The true cost of doping on elite sport

“Doping,” Sebastian Kienle said, “destroys everything.” In the 
fallout from US triathlete Collin Chartier being banned for a positive EPO test in April, the 2014 Ironman world champion can be forgiven the hyperbole.

Kienle hands in his pro card at 
the end of the year, and perhaps, 
as 42-year-old, fellow long-distance pro Tim O’Donnell stated – having witnessed his own wife, three-time Kona champ Mirinda Carfrae, retire in March – he’s glad he’s in the twilight of his career, too.

A pariah for admission

Chartier has become a pariah for his partial doping admission, perhaps even more so than had he plead the ‘BS burrito’ defence (as 
he called it in his statement), 
claimed tainted supplements, and 
left a shred of doubt.

There’s an irony in that by saying he took the blood-booster without help, but didn’t start until two months after a career-defining $100k race win, he’s faced more opprobrium than had he said nothing at all.

Still, it’s a narrative that struggles for plausibility. Collin knows this, too.

Suspicious minds

Cheating robs clean rivals of celebrations, profile and prize 
money. Yet it goes further, bringing the entire elite sport into disrepute, casting a cloud over coaches, training partners and those who choose the same training environments. Admiration turns quickly to suspicion, even paranoia.

That’s what doping does. 
It tears away trust. When 
an athlete withdraws from a race for ‘personal reasons’, we doubt. When they cite injury, we doubt.

When organisations pledge increased rigour to weed out cheats, we doubt motives. Do they want 
clean sport or to minimise reputational damage?

As Lionel Sanders, Collin’s training partner, said: ‘You’ve thrown us all under the bus’

The emotional toll shouldn’t 
be discounted. Scoff at that if you 
like but I’ve heard from athletes 
who, minds racing, have had 
sleepless nights.

Germany’s Frederic Funk even 
told the How They Train podcast 
his heart-rate variability in the days after Chartier’s announcement read as if he was overtraining. Funk was recording 
a podcast series with Chartier 
when the news broke.

It’s why there shouldn’t be expectations on athletes to always speak out. This is their life and livelihood. It’s not just Chartier’s talk of depressive episodes leading to poor choices, but the emotions other pros have to process in the aftermath.

No answers

It feels as if there are no answers. Cheating is human nature, the motivations are multiple. Confounding to most, morally conscionable to those who cheat. 
If the scales fall from the eyes, the history of sport was always thus.

So move forward, try to find answers, learn lessons, educate and improve the culture within a sport. While restating that athletes have 
no obligation it was heartening to 
see an outpouring of anger and disappointment.

As Lionel Sanders, a training partner of Chartier, said: “You’ve thrown us all under the bus”. Sanders is a passion-filled orator. We share his sentiments.

But, of course – as the Canadian himself says – we now doubt Sanders’ sincerity, too. Doping really does destroy everything.

Illustration: Daniel Seex