your hands up and admitting you were in the wrong should be rewarded not making up eloborate stories, especially ones that any sane person can tell is bull**** (I mean seriously either her mother knew she dropped a pill into the food and decided not to tell anyone eating it which no-one does or she told them and Errani choose to eat it anyway then not inform the ITF or she didn't know she dropped it in there but then she can't even know she did now so the story has no basis)

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Strangely enough, this is one I do believe....(ducks behind parapet). She has had innumerable negative blood and urine tests of a long career, including recently. The substance found in her blood is the same substance as in her mother's pills. The test was whilst she was unusually staying at home. The amount correlated to ingestion of one or part of a pill but obviously could have been the dregs of a higher dose. I had a parent who took strong medication at various times in the day and left it prominently in the kitchen by the work surfaces to remind her and on occasion she was clumsy with them. The tribunal felt it would be an unusual substance for a tennis player to take. I might be wrong (clearly everyone else thinks so!!) but I'm prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

It is however a very well recognised drug of abuse used as part of a steroid injection/utilisation cycle to minimise the effects of excess estradiol in male athletes body builders. Used a lot for the purpose of preventing breast development in body builders. A change in body shape and improved performance would be entirely consistent with its use as part of such a cycle.

As an aromatase inhibitor it also allows naturally produced androgens in women to remain in the system inhibiting their conversion to oestrogens in peripheral tissue. Good if you have had ER positive Breast cancer. Also it's anabolic! The long term downside of osteoporosis is no biggie if you are a postmenopausal women with breast cancer but I assume that's not Sara.