December 18/03 11:35 am - CC Store, Scott Gets Gold, 2004 Rider Update, CCES, OCA Course, Birthdays

Posted by Editor on 12/18/03
 

CC Store Orders

All orders from the CC Store - including those coming from the Hamilton Worlds organization - have been shipped. The Commemorative issue should start arriving in mail boxes today, and the final shipment of Worlds bib tights are also on their way. We apologize for the delay in receiving some of these Worlds items, however, it was due to circumstances beyond our control.

We still have left our Commemorative Worlds socks from DeFeet, plus a very few pairs of armwarmers. There are some extra copies of the Commemorative Issue available; if you want one, you need to place your orders while they last.


Scott Gets Gold

The Court for Arbitration for Sport has recommended that Canadian cross-country skier Beckie Scott be upgraded from the silver medal to gold medal for the 5 Kilometre Pursuit at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Thursday's ruling annuls all of Russian Olga Danilova's results at the Salt Lake Olympics, with the statement saying that it was "ensuring in particular that Beckie Scott is ranked first and awarded the Olympic gold medal in the foregoing competition."

Danilova passed her drug test in the 5 Kilometre Pursuit after finishing first, but failed a later test after another event, for darbepoetin (EPO), as did the silver medallist Larissa Lazutina, also of Russia. At the time, the IOC did not nullify her results for the Pursuit or the 10 Kilometre Classic events. Under new rules laid down by the World Anti-Doping Agency, an athlete who fails a drug test forfeits any and all medals won at that competition.

At a press conference this morning, Scott called it a "great day for clean sports". The medals are expected to be redistributed in March.


Rider Updates

Some top Canadian riders are still sorting out ride plans for 2004. Roland Green will not be back with US Postal for the road (he is still with his mountain bike squad, Trek-VW). He plans to focus entirely on preparations for Athens, and probably will race with the national team for any road projects.

Geoff Kabush, who has been with Kona ever since he turned pro, has confirmed that he will not be returning to the Kona Clarks Factory Team for 2004. According to team manager Mike Geraci "Geoff and Kona couldn't agree to terms for a new contract, so Geoff will not be riding for Kona this year." Geoff says that "My plans for next year are still in the works but I will let you know as soon as I can."

Dominique Perras, as previously announced, will not be returning to the Flanders team, after the departure of co-sponsor iTeamNova.com. He is still looking at some European squads, and will be doing spring projects with the national team.

Lyne Bessette expects to be with a new U.S. team, that is being put together from the ex-Saturn program. "The team for next year should come out soon. Tom (Schuler) is still working on a couple of things."


Supplements and Sport - CCES Calls for Comment
Courtesy CCES

(Ottawa, Ontario ˆ December 17, 2003) - The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) today released a discussion paper which examines the growing issues surrounding the use of unregulated supplement products by athletes. Released unofficially earlier this fall at the Athletes CAN Forum, the goal of the discussion paper is to assist in developing a co-ordinated approach to these issues, which have become a significant focal point in sport. The discussion paper, entitled Supplements and Sport, is available from the CCES' website (www.cces.ca).

In the last couple of months, there has been a flurry of media attention surrounding sport supplements. Allegations about contaminated supplements, inappropriate labelling, poor manufacturing practices as well as health and safety risks are causing concern and confusion among many users of these products. In elite sport, there are past incidents of Canadian athletes testing positive for the use of prohibited substances and claiming that they had taken a mislabelled or contaminated supplement product. Since athletes are under strict liability for any prohibited substance found in their system, they fear inadvertently ingesting prohibited substances through potentially contaminated sport supplement products. A post-Sydney Olympics study by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) discovered that out of a sample of 680 supplement products from around the world, up to 15% were contaminated with substances prohibited under the List of Prohibited Substances.

Paul Melia, Chief Executive Officer of the CCES, reaffirmed CCES' position that, "because of the risks associated with using unregulated products, the CCES has to discourage the use of all sport supplements. With current health and contamination issues, athletes using a supplement product are taking a huge gamble with their sporting careers. However, the CCES recognizes that athletes are using supplements and for this reason we are aiming to be able to give athletes more practical and reliable information regarding the safety and efficacy of supplement products."

Over the past year, the CCES has held discussions with stakeholders, and has reviewed the efforts of other countries wrestling with the same issues. Based on these efforts, the discussion paper offers a number of possible solutions in the areas of harm reduction to the athlete, education initiatives, scientific research, and industry reform. Because the solutions to these issues are much larger than the current CCES mandate, Paul Melia suggests that a collaborative approach between several key players is necessary to effect these changes: "With this discussion paper, we're trying to generate dialogue between regulators, industry, and the sporting community to develop practical solutions that will give athletes peace of mind when deciding whether to use a supplement product."

The CCES is asking all stakeholders from sport, government and industry to provide feedback on the proposed solutions by email to cbuffone@cces.ca by January 16, 2004. Your comments and feedback will assist us to develop a comprehensive action plan designed to deal with the issues surrounding supplements and sport.


2004 Ontario Commissaire Courses Scheduled
Courtesy OCA

The Road Commissaire course will be held January 17-18, 2004 and the MTB Commissaire course will be held January 24-25, 2003. Both courses will be held in room 2A at the Sport Alliance of Ontario Building in Toronto.

Each course has a fee of $75. Registration and payment must be made in advance of the course. There will be a $50 refund to any participate who officiates an event in 2004. Registration forms are available in the COMMISSAIRE FORMS section of the OCA website. Participants must attend both days of the course.

This course must be completed to be:

1 - a Provincial Commissaire
2 - a UCI licensed manager
3 - a certified as a level 3 NCCP coach

For more information, please contact the OCA office.

Jeremey Ludwig
Development Coordinator
Ontario Cycling Association
events@ontariocycling.org
www.ontariocycling.org
office: 416.426.7241
fax: 416-426-7349


Happy Birthday To...

Michael Barry, Brian Walton and Jacob Erker - all today! Belated greeting to Ryder Hesjedal (December 9th) and Roddi Lega (December 12th). Early greetings to Dave Spears (December 21st).

There, I think we are up-to-date...