4 ms·

TUEs are pretty common in athletics. You cannot exclude athletes from medication, when they are probably the ones who need them the most. TUEs are a way to regu

TUEs are pretty common in athletics. You cannot exclude athletes from medication, when they are probably the ones who need them the most. TUEs are a way to regulate that to ensure they aren't abused for competitive gain.

Someone1234 10y ago
Absolutely. I think this is one of those "devil's in the details" things. In order to understand the significance of the US's TUEs we need context, and that context is what other countries are allowing, how commonly it occurs, and exactly what the process of getting a TUE is (e.g. is it rubber stamped, or a legit medical need). For example, if we found out that the US has 50% more TUEs per athlete competing than the next highest country, that's a legitimate story. But if it turns out that the US has similar numbers to other countries (again, normalised per athlete numbers), then it is a non-story for the most part (except the hack itself). Time will tell.
- ivan_gammel 10y ago
  I'd say this is legitimate story because of lack of transparency. If it requires a hacker group to get this data, if it's not clear immediately, was it the due procedure to get a TUE and how often this happened, this can point either to mismanagement of WADA or corruption in higher ranks.
  - nkassis 10y ago
    To be fair this is sensitive information relating to individual peoples health. WADA should have been protecting this information to the same level as healthcare providers have to.
GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
How exactly are athletes "the ones who need them the most".
- ptaipale 10y ago
  They have lots of injuries due to the strain on the body due to hard training. Not only in US. About 50 % of Swedish and Norwegian cross-country skiers suffer from asthma symptoms. Of course, as others have pointed out, there may be misuse/abuse as well.
  - icelancer 10y ago
    "suffer from asthma symptoms" This was a way to get clenbuterol for a long time. And still is. The "illness" is over-indexed by a large margin.
    - nkassis 10y ago
      Right, another example is ADHD diagnosis for American Football players. It's used to hide steroid use. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/31/is-adderall-becoming-the-new-excuse-for-steroids-users/ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/31/is-adderall-...
      - icelancer 10y ago
        Kind of. The NFL does not release the drugs that players are testing positive for. Test positive for Adderall and it's the same as testing positive for Winstrol. Players are incentivized to take Winstrol (or other AAS), and if they test positive, they just come out and say it was Adderall without a use exception (TUE). Since the NFL won't publicly rebut their arguments, NFL players are free to lie and make up ADHD diagnoses. Apologies if you were saying this, but some people (including commenters to that article) are confused.
        nkassis 10y ago
        Yep that what I was trying to say
  - Udik 10y ago
    How comes that it's fine for some athletes to be genetically favoured- maybe because they put up muscle mass more easily, or because their blood has a higher concentration of red cells, and it's not allowed for others to use drugs to get to that same level; however athletes that have lower resistance to muscular or bone strain are allowed to get on par with the others through the continuated use of drugs?
aab0 10y ago
The argument is also bogus from the pro-Russian perspective: if this is 'legalized cheating' and so awful and hypocritical, why weren't the Russians doing it, much less resorting to stealing urine samples? They have doctors who can write certificates too.

Someone1234 10y ago

Absolutely. I think this is one of those "devil's in the details" things. In order to understand the significance of the US's TUEs we need context, and that context is what other countries are allowing, how commonly it occurs, and exactly what the process of getting a TUE is (e.g. is it rubber stamped, or a legit medical need). For example, if we found out that the US has 50% more TUEs per athlete competing than the next highest country, that's a legitimate story. But if it turns out that the US has similar numbers to other countries (again, normalised per athlete numbers), then it is a non-story for the most part (except the hack itself). Time will tell.

ivan_gammel 10y ago
I'd say this is legitimate story because of lack of transparency. If it requires a hacker group to get this data, if it's not clear immediately, was it the due procedure to get a TUE and how often this happened, this can point either to mismanagement of WADA or corruption in higher ranks.
- nkassis 10y ago
  To be fair this is sensitive information relating to individual peoples health. WADA should have been protecting this information to the same level as healthcare providers have to.

GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago

How exactly are athletes "the ones who need them the most".

ptaipale 10y ago
They have lots of injuries due to the strain on the body due to hard training. Not only in US. About 50 % of Swedish and Norwegian cross-country skiers suffer from asthma symptoms. Of course, as others have pointed out, there may be misuse/abuse as well.
- icelancer 10y ago
  "suffer from asthma symptoms" This was a way to get clenbuterol for a long time. And still is. The "illness" is over-indexed by a large margin.
  - nkassis 10y ago
    Right, another example is ADHD diagnosis for American Football players. It's used to hide steroid use. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/31/is-adderall-becoming-the-new-excuse-for-steroids-users/ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/31/is-adderall-...
    - icelancer 10y ago
      Kind of. The NFL does not release the drugs that players are testing positive for. Test positive for Adderall and it's the same as testing positive for Winstrol. Players are incentivized to take Winstrol (or other AAS), and if they test positive, they just come out and say it was Adderall without a use exception (TUE). Since the NFL won't publicly rebut their arguments, NFL players are free to lie and make up ADHD diagnoses. Apologies if you were saying this, but some people (including commenters to that article) are confused.
      - nkassis 10y ago
        Yep that what I was trying to say
- Udik 10y ago
  How comes that it's fine for some athletes to be genetically favoured- maybe because they put up muscle mass more easily, or because their blood has a higher concentration of red cells, and it's not allowed for others to use drugs to get to that same level; however athletes that have lower resistance to muscular or bone strain are allowed to get on par with the others through the continuated use of drugs?

aab0 10y ago

The argument is also bogus from the pro-Russian perspective: if this is 'legalized cheating' and so awful and hypocritical, why weren't the Russians doing it, much less resorting to stealing urine samples? They have doctors who can write certificates too.