Drugs banned by the World Doping Agency found in one in 10 supplements

By Simon Hart

Hidden danger: athletes should be careful when taking supplements Photo: Getty Images

The independent research shows that out of 152 products tested, 10.5 per cent contained enough illegal substances to trigger a positive drug test.

The findings will be a wake-up call to British athletes who would face a two-year suspension if they tested positive for a banned substance, even if they believed the product was legal.

The research will revive memories of the 1990s when numerous British athletes tested positive for nandrolone, including Dougie Walker, Mark Richardson and Linford Christie, who has always blamed the failed test on a contaminated supplement. Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules ignorance is no defence.

Liz Yelling, who will compete in the marathon in Beijing, said: "These findings are worrying because athletes have a right to know that any supplements they use are totally clean."

The study, funded by Lucozade Sport, was carried out at the Newmarket laboratory of HFL, a leading drug-screening company. Andy Parkinson, acting director of UK Sport's anti-doping agency, said: "What this shows is that there are no guarantees when taking supplements and athletes have to be very mindful and cautious and manage all the risks that they can when deciding to use a particular supplement."

Meanwhile International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says he expects up to 40 athletes to be caught doping in Beijing, compared to 26 at the 2004 Athens Games. He has based his forecast on the increased number and improved quality of urine analyses.

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Carlos Sastre Wins Tour de France

PARIS -- Spain's Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France on Sunday, with cycling's showpiece event again unable to escape the shadow of doping. Minutes after the victory, it was announced a rider from Kazakhstan used a banned stimulant.

Dmitriy Fofonov tested positive for a "very heavy dose" of heptaminol after Thursday's 18th stage, said Pierre Bordry, the head of France's anti-doping agency. Mr. Fofonov was immediately fired by his Credit Agricole team.

A French police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, told The Associated Press that Mr. Fofonov was arrested at his team's hotel and held for questioning.

"These guys are crazy, and the sooner they start learning, the better," International Cycling Union chief Pat McQuaid said by phone. "You can never rule out at the Tour de France -- the biggest event of the year -- that these guys are going to take risks."

The doping bust was the fourth at this Tour, after three other riders tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO. News of Mr. Fofonov's failed test came while some teams were riding farewell laps on the Champs-Elysees.

"I am deeply crushed. I've been riding with him for four years," said Jimmy Engoulvent, a French teammate of Fofonov's. "We are professionals. Whether it's a stimulant or EPO, it's the same thing."

Mr. Bordry said the Kazakh rider was asked whether he had a medical exemption for heptaminol, and Mr. Fofonov did not provide one. The stimulant is used as a vasodilator that helps relieve bronchial spasms.

"Fofonov said he bought the product on the Internet," said Roger Legeay, sporting director of Credit Agricole. "He says that it was for cramps, but that he forgot to tell the team doctor."

Mr. Legeay confirmed Mr. Fofonov's dismissal and called his conduct a "grave error."

Mr. Fofonov, known mainly as a strong climber, finished in 19th place in the Tour, 28 minutes, 31 seconds after Sastre.

The three earlier riders who were busted were caught for using EPO in the first two weeks of the race: Italy's Riccardo Ricco and Spaniards Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.

This is the third straight year a Spaniard captured the Tour. Alberto Contador won last year, and Oscar Pereiro inherited the 2006 title lost by American Floyd Landis in a doping scandal.

Mr. Sastre held his narrow lead over Cadel Evans of Australia, finishing seven seconds behind his main rival for a 58-second victory. Bernhard Kohl of Austria finished 1:13 back in third, the second-tightest podium finish in the 105-year-old race.

"It's very moving," Mr. Sastre said, hugging his two children.

The 33-year-old Mr. Sastre is among the oldest to have won the Tour for a first time. This was his sixth top-10 finish in the race, and he is the seventh Spaniard to win.

As the main pack headed toward Paris, Mr. Sastre cruised alongside a CSC car and drank from a champagne flute handed to him by team owner Bjarne Riis.

Mr. Sastre crossed arms and butted helmets affectionately with CSC teammate Stuart O'Grady as they crossed the line. He was then surrounded by his family after getting off his bike.

The 21st and final stage was won by Gert Steegmans of Belgium. He prevailed in a final sprint from the pack at the end of the 89-mile course from Etampes to the French capital.

The ride was largely ceremonial for Mr. Sastre, who all but assured himself victory a day earlier in the final time trial by holding off Evans. He claimed the yellow jersey by winning the toughest Alpine ride this year -- Stage 17 into the famed Alpe d'Huez -- and held it to the finish.

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

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Man breaks underwater cycling record

By Daily Telegraph reporter

Vittorio Innocente breaking the world record for underwater cycling Photo: BARCROFT

Lowered into the sea by a team of local scuba divers, Mr Innocente mounted the bike at a depth of 92ft (28m) and rode along a 360ft (110m) long underwater slope, dodging mud pools and rocky outcrops.

Continuing his descent, Mr Innocente, 62, smashed his own previous world record of 197ft (60m) which he set three years ago.

The Milan-born Italian set the new record in the waters of Portofino's maritime marine reserve, at midday on Monday.

He took nine minutes of deep sea pedalling to reach the 213ft (65m) mark.

"It was tough because I ran into more mud than I expected," he says.

"I had to click up a gear to make pedalling easier".

The world record was verified by the judge of the World Guinness Records, Lucia Sinigagliesi, who had come from London specifically to witness the record attempt.

Mr Innocente, who undertakes these record attempts for charity, says he is on a mission to prove that mountain bikes can be ridden anywhere.

Having travelled to the wilds of Alaska and the plains of Kenya proving his point, Mr Vittorio decided seven years ago to combine his cycling with his other great passion, scuba diving.

Mr Innocente says that he first had the idea for underwater bike riding whilst leading a group of German tourists scuba diving off the island of Elba, 25 years ago.

He says that when one member of the group simply found an old bicycle on the seabed, he picked it up and began to ride it.

Following this world record, it is clear that Mr Innocente dominates the world of underwater cycling.

In 2001 he also set the speed record for underwater cycling when he pedalled 1,200m in a swimming pool at an average speed of 87 cm/second.

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Slow internet major problem at Olympics

By Charisse Ede in Beijing

INTERNET connection is proving to be a major problem at the Beijing Games, despite Olympic organisers promising uncensored access.

Slow connection speed and apparent restricted access to news websites have riled many of the media outlets already in Beijing 12 days out from the opening ceremony.

The Chinese ruling party is widely known to monitor and limit all internet access within China.

However, two years ago BOCOG media services head Li Jingbo promised in the official China Daily newspaper that there would be uncensored access during the Games, which begin on August 8.

Today, some media in the Main Press Centre (MPC) struggled to view various international news websites, including the BBC's Chinese service and appledaily.com.

Japanese reporters said click-through connections would not work.

Connections drop out frequently and several organisations, including the Australian Olympic Committee, say the speed is up to 10 times slower than in Australia.

One picture takes at least two minutes to send.

There are concerns that once the 22,000 media expected at the Games arrive, connections will become even slower.

The director of BOCOG media, Sun Weijia, today denied access was slow and said reports from other journalists had only been positive.

He said he was confident the service could accommodate the thousands of media expected to flood the MPC during the Games.

"I don't think there's any problems if you want to connect to any media website," he said.

"The information we have received is there is no problem.

"I think in MPC, in this building, all the facilities are being established under our calculation and estimation of the number of media and according to our expectations, it can satisfy needs of many media working together in this building."

In contrast, several international news agencies located in a different area of the MPC have been surprised at the speed of their connections and say they have no problems sending photographs.

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Lakai Shoes Fully Flared Video Review

This is the Lakai Shoes Fully Flared Video Review. Lakai’s latest full-length DVD with footage of the whole Lakai Team. Features the likes of Eric Koston, Brandon Biebel, Cairo Foster, Guy Mariano, Marc Johnson, Mike Carroll, Rick Howard, Scott Johnston, Jeff Lenoce, Rob Welsh, Danny Garcia, Anthony Pappalardo and others.
’m gonna go out on a limb here. I don’t feel there are enough trees left to rehash why this video won. That horse has been taken out to pasture, beaten into oblivion, shot, incinerated, sailed down the Ganges, and sold to Pakistan for a small piece of cashmere.
So I’ll just get this out of the way up front to spare us all the culture-Guy, MJ, Ty, Eric Koston, Guy, Carroll, Judas Priest, Spike Jonze, Puig, Jesus, Guy, Pops, Mo, JB, explosions, Guy, combos, Brady, innovation, Guy, Olson, the new Questionable, Biebel, Cairo, Jensen, Guy, Bird, Band Of Horses, Lenoce, JJ, Welsh, S.O.T.Y., Guy, King Diamond, SJ, Feds, Milan, three-song part, Guy, Mercado, Lazarus, MJ, Guy, Guy, Guy, MJ, and onward. If you’re lost, go grab a fixie and roll up a pant leg. If not, bear with me I may actually succeed in writing something about the Lakai video you may not have already read.
My favorite part in Fully Flared goes to Rick Howard. And after you get done re-reading that sentence, I’ll tell you why. First off, he’s been my dude since Adventures In Cheese (’90) when he unveiled the Rick flip and convinced me that short-sleeve button-ups were my ticket to fakie mannys (they weren’t). He was my dude through Questionable (’92) and Virtual (’93) even over Carroll, Way, Duffy, and most shockingly Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. He was most definitely my dude in Goldfish (’93) the second he tre flipped off that curb cut to Otis Redding. His Lockwood line in Paco (’95) made me want to get those twisty little hair deals. He held it down for an injured MC in their joint parts in Mouse (’96) and Penal Code 700A (’96), even becoming one of the first humans on Earth to roll grind a tree and shred-a-late a forest (sorry, Element). His front nose down the church rail in Modus (’00) stands as one of Ty’s all-time favorite tricks he’s filmed. I’ll even give him Yeah Right! (’03), which he shared with a bunch of dudes’ “retirement parts,” although Gino clearly eclipsed his frontside 180 fakie five-0 frontside half-Cab kickflip to board splinteration. I’m stupid, see. I’m that big a fan.
With that off my chest, allow me to return to my initial argument. The full part he put out for FF, along with about two-thirds of the aforementioned ones from years passed, were filmed while dude was knee-deep running a company scratch that, companies. He is also the dude, along with Johannes Gamble, who, regardless of what you may have read in the credits after said videos, has pretty much conceptualized every Girl Films production since the dawn of SHT Sound.
In ‘07, seventeen years after having made his bones with Blockhead, by all earthly accounts, Rick could easily have sat this one out and just thrown a few tricks in for parity. But he didn’t. Switch crooks flip in at 7th Street-solid. Fullpipe gap action-funtastic. Bluntslide the Girona three-stair to pop out over the gap straight-hell yeah. Switch nose manny fakie flip switch manny the Inglewood up banks-f-k. The dork poses-still got ‘em. Hurricane to fakie at the Pink Motel Guy says yes. Nine-stair-wallride-yep. Fakie five-0 fakie manny to fakie flip the Sants three stair-Goddamn. Skating to Echo & The Bunnymen-priceless. The ditch gap ollie with the oversized hands-the clincher. Did you want to read about HD technology? Blame Canada.

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