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> tested positive for synthetic testosterone and the female fertility drug clomifene Neither appear to be illegal (although require prescription in most countr

> tested positive for synthetic testosterone and the female fertility drug clomifene Neither appear to be illegal (although require prescription in most countries) and neither are performance enhancing. What is the purpose of these rules in this case?

bdcravens 8y ago
"The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and as such abides by World Anti-Doping Agency rules."
dimfeld 8y ago
The article says “The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and as such abides by World Anti-Doping Agency rules.” It’s unfortunate that nobody quoted in the article seems to realize the absurdity of this action, but maybe staying in the good graces of the IOC is too important to them.
- WalterGR 8y ago
  > It’s unfortunate that nobody quoted in the article seems to realize the absurdity of this action, but maybe staying in the good graces of the IOC is too important to them. Here are 2 of the total 10 paragraphs of the article: Kari-Anne Opsal, president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation, said the drugs were “not performance enhancing”. In a statement on the federation’s website, she said: “Geir Helgemo … has previously played for the Norwegian national team and is our biggest star. Many within the bridge community know Geir and respect him. “It is his responsibility not to take substances that are on the doping list, even though in this instance they are not performance enhancing in bridge. I feel for Geir in this situation and hope he will come back stronger after his ban ends.”
  - dimfeld 8y ago
    Perhaps we have different interpretations of those quotes, but I think they reinforce my point, which is that they take a “rules are rules” approach rather than thinking of if the rules actually make sense.
CamperBob2 8y ago
I don't know what clomifene does, but testosterone improves stress response, in the sense that naturally-fluctuating levels may be a disadvantage in that regard. It's not a nootropic as such, but it could legitimately be called out as a performance aid in any high-pressure competition whether athletic or mental.
- benj111 8y ago
  The article says it isn't performance enhancing.
  - CamperBob2 8y ago
    If the bridge association is blindly adopting rules meant to govern physical athletic performances -- or if the IOC is forcing them to do so -- then the people responsible are obviously a bunch of morons. That conclusion seems unlikely to be the right one, so I'll stand by my point until more information comes to light. I'm not professionally qualified to argue it either way.
    - benj111 8y ago
      "Kari-Anne Opsal, president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation, said the drugs were “not performance enhancing”." So I don't think its reasonable to go looking to performance enhancement as a reason. To me it does appear that they're following rules meant for actual athletes. How much choice they had I don't know.
  - dr_teh 8y ago
    So? Are you going to take some Bridge player's word over the medical consensus?
    - benj111 8y ago
      "Kari-Anne Opsal, president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation, said the drugs were “not performance enhancing”." That isn't some Bridge player.
haihaibye 8y ago
How do you know testosterone isn't performance enhancing? There are clear replicated correlations to testosterone levels and spatial rotation tasks in the literature. Why do purely mental games like bridge and chess have separate men's and women's tournaments?
- minkzilla 8y ago
  For chess the are no men's only tournaments (on a professional level) but there are women's only.
- ianremsen 8y ago
  The reason (in chess at least, which is what I'm familiar with) is to encourage more women to play chess, to close the gender gap formed in the first 150 years centuries of international organized chess.

bdcravens 8y ago

"The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and as such abides by World Anti-Doping Agency rules."

dimfeld 8y ago

The article says “The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and as such abides by World Anti-Doping Agency rules.” It’s unfortunate that nobody quoted in the article seems to realize the absurdity of this action, but maybe staying in the good graces of the IOC is too important to them.

WalterGR 8y ago
> It’s unfortunate that nobody quoted in the article seems to realize the absurdity of this action, but maybe staying in the good graces of the IOC is too important to them. Here are 2 of the total 10 paragraphs of the article: Kari-Anne Opsal, president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation, said the drugs were “not performance enhancing”. In a statement on the federation’s website, she said: “Geir Helgemo … has previously played for the Norwegian national team and is our biggest star. Many within the bridge community know Geir and respect him. “It is his responsibility not to take substances that are on the doping list, even though in this instance they are not performance enhancing in bridge. I feel for Geir in this situation and hope he will come back stronger after his ban ends.”
- dimfeld 8y ago
  Perhaps we have different interpretations of those quotes, but I think they reinforce my point, which is that they take a “rules are rules” approach rather than thinking of if the rules actually make sense.

CamperBob2 8y ago

I don't know what clomifene does, but testosterone improves stress response, in the sense that naturally-fluctuating levels may be a disadvantage in that regard. It's not a nootropic as such, but it could legitimately be called out as a performance aid in any high-pressure competition whether athletic or mental.

benj111 8y ago
The article says it isn't performance enhancing.
- CamperBob2 8y ago
  If the bridge association is blindly adopting rules meant to govern physical athletic performances -- or if the IOC is forcing them to do so -- then the people responsible are obviously a bunch of morons. That conclusion seems unlikely to be the right one, so I'll stand by my point until more information comes to light. I'm not professionally qualified to argue it either way.
  - benj111 8y ago
    "Kari-Anne Opsal, president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation, said the drugs were “not performance enhancing”." So I don't think its reasonable to go looking to performance enhancement as a reason. To me it does appear that they're following rules meant for actual athletes. How much choice they had I don't know.
- dr_teh 8y ago
  So? Are you going to take some Bridge player's word over the medical consensus?
  - benj111 8y ago
    "Kari-Anne Opsal, president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation, said the drugs were “not performance enhancing”." That isn't some Bridge player.

haihaibye 8y ago

How do you know testosterone isn't performance enhancing? There are clear replicated correlations to testosterone levels and spatial rotation tasks in the literature. Why do purely mental games like bridge and chess have separate men's and women's tournaments?

minkzilla 8y ago
For chess the are no men's only tournaments (on a professional level) but there are women's only.
ianremsen 8y ago
The reason (in chess at least, which is what I'm familiar with) is to encourage more women to play chess, to close the gender gap formed in the first 150 years centuries of international organized chess.