Jamaicans Receive PED's through Mail

While not answering my last post, how did Jamaica become the sprint capital of the world, apparently, PED's helped fuel some track athletes' performance. While not the big sprinters from the Beijing Games, two members of the Jamaican track team, hurdlers Delloreen London and Adrian Findlay received PED's through the mail. The information discovered only pertains to the receipt and not confirmed actual use of PED's. Yet, when MLB discovered similar information, they took disciplinary action on the player receiving the PED's even though there was no positive test.

According to SI.com, London received two shipments of Somatropin (HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) at a Texas address that traces to her along with a matching birth date. The only conflicting information: gender. The document lists the person's gender as male. In Beijing, London was .01 seconds behind the bronze winner in the 100 meter hurdles (which saw American Lolo Jones trip on the second to last hurdle). London was unavailable for comment, but her husband, Lincoln, "confirmed she ordered the drugs in June 2006 after consulting a physician over the phone about vaginal hemorrhaging she was experiencing. He said the shipment arrived when she was away at competition and that she never opened the package. He added that the 2007 package arrived unsolicited and also was never opened." The prescriptions written for London were obtained through the Anti-Aging Group, a network of clinics that advertise HGH and testosterone treatments on its website. The prescribing physician was Victor Shabanah who advertises himself as a "hormone therapist."

Going to a "hormone therapist" for a vaginal hemorrhaging problem...not too many others would have gone that same route. Speaking of the alleged health issue at hand, are we supposed to assume that the vaginal hemorrhaging just cleared up by itself without using what was recommended by the physician? Why even go with the prescription by mail route? A busy world class athlete couldn't cruise down to her local CVS? A mysterious package arrives unsolicited a year later and one can clearly recall that it was "unopened." How many packages does the average resident receive in a year? Regardless of the number, it's human nature to open the package, even if we don't know what's in it, who sent it, etc. We just go wild receiving and opening packages - it brings out the kid in all of us. To be adamant that one remembers specific packages from more than two years ago and that they remained unopened does not pass the sniff test. Nice try Lincoln and Delloreen.

Moving on to Adrian Findlay, an alternate in the 400m hurdles, in November 2006, he received a shipment of Testosterone Aqueous (Testosterone) and Oxandrolone (an oral steroid) to a North Carolina address that traces to him along with matching birth date. Unlike London, Findlay came out swinging in his denial. He said, "I've been running stable all my life. Trust me, I don't use steroids. I guarantee you it wasn't mine and I didn't order it. I have a theory how this was sent."

According to the article, Findlay's prescription was obtained through the South Beach Rejuvenation clinic by physician Daniel J. Hauser. This clinic ensnared MLB'er Jay Gibbons in December and he was suspended by MLB for violating their drug policy.

I would like to believe Findlay, but in his denial, I have a couple questions. Would I know if an athlete is running "unstable"? If you don't use steroids, why did you allegedly order an oral steroid and testosterone? Please provide payment records so you can validate that you indeed did not pay for the drugs. If you have a theory, by all means, share it now or are you waiting until this controversy dies down?

This issue will probably get worse for the Jamaican track athletes before it gets better.