Rochus discusses doping

[abraxas21]

didn't Marcelo Rios say, back in the day, if any top players tests positive, you (the media) will never hear about it?

yes. he even referred specifically to agassi, years before agassi went on to recognize he had taken drugs. of course, at the time nobody believed him and the typical fans probably said he was talking out of his butt. years later, history would vindicate his controversial opinions.

Rios thinks that the ATP protects Agassi of doping "I know that if nandrolona were found on Agassi, they would not disclose it. He is a very prominent, very popular player and if he were to fall, the world of tennis would fall with him. The ATP would not say it. They are such a large dependent organization that it would be a problem if Agassi or Sampras tested positive", attacked the Chilean, ex- Nº1 of the world. The Marcelo Chilean Rios, ex- Nº1 of the world, accused the organization of the ATP of never openly disclosing certified drug tests on Andre Agassi. When commenting on the situation of dopajes of the Argentinean Mariano Puerta and, specifically, of the Englishman Greg Rusedski, whom respectively tested positive of clenbuterol and nandrolona, the Chilean not only lamented the incidents but accused the ATP of favortism. In his third radial commentary since the 2 of January on the microphones of Chilean Radio, Rios directly blamed the Association of Professional Tennis players (ATP) of not wanting to surface similar cases of doping of the more famous players, focusing instead on the "lesser" players of the tour. "[We]the South Americans have discussed it repeatedly. It is a complicated subject. I do not have problem in saying it: we always said (we asked ourselves) who publicly certifies the doping tests of Agassi or Sampras ?". The Chilean left-handed person remembered a case in Australia 2002 "where there was a control and Agassi disappeared, saying that they were going to kidnap his son..."

"I would love to be able to see and certify Agassi's doping tests because now I currently have no idea who is doing the test, and who decides who gets it and who doesn't."

"I know that if they were to find nandrolona on Agassi, they wouldnt say it to anybody. It would taint his reputation and bring tennis down dramatically. ATP would not say it. It is such a large organization that it would be a problem if Agassi tested positive ", he charged. The newspaper La Tercera consulted the ATP, in Pontevedra, Florida, and obtained an answer by them stating that "the procedures are very basic and clearly are specified for everybody on our website (www.atptennis.com) and it publicly states how many times controls to the players have been performed". "We do not have favorites nor do we hold something against the South Americans", said Greg Sharko, director of Communications of the ATP. In the offices of Agassi Enterprises, in Las Vegas, they avoided making any commentary until Perry Rogers, representative of the tennis player, returns from a business trip in Los Angeles.

I think it would be a good idea to have an independent organization take care of all the doping tests. for as long as the ATP handles these matters, they will always have a big monetary incentive to cover up the big names and cover up the cheatings of the game in general.

 

[Underhand]

We all know players are doping and the atp does hand out silent suspensions from time to time.

Need proof? Just look at Nadal's 2009 suspension......er.......um.....injury, yeah......thats it injury.

Or Del Potro's injury?

 

[Roger No.1]

the atp needs the top playrs to be able to play as much and as long as possible. with that in mind, would the atp, in a business sense, really be against the top marquee names doping in order to play as much atp matches and tournaments as possible? you never know.

I agree it makes sense but then the question is why would players would even miss drug tests and why would ATP give "silent suspensions" to players?

 

[MarTennis]

I say...

All you need to dope is to be selfish and competitive. That pretty much describes most pro players. Who here trusts that the ATP conducts tough testing? Who believes 100% that players are not warned in advance nor that shaky excuses for positive tests aren't believed?

Give me your percent. Do you believe tennis is 100% dope free, 74% dope free or 30% dope free?

50% dope free in Top 200. Unfortunately, I think players are epo'ing and freshing up their blood for endurance. Doping is killing all court tennis, not spin.

 

[Nadalgaenger]

Tennis, unlike distance running or cycling, is about far more than mere endurance.

No amount of dope is going to give you a good second serve.

 

[Jonny S&V]

Tennis, unlike distance running or cycling, is about far more than mere endurance.

No amount of dope is going to give you a good second serve.

Doping is gonna help you get through that 5th set physically (Djoker, Nadal, etc...) over and over again. I mean, I'm not going to come out and say that they are doping, but if they are, they certainly aren't the only ones.

 

[Ripster]

50% dope free in Top 200. Unfortunately, I think players are epo'ing and freshing up their blood for endurance. Doping is killing all court tennis, not spin.

What are you basing this on?

 

[rommil]

Rochus would be the last person to be suspected of taking GROWTH hormones

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

We all know players are doping and the atp does hand out silent suspensions from time to time.

Need proof? Just look at Nadal's 2009 suspension......er.......um.....injury, yeah......thats it injury.

Sorry, what proof? I sure don't see any.

 

[sureshs]

Rochus would be the last person to be suspected of taking GROWTH hormones

Actually he would be the first person to be suspected of that. Maybe they didn't work, or maybe he would have been shorter without them.

 

[BeHappy]

In my opinion he is looking for a career on Belgian tv or in Belgian newspapers.

Why else would he mention Justine Henin, his countrywoman?

She didn't have a farewell tour because she was losing to Serena and just playing terribly.

 

[Russeljones]

Let's see, make tens of millions a year (prize + endorsements) by winning clean or throw it all away for a quick boost of blood doping or whatever? Hard choice.

 

[absurdo]

i would say every elite athlete in the world does what he can do in order to be on top. that certainly includes takings drugs. i would say every guy in the top 100 does it, on various degrees.

what i don't believe is that taking illegal substances is a widely spread tactic. this guys know the rules and they take advantage of it.

what i mean is that are lots of stuff you can do and take in order to enhance performance.

it's only a matter of what is considered illegal and what is not.

 

[tennis_pro]

"For me, it's inconceivable to play for five hours in the sun and come back like a rabbit the next day."

It didn't seem to be a problem in the 20's - 70's!

Maybe because the average point was over after 2-3 shots instead of 10+?

 

[Agassifan]

Anyone who dismisses this is not willing to think straight.

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Anyone who dismisses this is not willing to think straight.

Short, untalented people tend to try and make up for something by spouting a controversial viewpoint, so I would take whatever he says with a pinch of salt.

 

[veroniquem]

If Rochus had insider info about doping, I would be very interested. But momentum switching in a match? Nosebleed? Sounds more like sore loser paranoia to me. Hardly groundbreaking behind the scenes revelation. The only drugs players have mentioned using (cocaine, crystal meth) are more recreational than performance enhancing. Agassi posted the worst results of his career while using this stuff. There is plenty of insider info in other sports. In tennis, we still have nothing to work on. The most interesting bit was in Agassi's book about parents giving anphetamines or other stimulants to their kids before a match. Never understood why so much fuss was made around the crystal meth. Found the parent bit much more shocking personally.

 

[Sentinel]

Just posting this in case someone missed it

Discussion between Spiegel and Angel Heredia

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4820863

Some excerpts:

Heredia: With precision. You want an example? Everyone talks about epo. Epo is fashionable. But without adding iron, epo only works half as well. That’s the kind of thing you have to know. There are oxygen carriers that make epo work incredibly fast – they are actually better than epo alone. I call my drug “Epo Boost.” I inject it and it releases many tiny oxygen molecules throughout the body. In that way you increase the effect of epo by a factor of ten.

SPIEGEL: Do you have any other secrets?

Heredia: Oh yes, of course. There are tablets for the kidneys that block the metabolites of steroids, so when athletes give a urine sample, they don’t excrete the metabolites and thus test negative. Or there is an enzyme that slowly consumes proteins - epo has protein structures, and the enzyme thus ensures that the B sample of the doping test has a completely different value than the A sample. Then there are chemicals that you take a couple of hours before the race that prevent acidification in the muscles. Together with epo they are an absolute miracle. I’ve created 20 different drugs that are still undetectable for the doping testers.

SPIEGEL: Are there still any clean disciplines?

Heredia: Track and field, swimming, cross-country skiing and cycling can no longer be saved. Golf? Not clean either. Soccer? Soccer players come to me and say they have to be able to run up and down the touchline without becoming tired, and they have to play every three days. Basketball players take fat burners – amphetamines, ephedrin. Baseball? Haha. Steroids in pre-season, amphetamines during the games. Even archers take downers so that their arm remains steady. Everyone dopes.

 

[Polvorin]

This guy decided to make these accusations as he's retiring and refuses to name names. He never had a reputation for being extremely fit or hard working, and he only had minimal success on the main tour.

If you read the article, you would have noticed that he said he had already received a warning from the ATP for speaking out about the issue before.

 

[merwy]

Guys, guys, calm down, jesus! Why all the hating on Rochus? He just provided us with an inside scoop about how it's like in the tennis world. The point he's making is that PEDs are not that uncommon in the tour as we, outsiders, may think. He also thinks they should be legalized (what I don't necessarily agree with..). I think he's just sick of all the hypocrisy of the tennis world. The ATP tries to keep a clean image, while everyone inside the ATP knows that it's not that clean at all.
Furthermore, he was just answering the interviewer's questions. He didn't just start accusing Henin. The interviewer obviously brought the matter up. He was just voicing his opinion, did you want him to lie?

I think everyone here is just overreacting because they're afraid that their image of a clean and fair tennisworld may not be real. Well, I guess you will just have to deal with it.

 

[merwy]

Just posting this in case someone missed it

Discussion between Spiegel and Angel Heredia

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4820863

Some excerpts:

Heredia: With precision. You want an example? Everyone talks about epo. Epo is fashionable. But without adding iron, epo only works half as well. That’s the kind of thing you have to know. There are oxygen carriers that make epo work incredibly fast – they are actually better than epo alone. I call my drug “Epo Boost.” I inject it and it releases many tiny oxygen molecules throughout the body. In that way you increase the effect of epo by a factor of ten.

SPIEGEL: Do you have any other secrets?

Heredia: Oh yes, of course. There are tablets for the kidneys that block the metabolites of steroids, so when athletes give a urine sample, they don’t excrete the metabolites and thus test negative. Or there is an enzyme that slowly consumes proteins - epo has protein structures, and the enzyme thus ensures that the B sample of the doping test has a completely different value than the A sample. Then there are chemicals that you take a couple of hours before the race that prevent acidification in the muscles. Together with epo they are an absolute miracle. I’ve created 20 different drugs that are still undetectable for the doping testers.

SPIEGEL: Are there still any clean disciplines?

Heredia: Track and field, swimming, cross-country skiing and cycling can no longer be saved. Golf? Not clean either. Soccer? Soccer players come to me and say they have to be able to run up and down the touchline without becoming tired, and they have to play every three days. Basketball players take fat burners – amphetamines, ephedrin. Baseball? Haha. Steroids in pre-season, amphetamines during the games. Even archers take downers so that their arm remains steady. Everyone dopes.

First time I've seen this article. Wow, just wow, very interesting article. As I study medicine myself, I find it very interesting to read about things like tablets that prevent the steroid-metabolites from coming up in urine samples. Honestly, didn't know it was used so much in so many different sports. Even golf? Really?

 

[Bjorn99]

For the very LAST time. DUE to how estrogenic all our food and water is now, due to the leakage of plastic into EVERYTHING, hormone enhancement, is the only way to thrive and survive today, for athletes AND the average citizen.

All I know is that I have the best of the best, that I somehow doubt even Federer or Djokovic have access to, and it allows me to kick into high gear for two to three hours a day, even though I am over the age of forty. A very high gear indeed.

I would categorize my program as most organic, with some pure and high end pharma, and I posit that the only reason it is not available to the average person is that it would eliminate sickness, disease, lack of energy and early death. Which for anyone who really knows the game, is NOT what governments want the average bear to enjoy.