By Leigh Penman

And so it came to pass last week that Marion Jones decided to place herself in front of the talk show high priestess, Oprah Winfrey, and tell “all” about her brush with the law and imprisonment for anabolic steroid use during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

But did she really tell the truth this time around or was it simply a case of trying to crawl her way back into the publics’ hearts?

Well, during the interview Marion looked down a lot when formulating her answers to Oprah’s questions. Now, any student of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) would tell you that this was a sign of searching her feelings and emotions for the appropriate response. However, it could also just be a sign that she was avoiding too much eye contact with Winfrey as she considered her answers (and we don’t need to be students of body science to figure out why). Continue Reading »

Claims That She Would Have Won Without Steroids

Having been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs all the way back to her high school days, it is difficult to even make a fair comparison to what Marion Jones may have been able to accomplish if she was natural. The track star - who was recently released from federal prison after serving a six-month sentence - made an appearance on “The Orpah Winfrey Show” and claimed that she would have been as successful without steroids.

Not only is that preposterous, but goes against everything that has been previously proven. Jones may regret her decision to use PEDs, but to deny what they did for her performance makes her appear even more a liar than she already has. Continue Reading »

By Leigh Penman

Recent news reports have intimated that doping samples collected from athletes during the Olympic Games, held in Beijing this summer, are due to be retested. The reason for this action is the discovery of a new performance-enhancing drug which may have flown under the radar in previous tests.

The new drug is being referred to as CERA, or Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator and it was recently discovered in the stored samples of several Tour de France cyclists. CERA is part of a new breed of anemia drugs, manufactured in order to increase the production of red blood cells - which carry oxygen throughout the body and have the spin-off effect of increasing stamina and endurance. Continue Reading »

BALCO Sprinter Cut Loose After Nearly 6 Months in Slammer

Give it six months to a year. Tops. That’s how long it should take for Marion Jones to pen her memoirs and jump on the sword in the same breath while blaming everyone else for her troubles. The former Olympic sprinter was recently released from a federal prison before the minimum six months was even up.

Victor Conte, who Jones knows well enough to obtain steroids from and then sue for defamation, has a book that is being released shortly and Jones’ name is sure to come up. For her to combat this, she will need her own soapbox to speak her mind, which she will most likely do with a tell-all book.

According to Jones’ former teammate, Chryste Gaines, who had her own trouble with performance-enhancing drug accusations,
“She’ll be fine,” Gaines said, referring to Jones. “She’ll do her jail time, apologize and write a book about it.” Continue Reading »

The Black Prince Reaches Out to the Olympic Swimming Champion

By Robby Robinson

MuscleSport Mag is lucky enough to have the one and only Robby Robinson as a contributor to our publication. We hope you all enjoy his input, as we certainly did.

Dear Michael,

Congratulations on your Olympic sweep. Your athleticism was truly awe-inspiring to watch. I asked my friend Joe Pietaro at MuscleSport Mag and New York Sportscene magazine to forward this letter to you. 

When I learned of your 12,000 empty calorie eating regime, I became concerned not only about your health and longevity as an athlete, but also about the billions of people around the world that you are now in a position to influence. It wasn’t so much the quantity of calories that was a shock, as their quality. One can argue that your diet has worked for you so far, but your short-term choices can lead to serious long-term consequences. Massive quantities of refined carbohydrates at one sitting trigger the pancreas to excrete an over-abundance of insulin, creating the possibility of becoming a diabetic. And while fats in your meals will help slow that reaction a bit, your fats, from what I read, are all saturated. They will deposit in your arteries and give you high cholesterol. Being an athlete does not negate the effect of these foods, but being young allows you to get away with it for now.  Continue Reading »

Olympian Asafa Powell Volunteers for Anti-Doping Testing Program; Complains About It Later

The only line you really need to read in this entire fiasco was that Asafa Powell of Jamaica made this stunning accusation during a news conference promoting his shoe sponsor.

Now that we have established the motive, the star runner stood on his soapbox and claimed that although he was one of 10 track and field athletes to volunteer for an anti-doping testing program, Powell feels that the International Association of Athletics Federation have overstepped their boundaries. Since arriving in Beijing on August 1, Powell has been tested four times and now is claiming, “They are taking so much blood, I am going to be very weak before the final of the 100 meters,” he said in the AP report. Continue Reading »

IOC Strips US Men’s 4 X 400 Meter Relay Squad of Gold Following Pettigrew’s EPO & HGH Admission

Less than a week before the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, the International Olympic Committee’s war on steroids has gone backwards to go forward. Following an admission of using performance-enhancing drugs by one member of the United States 1,600-meter relay team, the governing body has stripped the gold medals from the entire squad that participated in the finals and preliminaries.

Antonio Pettigrew admitted using PEDs during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 during testimony of the May trial of Trevor Graham, a former coach of his. On the stand, Pettigrew acknowledged using erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, and human growth hormone from 1997 to 2003. This started a whirlwind where some of the sprinters, including Pettigrew, stated that they would give back their gold medals. Now they were told to do so, if they wanted to or not. Continue Reading »

After Losing Out on Olympics, Swimmer Seeks Ban Reduction

One month ago, Jessica Hardy had gold medal aspirations and most likely began to prepare for the trip to Beijing. But following a positive test for clenbuterol, the young swimmer has seen her career take a turn for the worse. After claiming her innocence, she now has publicly stated through her attorney that the test was correct and has accepted the fact that she will not represent the United States in the 2008 Summer Olympics, choosing to turn her attention towards getting back in the water as soon as possible.

A two-year ban will be extremely difficult for Hardy, 21, to overcome. She has claimed that she has never even heard of clen and has no idea how it appeared in her system. That will be a tough task convincing anyone of that, since it’s intended and prescribed use is as a breathing agent for asthma sufferers and is more commonly used for weight loss. Unless Hardy has a prescription as an asthmatic, her chances are not good to get the ban reduced. Continue Reading »

Olympic Swimmer’s Positive Test for Clen Jeopardizes Her Beijing Chances

Claiming her innocence while her lawyer states the positive test for Clenbuterol contained only “low amounts” of the drug, swimmer Jessica Hardy ’s dreams of winning Olympic gold in Beijing this summer are in doubt. After testing positive in both her “A” and “B” tests following meets during Olympic trials on July 4, the 21 year-old began spinning damage control.

For her to fail a ’sandwich’ unrinalysis after testing negative on July 1 and 6, Hardy is going to try to use them as leverage against the middle test. How far that will go remains to be seen, especially with the back-up ‘B’ test coming out the same. Her fate will be determined by proceedings that will begin in the near future. Continue Reading »

Bulgaria Withdraws Team from Olympics; Greece Down 11 Members for Positive Steroid Tests

Perhaps looking to limit bad press by initiating it, two countries have chosen to leave some of the obvious users at home before The Games begin. Bulgaria withdrew it’s entire weightlifting squad following 11 positive steroids tests from both the male and female teams, including 2007 world champion Ivan Stoitsov (left). Greece had the same amount of lifters kicked off the team, but will still send representatives to Beijing.

By appearing to come clean up front, these two nations - who have probably looked the other way at the obvious for decades - now look like the ultimate good guys. By avoiding a possible scandal in this steroid conscious world, both the Greek and Bulgarian teams may not win any hardware in China, but - in the eyes of some - will be more honorable because of that.

Photo credit: Bulgaria Blog