lemmy - Link to source

It's swimming, I would've thought the drugs would help
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Article

Ex-Cal swimmer gets drug test right after steroid-free win at Enhanced Games

Not everyone took advantage of the PED permissions.
Gabe Fernandez (SFGATE)
Esta entrada fue editada (miércoles, 27 de mayo de 2026, 14:47)
in reply to pelespirit
friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Carlos Solís

The only enhancement he used (but everyone else on the pool was using it too) was a swimming suit so efficient, that it got eventually banned by the IOC for being deemed an unfair advantage. Also, most of the "enhanced" competitors were just returning from retirement, there's only so much you can compensate with steroids.
in reply to SamuraiBeandog
lemmy - Link to source

NannerBanner

but it keeps you going for longer.


Specifically, mentally going. The majority of olympic level athletes are not 'flagging' due to not being able to keep their mental focus while pushing through pain/fatigue, it's due to actual physiological reasons as your energy stores deplete and muscles suffer damage.

in reply to Carlos Solís
lemmy - Link to source

SamuraiBeandog

I read an article a little while ago about one of the swimmers who was training for these games and it talked about exactly this, how the changes to his body shape and composition were bigger drawbacks than the added strength from the enhancements.

If this event ends up going for a while and has enough interest I would expect people to figure out an optimal way to dope to find the balance.

in reply to Carlos Solís
lemmy - Link to source

MinnesotaGoddam

i would have thought there's be like a blood oxygen thingy. or blood something else re- like... what's it called. sorry, can't remember the word. too much weed. 4:, uh, 4:57 if you want to be precise 4:20 was a bit ago. when you give platelets. they take the blood out and pull out the platelets, put the blood back in. i'd think there'd be something you could do with iv bullshit, something more intense with APHERESIS HAHA THATS THE WORD. i think that's the word.

juice up right before the meet so you can voom. not even with anything that illegal, just with, idunno, making sure your electrolytes are the right balance.

Esta entrada fue editada (jueves, 28 de mayo de 2026, 0:00)
in reply to pelespirit
mbin - Link to source

RandomStickman

I first read it as "enchanted" and for a fleeting moment I was in a world of magical swimmers until I read further and realised what it actually was. It was just like when I first came across "fantasy football" and thought it was about orcs and wizards playing American football.

We need a Blood Bowl of swimming.

in reply to DagwoodIII
lemmy - Link to source

NannerBanner

You have to find the right group. There's a fine line between competitive and 'need to win' drive. I can think of at least four large groups in my life that have broken apart specifically because there were some people in them that suddenly thought they could 'dominate' and everything shifted (in their view) to make that happen. Suddenly they don't want to play with certain people, they get mad about partners who didn't 'play as well as they should have,' etc. The fun disappeared and they dragged everyone else down with them.

I'd say the goal should be to have fun, and if you can't goof off in the middle of a game/match/whatever, you're too deep into the 'need to win' mindset.

in reply to BlueFootedPetey
piefed - Link to source

chocrates

I get the reasons for not doing it, but it seems clear that a lot of people are still doing it. Testing is always lagging the new methods of getting around it.

I'm curious if, with the world going crazy for LLM's, we will see it used to make novel compositions of existing chemicals that constantly outpace the labs tasked with finding the doping.

Esta entrada fue editada (miércoles, 27 de mayo de 2026, 23:21)
in reply to BlueFootedPetey
lemmy - Link to source

dustyData

The problem is that with the potential damage to the body and their career this is exactly what happens. Only the retired or mid performers are willing to actually take on the experiment. Top athletes already use some forms of doping but are very protective, since they have more to lose. Only those with nothing to lose will go all in on the enhancements.
in reply to BlueFootedPetey
lemmy - Link to source

Trainguyrom

It's one of those things where it sounds kinda cool until you think about it for more than 5 seconds. If it takes off there will be people inventing all sorts of new horrifying ways to destroy their bodies and end their lives.

And if they have a category for prosthetics and surgical enhancements hooo boy there's going to be some scary shit coming out of that

in reply to anon_8675309
lemmy - Link to source

Anivia

Yes, because all the top tier athletes are also on drugs, they are just restricted to drugs that don't stay in the blood for very long, or simply aren't banned yet (remember that Ment was only banned a few years ago by WADA, so until a few years ago every athlete was free to use one of the craziest steroids on the market)
in reply to pelespirit
lemmy - Link to source

ZpbkPEcaHhIveqdR

I don't know athletes names, and please don't think I am trying to criticise him, but If he is competing in the enhanced games then there would be presumably no testing for enhancing drugs, so we only really have his word that he doesn't use enhancing drugs which may not be the same as actually not using enhancing drugs
in reply to pelespirit
lemmy - Link to source

Nautalax

Let’s be real, the regular Olympics are already doped. Their entire careers are on the line with the pride (and eyes) of the nation bearing down on them and demanding results… and we think they and their teams aren’t taking every edge they think they can possibly get away with? All the time famous athletes of yesteryear are being revealed to have been up to shenanigans when science catches up to retest their samples more effectively or some investigation gets a co-conspirator to spill the beans.

There’s microdosing below what tests can detect, novel designer drugs that can’t yet be detected, therapeutic use exemptions for drugs that would normally be banned, setting up situations to evade tests unless you are prepared to take them, tampering with the sample, good old fashioned corruption… probably tons of things that would never occur to me but that would to highly motivated teams with vast amounts of money on the line.

in reply to Nautalax
lemmy - Link to source

ZeroGravitas

in reply to ZeroGravitas
lemmy - Link to source

Trainguyrom

I remember someone suggesting that for all Olympic disciplines we should first select a member of the public and let them attempt it. 100m dash. High jump. Walking across the narrow beam. Doing one pull up on the parallel bars. I bet we would appreciate those athletes more afterwards.


I want to see an Olympics where they just pick people by lottery and grab a bunch of random average 30-50 year olds, have them compete with no training (okay give them like a few hours of training so they can actually give it a real try and don't hurt themselves), then again after 3, 6 and 12 months of training. I feel like that could singlehandedly make a massive difference in public health given the modern sedentary lifestyle by showing people exactly what is possible for an average person who just got off the couch to do

in reply to ZeroGravitas
lemmy - Link to source

Nautalax

I replied to the other fellow but in no way am I calling them lazy, actually many of the drugs they use allow them to train harder for longer and as an Olympians they take full advantage of that to push the boundaries of what is possible. Those agents aren’t an “I win” button but at the highest levels people will do literally anything to push themselves to be able to shave off even fractions of a second or gain whatever advantage they can, and being able to train more and bounce back quicker is tempting.