There’s no doubt that Gary Hall Jr’s presence in the sport of swimming will be missed.

Hall had caused ripples, in and out of the pool, with his outspokenness against his fellow swimmers and US swimming officials. You can say that he’s gone against the tide many times over in his career, and now he thinks he’s had enough of the chlorinated environment and is retiring from the scene at the age of 34.

Hall never minces his words on anything, especially if the subjects are his adopted crusades, i.e., anti-doping in swimming and diabetes awareness, and the 10-time Olympic medalist is equally candid when he talked with Associated Press about what prompted his retirement.

Hall failed to make it to the 2008 Olympics when he finished fourth at the 50-meter freestyle finals at the Olympic trials that took place in Omaha on July – only the two top finishers were qualified to fly to Beijing to represent the US.

Hall thinks that to wait out the next Olympics would entail sacrificing his family.

“I’m just not ready to commit myself to another four years,” Hall said in a telephone interview. “It was difficult to be away from my wife and kids this past year to commit myself to training. It’s different when you have kids. To be honest, I was getting more enjoyment out of my kids than I was out of swimming.”

As for his performance at the Olympic trials, Hall openly acknowledged he had a hard time at his last Olympic trials.

“I could probably drag some sponsors along by telling them I was going for another four years,” he said. “But look, it’s not getting any easier. This past round was tough. I took a beating.

“I’m really not disappointed as all with the result. I swam the second-fastest time of my career (21.91 seconds). I hadn’t swam that fast since 2000, which is a long time ago. My time at the trials was good enough to win at any previous Olympic Games. I’m certainly not disappointed. It’s something to be proud of.”

Aside from his family, Hall would like to dedicate his time to his foundation whose advocacy is to promote awareness and provide funding on diabetes.

“I think my assets are better appreciated and more needed in diabetes than they are in the pool,” he said.

He announced his retirement on Friday, in time with the World Diabetes Day. It was in 1999 that Hall was diagnosed with type I diabetes.

He’s also presently testing the waters of the entrepreneurial world, creating a company that would cater to the needs of both his causes. His company develops vitamin supplements, particularly designed for individuals with diabetes as well clean and elite-level athletes so they can be at par with those who use steroids and other performance boosters.

“I’m trying to offer resources to athletes where they can go to have supplements discussed and available … with no concern about cross-contamination or anything like that,” he said. “When you look at my sport, and all sports really, you come to the realization that doping does exist.”

During his meeting with the press at the Olympic trials last July, Hall voiced out that it was not the revolutionary swimsuit which helped swimmers smashed records but the  overflowing supply of steroids.

“Clearly we know now it wasn’t the suit that was causing all these world records to be broken, it was copious amounts of steroids,” Hall told reporters. “Can the suit technology distract from another issue? I think it’s pretty convenient for those that are indulging the other issue.”

Tags: anabolic steroids, diabetes, doping in swimming, Gary Hall Jr., olympics, retirement of Gary Hall Jr, steroids

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The province of Ontario recently mourned the death of one of its most respected residents – former Ontario Chief Justice Charles Dubin. He died at the age of 87 on October 27 of complications from pneumonia.

Dubin gained international recognition when he headed the investigation on Ben Johnson’s doping case during the Seoul Olympics in 1988, which the Canadian Press described as “a groundbreaking inquiry into drug use in amateur sport.”

Among those who attended the burial service at the Holy Blossom Temple were Ben Johnson and his coach Charlie Francis. Both praised the former justice for his fairness.
“He gave me a fair shake,” Johnson said after the service.

“I don’t have no hard feelings towards him. He’s a great man in his environment, the law, and I respect that.”

“He did his best to bring everything out and give a chance to say how things were,” Francis said. “He was a great man.”

Dubin served on two Royal Commissions, one of which was the Royal Commission to Inquire into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance in 1988. It was under this commission that Johnson confessed to have used the anabolic steroid stanozolol (Winstrol).

On September 24, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, Johnson beat his greatest rival American Carl Lewis in the 100m final. Canadians were ecstatic, but then three days their pride turned to embarrassment when Johnson tested positive for doping. He was later stripped of his gold medal and world record.

The disgraced sprinter initially denied wrongdoing; however, when he testified before the Dubin Inquiry in 1989, Johnson admitted illicit activity. Francis told the investigative body that Johnson had been taking steroids since 1981.

Tags: anabolic steroids, Ben Johnson, Charles Dubin, Dubin Inquiry, olympics, stanozolol, steroid, steroids, winstrol

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Fani Halkia was formally charged with steroid use and she could stay behind bars for up to two years if convicted.

George Panagiotopoulus, Halkia’s coach, was likewise charged with administering prohibited substances with a penalty up to three years imprisonment and around $26,000 in fine.

No trial date has been set for both cases. Under the Greek law, doping offenses are considered as misdemeanor.

The Greek sports authorities have been embarrassed by the doping activity of their athletes, calling the series of positive tests among the Greeks as “organized effort”. Fifteen athletes, including Halkia, tested positive for the anabolic steroid methyltrienolone, popularly known as M3.

Halkia was disqualified from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when it was announced on August 18 that she tested positive for said steroid. She won the gold medal in the women’s 400m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Other athletes who tested positive for M3 were sprinters Tassos Gousis and Dimitris Regas. In March this year, 11 members of the Greek weightlifting team tested positive for the same prohibited compound.

M3, also known as R1881 and Metribolone, is a potent but non-aromatizable steroid. It is a 17-methylated derivative of trenbolone, and thus it is sometimes called as “oral tren”.

Tags: anabolic steroids, Fani Halkia, George Panagiotopoulos, Greek athletes, M3, methyltrinolone, olympics, oral tren, steroid, steroids

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We can almost hear Victor Conte saying “I told you so.”

The former BALCO boss has warned anti-doping officials about the possibility of athletes from Jamaica and other Caribbean nations using performance-enhancing drugs. Conte said that these countries lack independent anti-doping bodies and the lack thereof provides athletes a wide berth to juice up.

Reports say that two members of the 2008 Jamaican Olympic track team obtained steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs from an online PEDs distribution ring. Sports Illustrated has the details of this story.

Two members of the 2008 Jamaican Olympic track team received shipments of performance-enhancing drugs through an Internet distribution network, according to documents obtained by SI.

The documents state that between June 2006 and February 2007, two shipments of Somatropin (Human Growth Hormone, HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) were sent to Delloreen London, at a Texas address that traces to the athlete Delloreen Ennis-London; the birth date on the document matches the athlete’s as well, though the document lists the person’s gender as male. Ennis-London, 33, is a Jamaican hurdler who won the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2005 World Championships. In Beijing, she finished fifth in the event, but came within .01 of taking bronze. Though the information only pertains to receipt and not actual use of performance-enhancers, both drugs are banned for Olympic athletes.

The documents also indicate that in November 2006, a shipment of Testosterone, Testosterone Aqueous, and Oxandrolone (an oral steroid) were sent to Adrian Findlay, an alternate on the Jamaican Olympic team in the 400-meter hurdles. The drugs were sent to a North Carolina address that traces to Findlay; the birth date on the document matches the athlete’s as well. Findlay, 25, was also a member of the Jamaican team that placed second in the 4×400 meter relays at the 2008 World Indoor Championships. Findlay attended St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, N.C.

According to SI, multiple attempts to reach Ennis-London for comments failed. Her husband said his wife was competing in Switzerland and cannot be reached. He, however, confirmed that his wife had indeed ordered the drugs in June 2006. He said his wife purchased the drugs to treat vaginal hemorrhaging. He said she ordered them after consulting with a doctor over the phone about her condition. He also said that his wife was not at home when the shipment arrived to open the package. He further explained that the 2007 package “arrived unsolicited and was never opened”.

Reports say that Ennis-London won the race in Switzerland, edging out Beijing Olympics gold medalist Dawn Harper of the United States. Shall we say congratulations?

Meanwhile, Findlay vehemently denied the allegations.

“I’ve been running stable all my life,” he said. “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,” Findlay said when he was contacted in North Carolina.

Findlay’s alleged source for the banned compounds was South Beach Rejuvenation clinic located in Florida. The same clinic which provided PEDs to slugger Jay Gibbons and who received suspension late last year for doping infringement.

We can’t really tell if it’s pure coincidence, but we learned that two of the most “notable alumini” of St. Augustine’s College down at Raleigh were Antonio Pettigrew and former track coach Trevor Graham. Now, we all know what happened to these two guys and we would like to know what will happen to Findlay and Ennis-London. We’ll keep track of this event.