Only one week after the opening of the Rio Olympic Games, in addition to the progress of the speechless preparations for the Olympic Games organized by the Brazilian Olympic Organizing Committee, the enthusiasm problem of the Russian delegation is also growing louder. Can sports be more pure? When will the war against doping be the end?
In fact, the war against doping is like a cat-and-mouse game, because in the face of achievements, the so-called Olympic spirit is not worth mentioning to many unscrupulous athletes. Right now, due to the emergence of the so-called "gene stimulants", the upcoming Rio Olympic Games may implement more rigorous testing methods. "Gene stimulants" are genetically modified substances that produce substances that act like stimulants, thereby improving athlete performance. The use of "gene stimulants" is cheating, but it is even harder to be aware of than traditional stimulants. Unless you use cutting-edge testing techniques, it is impossible to determine if an athlete uses "gene stimulants."
"We feel that these new technologies are very likely to be applied. Although this is not easy, it has already emerged," said Carl Sundberg, an exercise physiologist at the Caroline School of Medicine in Sweden. "Therefore, we will improve the testing standards this time."
In the past, athletes used stimulants mainly steroids, which can increase muscle density and reduce fatigue recovery time, these drugs can be purchased from online pharmacies. But "gene stimulants" can be different. They will insert a small piece of DNA into your tissues or muscles. This DNA will then increase the ability of the kidney to secrete EPO hormones. This hormone can increase human endurance (under normal circumstances, Human kidneys secrete EPO at low blood oxygen levels, and then EPO dramatically increases the rate of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.) There are also gene stimulants targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a substance that increases blood oxygenation. However, this kind of technology is not something that the roadside "wild nymphs" can handle. This is the exclusive area of ​​immune experts.
At present, only a few laboratories in the world have the ability to provide gene stimulants, and laboratories that can detect such cheating are rare. Sundberg said that scientists can determine whether or not to use gene stimulants by looking at whether there are viral vectors that mediate gene transfer or other genetically modified markers.
In order to guarantee the fairness of the results of the competition, blood samples and urine samples of all Olympic athletes from the Rio Olympic Games will be sent to Sydney's laboratories for testing this year. However, the test time will be as long as 1-2 months, so the gold medal players have to be scared for some time.
In fact, WADA was willing to spend time on testing because it had suffered a major loss because they tested urine samples stored at the London Olympics and found that 8% were positive, compared with only 1% at the time of the game.
However, compared to the issue of stimulants, I am afraid that the wonderful Brazilian Olympic Organizing Committee is the biggest bug in this Olympic Games. Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Brazil reminded Chinese citizens visiting Brazil to pay attention to strengthening security. According to reports, there have been many cases of theft and gun robbery in Brazil. Chinese athletes, members of the delegation, media workers and tourists have all been affected. Shi Dongpeng, a famous hurdler, took the "ruggle" of the locals and baggage was stolen at the front desk of the hotel.
In addition, according to the Sydney Morning Herald report, a corpse was found recently in the waters near Rio. Danish surfers Aflo Belte Zegel said: “We must keep our mouths closed when the sea rushes on to the sailing boat.†The Australian sailing team was forced to stop because of the endless rubbish during the training of the Olympic waterways. A Brazilian doctor even warned marathon swimmers that they might "hit human excrement."
For this Olympic Games, I just want to say: safety first, friendship second, competition third!