U.S. cyclist ensnared in doping scandal

It seems like another one of those scandals ubiquitous around the time of the Olympics has come up. This time it’s a U.S. cyclist by the name of Tyler Hamilton, gold medal winner at Athens last month.

Doping was once widely used by the American cycling team in the 1984 Olympic games and “can bolster performance by increasing the amount of oxygen-transporting red blood cells. The practice is illegal in the sport.”

I don’t know, but I wouldn’t feel especially moral if I won a medal at the Olympics, or any award, by doping. “Three athletes lost their gold medals because of doping during the Aug. 13-29 Games.” Most likely, you’re going to be caught, and I wonder what goes through the minds of these athletes as they go into the games knowing they have an unfair advantage over the other competitors.

The Vuelta has been using a new sophisticated blood screening machine that can detect blood transfusions, human growth hormone and synthetic hemoglobin that were previously undetectable. The machine was first used this year at the Tour de France and then the Olympics.

Blood doping, as the practice is called, is believed to be relatively uncommon since cheats can more easily use illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

IMO, I don’t think he would do this with the knowledge that the doping would be easily detected. He is apparently a hard-working, moral person who would not throw away his hard-earned achievements for a petty win. He’s come too far to just throw it all away.

But you never know. People do strange things.

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