media_artricles :: 2013

Onus on the athlete, management team

It’s unfortunate to hear of the positive testing for a banned substance from one of our up and coming athletes. But I will not be so quick to heap condemnation on the now precarious future of this athlete.

The nonchalance, coupled with the ignorance of the training regime of Kelly-Ann Baptiste is quite unfortunate. (Good thing mother Mary wasn’t a Trinidadian.) The sport Ms Baptiste is involved in is, and will always be, an extreme sport, both mentally and physically.

Am I condoning her alleged actions? Of course not. I myself am involved in an extreme sport where supplementation is necessary. There are supplements out there that don’t list on their lables some of the elements found in their products which are either banned by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) or are suspected to cause harm (heart failure, high blood pressure, etc) during the usage of their products. So, in fact, some athletes don’t even know of the effects of some products until it’s too late.

However, the onus is on the athlete and their management team to find out all they can about a particular product.

Six weeks prior to a big event, most sprinters use supplementation products that will increase blood flow and recovery time.

It is a known fact that some producers don’t list some synthetic ingredients that contribute to faster absorption of nutrients and better recovery time between training sessions, and the sad fact is that the USADA can’t seem to get a handle on it.

Let me quote an article from the agency on this matter: “The ongoing problem of dietary supplement mislabelling continues to create a risky environment for athletes. Unfortunately, due to the current permissive regulations governing the supplement industry, USADA cannot give guarantees to athletes regarding which products are safe and free from contamination.”

I do hope the National Association of Athletics Administrations of T&T and her management team stay by her side and give her support if indeed she is not found reprehensible of any wrong.

Ricardo Lezama

via e-mail

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