_*

Rope-a-dope

» Vancouver pharmacists implicated in doping scandal

Adam Tatelman
“a 2 Writer

Mev a career within

Moo roteesional sports is a
here-today, gone-tomorrow
aspiration. The athletes
themselves are depreciating
commodities. As they age, their
performance deteriorates, so
they have only a few chances to
reach their goals, such as league
awards like the Super Bowl or
the Stanley Cup, or medals in
international competitions such
as the Olympics. As a result,
organized sport has evolved
strict enforcement against
performance-enhancing drug
(PED) use. According to The
Dark Side, a new documentary
by media outlet Al Jazeera,
pharmacists and doctors play
a critical role in circumventing

 

: those regulations.

Al Jazeera’s Investigative

: Unit employed international-
: level British hurdler Liam

: Collins to contact various

: pharmacists over a six-month
: period. Collins claimed he

: was willing to “do whatever

: it takes” to qualify for the

: upcoming Rio Olympics. He

: received performance enhancing :
: substances from Vancouver

: pharmacist Chad Robertson and
: naturopath Brandon Spletzer,

: among others, as well as advice

: from them on how to cheat

: the Olympic testing system.

: Neither knew that Collins

: had surreptitiously recorded

: everything they told him.

Robertson is also alleged

: to have supplied NFL players :
: with illegal drugs, namely Green :
: Bay Packers’ linebackers Mike
: Neal and Clay Matthews. “?m

 

: not going to lie to you,” said
: Robertson during a recorded
: phone conference with Collins,
: “Have I doped people? Oh,

: yeah. And no one’s got caught

: because the system’s so easy

: to beat.” Robertson went on to

: claim that he could take anyone
: with ‘average genetics’ and turn
: them into ‘a world champion.

29

Robertson later met

: with Collins, offering a plan

: including human chorionic

: gonadotrophin—a testosterone
: booster—and “ten injections

: a day in some cases.” Unaware
: that he was being recorded

: with a hidden camera,

: Robertson also recommended
: Collins meet with Brandon

: Spletzer, his prospective

: business partner and Yaletown

Sage Clinic naturopath.
Before giving Collins

substances, which he supposedly :

: had acquired under an assumed
: name, Spletzer outlined his
: method for destroying evidence.

“Put it this way—I’m not really

: writing anything down. If you

: really want to go Black Ops, so

: to speak, I can just document

: everything not in this chart

: but on my own chart. And if

: anybody ever comes sniffing for
: it, it’s very easy to delete and

: say no, this is the real chart—if

: say, WADA (World Anti-Doping
: Agency) comes sniffing around.”
: Following the publication of

: Al Jazeera’s documentary,

: Spletzer’s name was removed

: from Sage Clinic’s website.

Collins also met with

: Charlie Sly, an American

: pharmacist who claimed to

: have provided Peyton Manning,
: of the Denver Broncos, with

: Human Growth Hormone
(HGH) to help him recover from :

  

Image via thinkstock

: neck fusion surgery in 2011.

: Sly also implicated baseball

: players Ryan Zimmerman and

: Ryan Howard as Delta 2 steroid
: users, Sly has since recanted

: his assertions, claiming that

: he “was in no state of mind

: to be making any coherent

: statements as I was grieving

: the death of my fiancée.”

Manning appeared on ESPN,

offering the details of his 35-

: day treatment through nutrient
: therapy and use of a hyperbaric
: chamber. “Anything else this

: guy is insinuating is complete

: garbage,” said Manning.

: Dr. Gale Guyer of the Guyer

: Institute made a statement

: to sports site Bleacher Report

: supporting Manning’s claims.

: Zimmerman, Howard, Neal, and
: Matthews have also denied the
: allegations made against them.

. SV \EE | Pay

UT ee NLL Loe

Do you love writing? Want to be more
involved with the Douglas College
community? The Other Press is hiring a
Staff Writer!

Must Have:
- Experience writing, with a history in student journalism
a plus
- Strong writing skills
- Interest in student and community news and events
» - Willingness to collaborate with other writers/editors

  
    
  
 

The Staff Writer is responsible for writing
two to three quality articles on a weekly
basis. The successful applicant will be
responsible for working closely with
current section editors on producing
relevant, college-related content.

Pay: $200/month

Interested? Send a resumé and writing samples,
questions or concerns to editor@theotherpress.ca
by January 19.