Three-times Tour de France champion Alberto Contador would have been crazy to risk taking the anabolic agent clenbuterol during this year’s race, a leading British sports lawyer said on Thursday.
The Spaniard has been provisionally suspended by the International Cycling Union after testing positive for a small amount of the performance-enhancing drug during this year’s race.
Contador’s assertion that he ingested the substance from tainted beef was dismissed by World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman.
However, Mike Morgan, who has represented major National Olympic Committees at the past two Olympic Games and appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, said it was possible that contaminated meat had been responsible.
“The fact that it’s such a small amount does corroborate his claim that it came from contaminated meat,” Morgan said in an interview during a sports law conference convened by the World Sports Law Report. “If you are going to take clenbuterol to have any lasting effect you would have taken a much higher amount than was detected in his sample.”
Morgan said if a rider was going to take clenbuterol to enhance his performance he would be unlikely to do so in the middle of the Tour de France when he knew he was going to be tested every other day.
“It stays in your system for as long as three weeks, even more,” he said. “It’s just not a chance you would take. It wouldn’t make any sense, it would be crazy.”
Morgan said that clenbuterol, which strips fat and builds muscle in humans, had been used in farming communities around the world for the same reason.
“It is used to promote the growth rate in cattle, pigs and chicken. By stripping away the fat of the animal, clenbuterol also increases the leanness of the meat,” he said. “The fact that it may be banned does not mean farmers are not using it. It’s an issue which anti-doping authorities know very little about and about which they should educate themselves.”
Morgan said he believed the spate of recent clenbuterol positives was due to a very sensitive test and said anti-doping authorities needed to devise a test which showed if the drug had been deliberately ingested.
“I don’t believe it has suddenly become popular among athletes, I don’t also believe it is suddenly being used more in the farming industry,” he said.
“It is possible that athletes cheat, of course they do, but is it possible that it’s come from milk, or beef, or pork, or water in an extreme case?” Morgan asked.
“That’s the difficulty. And proving it, for athletes, is a real difficulty,” he said.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to