On May 3, 2015, the French TV network, France 2, aired a documentary promoting micro-doping for athletes. In the documentary, they showed how micro-doping, or taking minimal amounts of performance enhancing drugs over time to avoid detection, is possible.
The study was conducted by Pierre Sallet, the Director General of Athletes for Transparency and a Physiology doctor. They conducted VO2 testing max testing, a 14km bike ride, and a 3000 m run before and after a 29 day period of micro-doping with eight amateur athletes. At the end of the study, they found an average improvement of 6.1% in the VO2 max test, an average improvement of 2.1% in the bike time trial, and an average improvement of 2.8% in the run.
The World Anti Doping Association released two statements criticizing the documentary. Their first statement claimed there was no relevance to their Athlete Biological Passport, and they did not endorse the study. They released their second statement about a week later after gaining more information. They received five of the eight complete cases. Of those five, they claimed two of the five would have tested positive, while the other three would have been marked suspicious and targeted for more frequent random tests in the future.
Issued May 4th, 2015 by WADA:
WADA is aware of the television report that aired on France Télévisions yesterday. We would like to clarify that while we did make the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) software available, we certainly did not “bless” or endorse the study, as has been suggested.
The study does not accurately follow the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) guidelines, and therefore its relevance to the ABP is not entirely clear.
In commenting on any study, it is first important that the findings are properly peer reviewed and published. This has not yet taken place with this study.
Furthermore, WADA does not ever recommend athletes take part as ‘human guinea pigs’ in a study in which they would be subjected to taking performance enhancing drugs.
We welcome and encourage research relevant to the Athlete Biological Passport, and continue to work with experts to advance and enhance the project.”
Issued May 11, 2015 by WADA:
WADA is now aware of the five complete profiles produced by the study. Of those five, two would have been considered “positive” cases under the ABP model if properly used, and three would have been “suspicious” cases leading to targeted testing.
WADA accepts that the documentary did raise questions over the ability of athletes to dope by taking minimal amounts of performance enhancing substances without testing positive. We are very alert to ‘micro-dosing’; it is an issue that we are exploring in great detail with experts from across the anti-doping community, including in particular those responsible for enhancing the passport.
The ABP, when used as part of an intelligent anti-doping programme, is a strong tool that helps to protect the rights of clean athletes across the world. We remain alert, however, to the need to continue our work with experts to enhance the tool as part of the progress of anti-doping work globally, and, as such, we will continue to strengthen the ABP so that clean athletes and the watching public retain full confidence in the anti-doping system.
Lastly, we understand that ethical permission was given for this study. WADA accepts that there may be studies that use humans to explore the effect of performance enhancing substances. In such cases, they must be subjected to full ethical reviews that include monitoring of the study and the results. WADA has approved one such research project.
This is very old news, it has been known for a very long time that you can still micro dose epo, or use very small blood transfusions and not cause anomalies in biological passports. Follow cycling, this is essentially the Lance Armstrong return to cycling in 2009, and how he fooled testers again.
Maybe the wrong place for this comment, but Armstrong only micro-dosed if he somehow spilled the majority of his dose. His own pharmacist, Ferrari, was aghast at the amount and recklessness of the gross hormone manipulation Armstrong began his career with in the steroid filled sporting culture of 1980’s Texas. He thought, among other life threatening consequences, it could lead to things like developing testicular cancer. Ferrari toned down Armstrongs desire to do drugs in quantities, frequencies, and duration that few of his competitors dared to do.
Perhaps you miss the point of that TV program. The issue was not whether micro dosing was known to people in the know but to publicize the problem in order to put pressure on the antidoping authorities to become more effective. From WADA’s reaction, it seems to me that the TV program did touch a nerve.
Here’s the documentary. I don’t know if it works outside of France.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-fEZlNwh_U
The link does work in the US. I was born in France so I could understand exactly what was said. It certainly was not the apology of doping, rather, an attempt to measure an athlete’s progress using very low/undetectable doses of EPO and growth hormone, as well as self transfusion of blood.
WADA says it didn’t follow the appropriate protocols, including peer reviews. Maybe, but it looked to me as being carried out professionally and with rigor, and several -not just one- doctor were involved.
The lead scientist showed the evolution of his biological passport during the one month experiment. He clearly stayed within the allowed norms; whether he would have been ruled as suspicious (as per WADA) remain to… Read more »
(sorry Bobo but….) Leave it to the French to be the quickest cheaters…..Maybe this explains Angel’s resurgence.
The way I read this, the study was conducted by a French non-profit that is engaged in the fight against doping (Athletes for Transparency). The point was to raise concern that this means of cheating is possible and effective. WADA’s criticism is aimed at the documentary’s claim that WADA would not have detected the cheaters in these cases, and also on certain protocols not having been followed in the study..
Don’t understand your comment but….
That was irony, hopefully?
And for the 40568th time, that’s not ANGEL but AGNEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And which resurgence you talk about? He was faster last year at French nationals than this year. We’ll see next summer if he’s really back at his real level, at least 1.44 something in the 200 free.
Overall, I think that TV report is useless. We learn nothing. It shows that you improve quickly when you use drugs, even at a small level. Wow! What a revelation!
And it shows that you can use drugs which can not be detected. Wow! What another revelation!
What in the world would make you imply that French athletes cheat more than other athletes? I’ll assume that you are American, as am I. Our dominant sports leagues, MLB, NFL, and NBA are obviously and enthusiastically filled with the finest athletes chemistry can build. Have you noticed that NBA players do not get tired? Do you know what the testing procedures for EPO and testosterone are in that league? I will educate you: they are no barriers whatsoever for men making tens of millions of dollars a year based on their athletic performance. I enjoy these sports and watch them regularly. I don’t care that these men become the best athletes they can be with the help of PED’s.… Read more »