Owner: Science of Sport URL:http://scienceofsport.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 02:25:48 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Science meets your passion at the Science of Sport, where we cast a scientific eye over sports events and athletes from all over the world. If you've ever wondered what makes teams and athletes tick, and what lies behind great sports performances, check Site statistics:Click here
SA vs Australia Rugby Post-mortem 2007-07-08 03:59:00 25-17. The Springbok "B" team, which it was dubbed leading up to the game, transformed into the Springbok legends for the first 10 minutes of the match (the Aussies were planning a tap-dance to explain that one), but in the end, restored to a "B" team by a Wallaby team which was clinical and professional in coming back from 17 points down after about 15 minutes.So what do we make of the game? Again, we at The Science of Sport are focused on cycling and running, and so I will be cautious about making radical claims - the last thing we need is another armchair expert! But I think that both teams will claim the moral victory from the game, and in the end, it's 80 minutes that have shown relatively little ahead of the World Cup later this year.The 'Boks will be claiming the higher ground because they scared the Wallabies with an understrength team, fought hard and could have been even closer had Hougaard kicked even two out of the three penalties that he missed. And of course, there Read more:Australia
, Rugby
Comrades marathon - some really fascinating questions 2007-07-08 03:46:00 Every once in a while, we get some absolute pearls from visitors to the blog. And this email, which we recieved yesterday evening, is an example of one. I will paraphrase Mr Alan Sleath's questions
, which we at The Science of Sport will attempt to address over the next while.Alan's questions were the following:1) At the Comrades Marathon this year, the following performances stood out:A 70-year old man, Calie Beneke, ran 8 hours 4 minutes for the 89 km!Leonid Shvetsov of Russia broke the course record by running 5 hours 21 minutes!A british double-amputee, Richard Whitehead, ran sub-10 hours on prosthetic limbs!Alan has asked us to rank these performances, based on physiology! Ouch! Can we take the 5th amendment on that one? But we'll do our best, it's an interesting challenge.2) Second question, Alan has asked us to compare the achievement of breaking 6 hours (which I think about 17 runners did this year), with the achievement of winning 25 consecutive silver medals in the
Planet Ultramarathon blog 2007-07-07 03:55:00 We're always on the lookout for blogs that relate to what we write about, whether it be the front-end (news, events), the back-end (the science and training) or the off-the-wall humour (like Half-Fast). And this blog, Planet Ultramarathon (the name tells you everything!), is a goodie for anything ultra-marathon related. Run by Phil from the greatly named "Wagga Wagga" in Australia, it's a pretty comprehensive offering for the Ultra-Marathon world, so check it out. And Phil gave us a bit of a boost, so we're happy to return the favour!CheersR and JThe Science of Sport
Dr. Ross Tucker
Dr. Jonathan Dugas
Altitude training - the basics 2007-07-07 02:56:00 So I really struggle to come up with a decent post for today, felt like doing something on cycling again, now that Jorg Jaksche has admitted to doping and suggested it is pervasive in the peloton. For some classic quotes, have a look at this article. The most telling this is the reaction of the other cyclists - Jaksche has been crucified by his former collegues and competitors, and that alone is an indication of the culture in the sport - it's as if they take the Hippocratic Oath equivalent of never-tell. Just ask Floyd LandisBut, with the Tour de France coming up over the next three weeks, I figured there would be plenty of time to talk cycling, so keep an eye out for some 'behind the scenes physiology of the Tour de France in the upcoming three weeks.But for today, I thought I would go back to something that came up about 2 weeks ago, during a post on EPO use. Lei asked about altitude training, so I figured I'd do a short post on the benefits, if any, of training at altitude.
A comprehensive running link 2007-07-06 02:31:00 A while back, we did an analysis of the African and American marathon performances, and asked whether the Africans were really 'unbeatable'?While looking up some of the info for that post, I (Jonathan) came across Jim2's Running page - think running
encyclopedia meets chat forum, and you'd have a description of this blog.He covers every topic from General training, specifics of biomechanics, walking, marathon running, running surfaces - you name it.So check out Jim2's Running page for some comprehensive running information.Jonathan and RossThe Science of Sport
Dr. Ross Tucker
Dr. Jonathan Dugas
An open letter to the IAAF: Oscar Pistorius research 2007-07-02 04:58:00 To Whom It May Concern: My name is Dr Ross Tucker, I am an exercise physiologist based in the University of Cape Town's Sports Science Institute. I am writing to you out of growing concern over a situation which I am sure that you realise poses some very serious problems for you in the future (as it has in the past), and that is the issue of Oscar
Pistorius' participation in the able-bodied IAAF sanctioned meetings. Let me state first and foremost my position - I do not think that Pistorius should be allowed to compete against the able-bodied runners until it is conclusively shown that the limbs do not assist performance. It is likely we agree on the fact that research is required in order to establish whether his prosthetics are in fact an advantage or disadvantage. We are all aware of the hype and comment on this topic. However, the current angle you have taken is risky and the IAAF is in danger of putting itself in a compromised position if it accepts the responsibility Read more:open letter
The Ethiopian running dynasty: What is the secret to its success? 2007-06-30 02:48:00 About a month ago, we did a post questioning whether we were about to witness the end of the Ethiopian
era of long distance running
dominance. The jury is still out on that one, though a world record for Meseret Defar in Oslo in the 5000 m seems to suggest that even in Kenenisa Bekele is not going to continue his dominance, the women athletes will probably reign for a good few years yet.The next question is why are the Ethiopian athletes so successful? Usually, when one asks about African runners dominating in middle and long distance running, we think of the Kenyans, because there seem to be infinite numbers of them and they win just about every major marathon in the world. On the track though, it's a different story. Since 1993, Ethiopians have won all but one of the World and Olympic 10 000 m titles. The athletes in question are Haile Gebrselassie and the afore-mentioned Bekele, who now share 5 out of the last 6 world titles and all three of the Olympic titles (Trivial pursuit Read more:dynasty
SA's B-Team: Rest or no rest? A science view 2007-06-30 01:32:00 Today the All-Blacks take on the Wallabies in the third Tri-Nations test, but this week has been dominated by the build-up to the SA-Australia test next week, and the headlines have all been around the squad picked by Jake White. A veritable B-Team, which has caused an uproar in Aus and NZ, even threatening at one stage to derail the Tri-Nations altogether. But what do we at the Science of Sport make of this? Jake White has been harking in the media for the last week about how Professor Tim Noakes, sports scientist at the University of Cape Town has insisted that the players need to rest (I believe that this strategy is his "insurance policy", creating a fall guy in case it doesn't work, but that's another story altogether). So sports science has been thrust into the limelight this week, so we have to respond to this one and lay down our views.Firstly, let us nail our colours to the mast - the players do play too much rugby. A typical season would begin in January for the Super
Dr. Don Catlin's wave of the future 2007-06-27 03:18:00 As is written in the quote above, Dr. Don Catlin is a renowned expert in doping and, more importantly, catching dopers. I just read this incredible article about his career and his idea for the future of doping in sport from the July 2005 edition of Outside Magazine.If anyone knows about doping and the system of catching cheaters, it is Catlin. This is a must read for anyone interested in this topic and also for anyone interested in ever watching a clean sporting event again.The Science of Sport
Dr. Ross Tucker
Dr. Jonathan Dugas
The America's Cup - Old foes meet again 2007-06-25 03:47:00 Saturday marked the start of the America
's Cup. All the lead up over the past three and a half years has lead us to this moment, where the Defender's (Alinghi from Switzerland) once again face Emirates Team New Zealand in a rematch from 2003. In that contest Team New Zealand proved no contest to Alinghi, who proceeded to thump the Kiwi boat 5-0 in the best of nine series of racing. Dean Barker (the Kiwi skipper) has ensured that history will not repeat itself entirely by taking the second match from Alinghi on Sunday to even the score (Alinghi won the first match) 1-1.This America's Cup competition has been hailed as one that has brought sailing to the masses. The series of races leading up to the main event was covered far and wide by the international media and saw three countries (Germany, China, and South Africa) enter boats for the first time in the Cup's majestic history. But what exactly is this sport all about, and what predicts performance?In many ways America's Cup saili
More on Doping - Can it guarantee performance enhancement? 2007-06-25 02:09:00 Thanks to Luckylab and bikejenbike for their comments on the earlier post (Shadow of doping, 23 June). This post will address those comments.First, for a quick and easy (and disturbing and fascinating) read on the East German doping "machine" of the 1950's to 1990, read Faust's Gold by Steven Ungerleider (pic below).Luckylab asked in a comment about how much doping actually helps, while bikejenbike wondered how the smaller American swimmers actually beat the East Germans from time to time.One thing we touched on briefly was that we do not know the real effect of all the different performance-enhancing drugs. This would require loads of studies that investigate each drug individually, and also in conjunction with other drugs (since often they are taken in combo with each other). The ethical issues here are too numerous to list, and that is why this research remains largely unperformed. Having said that, however, see the previous post that looks at the article of Franke and Berendonk, Read more:Doping
, guarantee
, enhancement
Drugs work - but by how much? A look at doping and performance improvements 2007-06-24 02:41:00 Performance enhancing substances - do they work? And by how much? It's a relevant question, and I thought it would be good to have a look at the answers. I was going to write an article on the Ethiopian dominance of long distance running in the last ten years, but we've been receiving such thoughtful comments and questions from people regarding our posts on drug use in cycling that I thought it might be better to continue on this theme and look at just what a scientist makes of the prevalence of doping in sport. I also said I'd look at altitude training, and I will, but I'll do that tomorrow. For now, we keep going on doping.Yesterday LuckyLab asked how much of a difference doping actually made? And unfortunately, it's quite difficult to get hold of that information! As you can imagine, it's difficult enough to find out who is doping and with what, never mind trying to track their improvements in a controlled manner! And make no mistake - this information exists, because Read more:Drugs
A culture of doping in cycling? Anything that could go, must 2007-06-24 02:23:00 Yesterday (23 June), I wrote two posts about the ominous shadow of doping in cycling, with the Tour de France coming up. In one post, I gave the example of how Bjarne Riis, the winner of the 1996 Tour, recently admitted to doping. The problem is that he does not appear to be an isolated case, and even within that race of 1996, the top 4 riders all have some sort of history or track record of doping. The same goes for every single winner of the Tour de France since 1996 - either they are known drug users, or they are rumoured to have doped (with plenty of circumstantial evidence), or they are currently being tried (as in the case of Floyd Landis).And so I wrote that the "deeper you dig, the uglier it gets" for the sport of cycling. And in response to this, Lei and LuckyLab posted interesting comments on the use of EPO when altitude training would work (check them out in that post on the 23/6).So I thought it would be good to do a post on the culture
of cycling and why exactly it seems t
Know your drugs - understanding the Tour de France 2007-06-23 04:57:00 OK, we promise that when the race starts, we'll start focusing on the cyclists and give you detailed analysis and discussion about the riders in the race. Then we'll talk about why Vinokourov is better on the shorter climbs than the longer ones, why Boonen is such a great sprinter and why the guys who time-trial well are often nowhere to be seen on the climbs.But for today, in keeping with our previous post on drugs, we thought we'd give you the scientific low-down (in every day language) on what the drugs that have been in the news actually do. In otherwords, in keeping with our quest on The Science of Sport, we aim to explain the HOW and WHY? behind sports performance. And unfortunately, that includes drugs and doping.So we look here at two commonly used drugs, both of which have been in the news quite heavily in the recent past.1) EPOEPO, short for erythropoeitin, is a hormone that is normally produced by the kidneys. It then has its effect on the bone marrow, which produc Read more:France
The shadow of drugs over the Tour de France 2007-06-23 04:25:00 The 2007 Tour de France
begins in about 2 weeks from today, and yet again, an ominous shadow is looming over the race and the sport in general.You'll see a doping alert news search down the left hand side of our blog, and unfortunately, it's been in overdrive since we started out. It seems as though every day, something new emerges from the murky underworld of the sport, and not a week goes by before another high profile cyclist either confesses or is implicated in what is becoming an increasingly messy situation.Most recent of these was Bjarne Riis, winner of the 1996 Tour de France, and the man who ended Miguel Indurain's quest for 6 consecutive titles. Riis, who rode for Telekom, admitted to doping in the following statement"The time has come to put the cards on the table," said Riis. "I have done things which I now regret and which I wouldn't do again. I have doped. I have taken EPO. For awhile it was part if my life." When a journalist questioned Riis
Vino's back - a dominant time-trial explained 2007-07-22 02:57:00 So yesterday, Alexander Vinokourov, featured in the photograph above as being in tears after a dreadful two days in the Alps, where he lost close to 5 minutes on the race contenders after an accident, revived his chances and moved up to 9th in the GC. He's still 5.10 back of Rasmussen, but only 4 minutes behind the other big contenders, and assuming Rasmussen can't steal any more time in the Pyrenees, they are more likely to be threats. So it all makes for a fascinating excursion into the Pyrenees.But we need to get some insight into the science and physiology that might explain how the Kazhak rider managed to comprehensively destroy the best time-triallists in the world, having been so humbled a few days earlier. Vinokourov is a strong time-triallist, sure, but he's not the dominant TT rider in the field. He probably wouldn't even have been the best TT guy in his team! Yet yesterday, he put more than a minute on everyone, doing the sort of ride Indurain and Armstrong used to
Sudden death in runners - isn't exercise meant to protect the heart? 2007-07-21 03:18:00 Disclaimer: I joked in our previous post that we would need a disclaimer, and sure enough, we did! This post is updated from the one that was posted yesterday, in response to a comments regarding terminology and statistics. So before we begin, we clarify some definitions:A Heart Attack is caused by a circulation or plumbing problem in the heart,;while Sudden
Cardiac Arrest is caused by an electrical problem in the heart. In our last post, we used the term heart attack, and were informed that this was incorrect, and should have been cardiac arrest - we disagree with the 'incorrect' part, though we acknowledge that sudden death
during exercise can have electrical explanations, and so perhaps 'incomplete' would have been more appropriate! Our focus in the post is primarily on the circulatory causes which we believe are still more prevalent, according to literature on runners (see the Jim Fixx section). In this post, then, we speak of heart attacks.
From "Lance to Landis" - Book Review 2007-07-24 01:29:00 "From Lance
to Landis
: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France." by David Walsh (2007)In keeping with the format of any good sporting website/blog, from time to time we will review books that we feel our audience might find interesting. Our first review will be of David Walsh's new book, "From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France."Although pegged as a "troll" by Lance Armstrong, it should be noted that David Walsh is not a shoddy tabloid journalist but is instead the award-winning chief sports writer with The Sunday Times (London). He is a four-time Irish Sports Writer of the Year recipient, and a three-time UK Sports Writer of the Year recipient.Having said that, "From Lance to Landis" reflects clearly Walsh's journalistic and investigative skills. He conducted many hours of interviews with numerous people, the results of which are many new and different angles on doping in cycling. In addition to the more well-kno
Vino tests positive for blood doping - will the last clean rider please step forward? 2007-07-23 23:50:00 Well, we did our best. We tried hard to write Tour de France posts without referring to doping or making lame science jokes about doping in some way. But just when we thought we might make it to Paris having seen a great, competitive Tour, which could have been remembered for the ferocious attacks launched by the climbers on the way up to Tignes, the Galibier and Plateau de Beille, it now seems we have a Tour that may again be remembered for the wrong reasons. First Michael Rasmussen, yellow jersey wearer and aspirant Tour champion hits the headlines for failing to give notice of where he was training leading up to the Tour. That in itself is no problem, he has done nothing wrong, but all of a sudden, journalists and riders are debating doping again. Then today, Alexandre Vinokourov, the hero of the race, the poster boy for the human spirit, is reported to test positive for a homologous blood transfusion. He is suspended, his team quits the Tour, and yet again, on the eve of w Read more:tests
How to feed a cyclist 2007-07-22 22:35:00 Roll on more tour posts! Following the pre-Stage 15 prediction, we will keep the posts coming as thick and fast as the attacks we have seen in Le Tour the past couple of days. In this short post we will get into what it takes to fuel a cyclist through a stage race like Le Tour, and this will serve as a spring board to talk more in the future about exercise metabolism and all its implications. So we all know that the energy demands placed on tour riders are pretty astronomical, but let's think about the basic energy needs of a 75 kg cyclist. His resting metabolic rate, or the amount of energy he requires to sit there the whole day and not do anything, probably clocks in at around 1500-1800 calories, depending on his body mass. That is the amount of energy he requires just to keep his body alive and functioning.Before we delve into energy requirements, it is first important to remember that the cost of moving your body through space is a function of the distance, and not the speed at wh
How to feed a cyclist 2007-07-18 02:59:00 Roll on more tour posts! Following the pre-Stage 15 prediction, we will keep the posts coming as thick and fast as the attacks we have seen in Le Tour the past couple of days.In this short post we will get into what it takes to fuel a cyclist through a stage race like Le Tour, and this will serve as a spring board to talk more in the future about exercise metabolism and all its implications.So we all know that the energy demands placed on tour riders are pretty astronomical, but let's think about the basic energy needs of a 75 kg cyclist. His resting metabolic rate, or the amount of energy he requires to sit there the whole day and not do anything, probably clocks in at around 1500-1800 calories, depending on his body mass. That is the amount of energy he requires just to keep his body alive and functioning.Before we delve into energy requirements, it is first important to remember that the cost of moving your body through space is a function of the distance, and not the speed at whic
"You can trust me" - Michael Rasmussen, former Maillot Jaune of the 2007 Tour de France 2007-07-26 04:46:00 These are radical times for the Tour de France
and professional cycling. MichaelRasmussen
, the wearer of the yellow jersey, celebrated yesterday for a great ride that saw him fend off Discovery's attacks on the Col d'Aubisque, has been dumped off his team and the Tour after it was revealed that he had lied to the team management after his whereabouts during the month leading up to the race. "Trust me", were his words, spoken two days ago at a press conference when questioned about a growing perception and discontent among cycling experts about his doping-status. First it had been revealed that four warnings had been issued by the UCI and Danish Cycling Federation after he failed to inform them of his location. Then a former mountain-biking pro came forward with allegations of how Rasmussen tricked him into carrying an illegal doping product in Europe in 2002. You can see this article and a great commentary on it here and here.So Rabobank made the decision to sack Rasmussen and Read more:trust
The most exciting tour in years? 2007-07-25 17:27:00 In case you have not heard by now, two more riders have been ejected from the tour, which is quickly becoming the most exciting
in recent years due to the constant shuffling of the top placings. These ejections come on the back of Vinokourov's positive test and his team's withdrawal from the race.Italian rider Cristian Moreni (Cofidis) tested postive for testosterone after Stage 11 on 19 July. His B Sample has yet to be tested, but the isotope-ratio mass-spectrometer test has been performed on his A Sample, and it confirmed the presence of external testosterone. The Cofidis team has also withdrawn from the tour.Then, some time after the finish Wednesday, team manager Theo de Rooy withdrew Michael Rasmussen, the maillot jaune from the race, allegedly because Rasmussen lied to the Rabobank team about his whereabouts in June when he missed his out-of-competition tests.What does this mean for the overall standings? This moves everyone up one place, leaving the top ten as follows:Alberto
Success at cycling in the mountains: Apart from drugs, what does it take? 2007-07-28 03:12:00 I guess the title of this post is hypothetical, because from the developments over the last week and a half, it seems that prerequisite number one is to have the right pharmaceutical support. But we will attempt to refrain from further jabs at the sport. However, as I write this, at 10:21 on Saturday morning, the word coming out of France is that another prominent rider has tested positive, and there is speculation that it is a Barloworld rider - any bets for Soler Hernandez? So this might be one of our more hollow posts, but we thought we'd have a look at the PHYSIOLOGICAL characteristics of elite cyclists, based on testing that has been carried out over the last 10 years. Obviously, the requirements are dependent on the type of rider and the type of stage being ridden. Tom Boonen, then, is a very different rider to Alberto Contador, and a time-trial requires a very different "skill-set" to a mountain climb. So the table below shows some of the requirements of flat stages, moun Read more:Success
, mountains
How safe is cycling - An Epidemiologist's Perspective 2007-07-26 22:50:00 With North American summer in full swing and the cycling season at its peak with Le Tour finishing up, we thought we would stay focused on cycling, but take a different look at the science behind it.Epidemiology is the study of the factors affecting the health and illness of a population or populations. These scientists gather massive samples (thousands to hundreds of thousands of people) and look the different rates of incidence of whatever they are interested in. When you read statistics in articles that say your chances are "3.4 times higher" for getting a disease, or the number of people with an illness is "23 per 1000 people," we have the epidemiologists for working these out for us. In Exercise Physiology, we are often interested in the rates of injuries in certain sporting populations, and how much greater the risk is for certain injuries between sports. Dr. Lara Dugas is an Epidemiologist at Loyola University and a cycling fan (and Jonathan's wife!), and she brought this study Read more:Perspective
Le Tour de France 2007 2007-07-29 21:16:00 This year the tour lived up to is ability to produce shocking "results" and newsworthy stories on top of some incredible racing, both on the flats and in the mountains. It was the closest GC finish in history, and the top three cyclists in the points competition were each just one win away from taking the maillot vert.Alberto Contador has been pegged as the next great hope, a 24 year-old phenom who can both climb and time trial, but perhaps the new hope lies with cycling itself. Finally the administrators appear to be taking a long-range view of the doping situation, showing courage and fearlessness in expelling two top riders. Will this hurt cycling? In the short term, yes, the sport will likely take a knock, but this bodes well for the future of the sport.In additon, one of the tour officials expressed his hope at the riders' silent protest at the start of Stage 16. In the past, this official said, the riders would protest the doping controls, opposing their invasive nature and in f Read more:France
The Barry Bonds dilemma 2007-08-03 01:45:00 The tour is finished, and even though this year a breaking news (ok, doping!) story might emerge at any moment, we are going to turn to America for this post. Baseball fans or not, some of you may know that BarryBonds
(of BALCO infmay) will most certainly break baseball's most hallowed record any day now. Henry Aaron holds the record for the most number of home runs in the game at 755, but currently Bonds is at 754, and with over a month remaining in the 2007 season he is almost assured of being the new home run king.This is such a charged topic that we could write a book on it, and in fact, two sports writers already did. In 2006 Mark Fainaru-Wana and Lance Williams published "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports" (follow the link on the left to buy this book). It is a must read for those not only interested in baseball but other sports as well since many sports had "BALCO athletes" in them. So we will leave it to them to expl Read more:dilemma
Excellent article on drugs and (American) sports 2007-08-01 20:10:00 We came across an amazing article during our daily visit to Letsrun.com. If you want to find out what is happening in running, track and field, or anything related to doping, the brothers Weldon and Robert Johnson scour the web and post all the running news in the web. They run an awesome site and have become the place to go for running related news.Their quote of the day was from an article written by Jemele Hill, who is a writer for ESPN's "Page 2" website. Jemele is sublime in her description of drugs in American
sports, and our outlook on the drugs as a society and culture. She really nailed the current state of affairs and should be lauded for her candid assessment of the situation. For even more insight into the American outlook on this issue, be sure to read thru all the comments that readers have left in response to her article.Go there right now to read her article!The Science of Sport
Dr. Ross Tucker
Dr. Jonathan Dugas
What Happened to South African Cyclist Ryan Cox? 2007-08-01 02:49:00 Breaking news on Wednesday from Team Barloworld was that one of their SouthAfrican
cyclists, 28 year old Ryan Cox, passed away in Kempton Park following complications from surgery he had in France three weeks ago. The actual cause of death is unclear at this point.Cox complained of powerlessness and pain in his left leg at the end of some races. He sought the help of a French doctor who correctly diagnosed Cox's vascular lesion in his left external iliac artery. The problem was first documented in the scientific literature, mostly by a French Canadian doctor named Francois Mosimann, and for the first time in 1985.It is unclear why the artery in the thigh undergoes this change, but several morphological changes take place that result in the artery becoming thicker, elongated, and when the hip is flexed (as during cycling), the artery becomes kinked or looped upon itself. The primary problem is that the thickening of the artery causes stenosis, which is is a narrowing of the of the Read more:Cyclist
Correction: Baseball's most current drug testing penalties 2007-08-05 02:58:00 Recently in a post about Barry Bonds quest to break the home run record, we listed the schedule of penalties
for baseball's drug testing policy. However, it has been brought to our attention that Major League Baseball (MLB) has since strengthened their drug-testing policy. The penalty schedule we published was introduced for the 2005 season. The current schedule below was ratified in November 2005 for the 2006 MLB season, and now been look like this: First positive test result: 50 game suspensionSecond positive test result: 100 game suspensionThird positive test result: lifetime ban Note: All suspensions are without pay.This updated policy has some teeth, as a 50-game suspension is equivalent to approximately 1/3 of the season. Although it is encouraging that they appear to have adopted a "three strikes and your out" approach, this policy is still weak when compared to international sports sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA), which mandates a two-year ban for t
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