4 ms·

I always thought of triathlon of a sport where doping was not that useful?

lamby 11y ago
Not as useful as in professional cycling but its still an endurance sport and, of course, the recovery benefits etc. etc.
- TheCondor 11y ago
  Why isn't it as useful? The team nature of cycling? Every time I've heard that in the past, the sport has been completely filthy.
  - schlumpf 11y ago
    Parent was likely referring to the prevalence of stage races e.g. Tour de France in pro cycling. Unlike one-day triathlons, recovery is a crucial determinant in stage racing success. That's where anabolic steroids do their work.
jdietrich 11y ago
EPO and HGH will provide a huge advantage in triathlon. Anabolic steroids could be of some benefit to swimming performance. In a study of ~3000 amateur triathletes in Germany, 13% admitted to doping. 15% admitted to taking banned cognitive enhancers like modafinil. http://www.irishtriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ironman-triathlon-doping-study.pdf http://www.irishtriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/iro...
- braythwayt 11y ago
  Anabolic steroids are very useful for distance sports, but in a different way. They speed up recovery from micro-injuries, enabling cheaters to put in more training miles on the bike or running. Famously, Mary Decker Slaney was busted for having an illegal T/E ratio. She disputed it by claiming that contraceptive drugs altered her hormones, but the IAAF upheld her ban.
- GunboatDiplomat 11y ago
  What advantage does Modafinil, which I believe is used to treat sleep disorders, offer?
  - jaaames 11y ago
    Check out the modafinal subreddit. It's like a 12 hour coffee without the side effects. Improves concentration somewhat like Ritalin although less intense.
tetraodonpuffer 11y ago
doping is ALWAYS userful, doping allows the biggest advantage you can have: you can train more at higher intensities because your recovery is a lot quicker and you get injured less. This of course also helps with the narrative of "I won because I trained super hard", some people are genetically blessed to be able to absorb large training volumes without getting injured or burning out, for the others there are plenty of things one can use to achieve similar effects This is also why unfortunately some coaches seem to go through athletes quite a bit until they find some that can take the workload, and focus on those, not so good though for the ones that ended up getting injured and out of the sport though. I do think the news tend to portray doping too much as "race day doping" when the biggest gains are made in the offseason, and this is why there are rules like offseason testing where athletes have to inform the anti-doping agencies where they are at all times, and why it raises a lot of questions when some countries don't seem to have effective offseason anti-doping controls.

lamby 11y ago

Not as useful as in professional cycling but its still an endurance sport and, of course, the recovery benefits etc. etc.

TheCondor 11y ago
Why isn't it as useful? The team nature of cycling? Every time I've heard that in the past, the sport has been completely filthy.
- schlumpf 11y ago
  Parent was likely referring to the prevalence of stage races e.g. Tour de France in pro cycling. Unlike one-day triathlons, recovery is a crucial determinant in stage racing success. That's where anabolic steroids do their work.

jdietrich 11y ago

EPO and HGH will provide a huge advantage in triathlon. Anabolic steroids could be of some benefit to swimming performance. In a study of ~3000 amateur triathletes in Germany, 13% admitted to doping. 15% admitted to taking banned cognitive enhancers like modafinil. http://www.irishtriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ironman-triathlon-doping-study.pdf http://www.irishtriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/iro...

braythwayt 11y ago
Anabolic steroids are very useful for distance sports, but in a different way. They speed up recovery from micro-injuries, enabling cheaters to put in more training miles on the bike or running. Famously, Mary Decker Slaney was busted for having an illegal T/E ratio. She disputed it by claiming that contraceptive drugs altered her hormones, but the IAAF upheld her ban.
GunboatDiplomat 11y ago
What advantage does Modafinil, which I believe is used to treat sleep disorders, offer?
- jaaames 11y ago
  Check out the modafinal subreddit. It's like a 12 hour coffee without the side effects. Improves concentration somewhat like Ritalin although less intense.

tetraodonpuffer 11y ago

doping is ALWAYS userful, doping allows the biggest advantage you can have: you can train more at higher intensities because your recovery is a lot quicker and you get injured less. This of course also helps with the narrative of "I won because I trained super hard", some people are genetically blessed to be able to absorb large training volumes without getting injured or burning out, for the others there are plenty of things one can use to achieve similar effects This is also why unfortunately some coaches seem to go through athletes quite a bit until they find some that can take the workload, and focus on those, not so good though for the ones that ended up getting injured and out of the sport though. I do think the news tend to portray doping too much as "race day doping" when the biggest gains are made in the offseason, and this is why there are rules like offseason testing where athletes have to inform the anti-doping agencies where they are at all times, and why it raises a lot of questions when some countries don't seem to have effective offseason anti-doping controls.