First billiard player accused of doping in Germany
AP
Posted: 2008-03-17 15:04:14
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) – Germany’s first case of doping in billiards was announced Monday after national champion Axel Buescher tested positive for an EPO masking agent.
Buescher’s positive test came at November’s German championships, where he captured the carom billiards title, the German Billiard Union said.
Buescher said the masking agent was in prescription medicine he failed to have approved.
The Union suspended Buescher for one year and stripped him of his title after he passed on his right to have the “B” sample tested.
EPO is a blood booster most closely associated with endurance sports, such as cycling, where it has played a central role in several Tour de France scandals.
How does it help a billiards player? How will this effect drug testing in chess?
Chess players should be dope tested. Steroids can make chess players stronger.
The only antidoping control we need in chess is in the form of a nice metal detector.
Ritilin is very popular.
>>>Ritilin is very popular.
Certianly not among the superGM’s???
It was for a masking agent – what agent is that?
Occasionally diuretics are used to dilute the urine in hopes that the banned substance will not be in sufficient concentration to be detected. But what could it be for billiards.
In a long match, stamina may be a factor, but one would guess that something which helps with nerves, tremors and concentration would be more useful.
The mind sports are vulnerable to
this sort of thing.
You might be surprised at what people who have the power to do drug testing will do with that power. Not that Ms. Eythorsdottir deserves the time of day — she is one nasty piece of work of a human being, for those who don’t know her. But she drew the short end of this particular stick.
LOL the guy must have been a real weakling if he needed dope to help him lift a Billiards stick…
There are plenty of chess dopes out there: Slaoni, Laffernati, Roberti, Marcusbob Crazypants, and Goichi.
Dope test in billiard?
This is totally getting out of hand.
The main drive here is not cleaning up sports from unfair competition, but to solidify positions and income for all those who are running this show. Because it is show.
Surely, it was reasonable when they tested bicyclist for amphetamine, so they won’t fall off dead during the race, or other similar extreme situations. Perhaps it was reasonable when they tested long term usage of steroid when the East Germans “built” female amazons for the olympic competition with nicely trimmed moustaches. Then drug testing got out of hand. The number of chemicals rapidly increased, the tolerance decreased and we got to the point where chess players need special permission to take beta blockers, which is used as an ordinary blood pressure pill.
“Ritilin is very popular” wrote one of the anons. It is spelled Ritalin and it is a regular medication for people with ADHD and some other mental disorder (none excludes the ability to play chess). What now? People with ADHD needs to ditch their medication or can’t play chess? This is crazy.
My opinion (and I am a physician) that all those substances should be legal, which can be found in the human body anyway. I dare to challenge anyone to prove it to me, that taking vitamins is fundamentally different from taking (for example) testosterone. Both are produced by the body, both, if taken, simply increases the amount in the body (or substitutes lower production by the body).
Substances used as ordinary medications should be also allowed, by physician’s prescription.
Illegal and artifician substances (not produced by the body) should be banned (already are banned)