Drugs in Sports

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called the Mitchell Report a “call to action” today, and said he'd execute every recommendation the former senator made in his bombshell appraisal of steroid use. As to punishment for current players named in the report, Selig said Mitchell was right to defer to him—and his decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis, MLB.com reports. More »

George Mitchell’s long-awaited report on steroids in baseball dropped today, and it blamed both players and management for what it said could be the sport's biggest challenge since the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Every club had a player involved; Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada were among inclusions. The ex-senator's report found some players had warning from higher-ups about tests. More »

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are among the 50 or so baseball players named in George Mitchell's much-anticipated report on steroids in Major League Baseball, ESPN reports. A Yankees strength trainer told investigators, whose report is due today, that the two pitchers were among players he supplied with steroids, a source tells ESPN . "Several" prominent Yankees will be named, reports the Bergen Record, citing a baseball official. More »

George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball will list more than 50 names, the New York Times reports. An insider who has read the closely guarded report revealed that it will also take swings at the commissioner's office and the players' association for putting up with drugs in the game for years. More »

George Mitchell is poised to release his long-awaited report on steroid use in baseball—but many of those interviewed by his investigators have serious doubts it will solve anything, reports ESPN's Howard Bryant. Players, trainers and managers say the 20-month investigation has been hamstrung by tension between owners and the players' union, Mitchell's lack of understanding of baseball culture, and his professional ties to MLB. More »

Marion Jones had already returned the five medals—three gold, two bronze—she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics; today, the International Olympic Committee made that disgrace official, formally stripping the admitted drug cheat of the hardware. "She is disqualified and scrapped from the results,” said the IOC president, who banned Jones from attending 2008's Beijing Olympics in any capacity. More »

Major League Baseball is finally in possession of the much-anticipated steroid report produced by George Mitchell, 21 months after the former senator was commissioned to investigate the use of performing-enhancing drugs in the pro game. Baseball officials are expected to review the document for 48 hours before it is released on Thursday, reports the New York Daily News . More »

Chinese herbal medicines bear no resemblance to banned substances, say Beijing Olympics officials, but just in case, athletes won’t use them. "We know there is no relationship with doping and Chinese traditional medicine,” says one doctor, but because the remedies have not been used in previous Games, they will not be used in Beijing. More »

Ex-first baseman David Segui preempted the Mitchell Report yesterday by announcing that he had dabbled in steroids during his playing days, reports the Baltimore Sun . Segui, whose 15-year MLB career began and ended with the Baltimore Orioles, refused to rat out the other users he knew of through contacts with his supplier, former Mets employee Kirk Radomski. More »

Barry Bonds is set to appear in federal court today to face charges of perjury for allegedly lying under oath about knowingly taking steroids. Because the brief hearing at the Federal Building in San Francisco will be Bonds' first public appearance following his indictment, it's expected to draw hundreds of journalists. To minimize disruption, two judges will be brought to Bonds, rather than having the slugger appear in two different courtrooms. More »

An English lab, commissioned by an American consumer advocacy group, found small amounts of steroids in 13 of 52 athletic supplements. The study tested supplements that are legal, widely available, and commonly taken by high school athletes and workout junkies. Six of 52 also had the illegal steroid precursor androstenedione, made infamous by Mark McGwire. More »

Baltimore's Jay Gibbons and Kansas City's recently signed José Guillén were publicly given 15-day suspensions for having acquired HGH and steroids; Commissioner Bud Selig passed the sentences despite any positive drug tests from either player. Instead, documentary evidence indicates they received shipments after baseball's drug rules went into effect, in Guillén's case over $19,000 worth. More »

HBO is planning a movie about the recently indicted Barry Bonds, to be written and directed by Ron Shelton—the man responsible for Bull Durham, Tin Cup, and White Man Can't Jump. HBO has acquired the rights to the nonfiction book Game of Shadows , which detailed the unfolding scandal over Bonds and performance-enhancing drugs. More »

Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones will have her results in races dating back to September 2000 wiped from the record books, reports the AP, under orders from track and field's world governing body. She's also been ordered to give back $700,000 in prize money. The IAAF council decided to retroactively disqualify Jones from all competitions in the last seven years. More »

Barry Bonds undoubtedly lied through his teeth when he denied all things steroid in front of a grand jury, writes New York Sun columnist Tim Marchman, but the charges against him are nevertheless "absurd." The case hinges on proving that Bonds knowingly took the drugs and talked about it with trainer Greg Anderson. With both denying the charges, argues Marchman, that will be next to impossible to prove. More »

The Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center has filed suit to seal the results of a sweeping probe into its operations, an investigation in which 10 individuals have already pleaded guilty to abetting illegal prescription drug distribution. Leaks from the case have implicated several baseball players as customers,  including Indians pitcher Paul Byrd and Mariners outfielder Jose Guillen. More »

If there’s nothing actually illegal in your steroid injection, is it still cheating? Placebos, long one of medicine’s top tools, can act as performance enhancing drugs, a new study has proven. The study pitted athletic young men against each other in a pain-endurance contest. Those given a morphine placebo won handily. Of course, the athletes have to believe they’re actually cheating. More »

Tennis star Martina Hingis today admitted that she tested positive for cocaine in a pre-Wimbledon drug test, and announced her retirement, citing age and health problems. The five-time Grand Slam champ denies taking drugs, the AP reports. "I find this accusation so horrendous that I've decided to confront it head on," Hingis says. More »

Mike Cameron, Gold Glove-winning center fielder for the Padres, was suspended today for 25 games starting next season, the AP reports. Cameron tested positive twice for a stimulant banned by MLB, although he denies actual abuse, chalking the test results up to a tainted nutritional supplement. Cameron plans to file for free agency from the Padres. More »

Scientists are currently testing two new classes of drugs designed to combat muscle-wasting diseases, but one organization isn't too excited: the World Anti-Doping Agency. Even though the treatments aren't yet commercially available, the Swiss-based organization that combats cheating in sports has banned them and is developing new detection methods, reports the MIT Technology Review . More »