# Katie Compton accepts four year ban after testing positive for anabolic agent



## ogre (Dec 16, 2005)

She denies ever knowingly taking anything, but the USADA report contradicts that.

U.S. Cycling Athlete Katherine Compton Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation | U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

A four year ban for a forty-two year old is the end, and she announces she's leaving the sport other than riding with friends.

Katie Compton on USADA ban: 'I have always been a clean athlete' | VeloNews.com


----------



## Grog McCog (Jan 19, 2020)

The Trek tradition continues...


----------



## Grog McCog (Jan 19, 2020)

Thinking more about this ...

Birth control pills typically contain synthetic estrogen and progestin. Cholesterol is also a precursor for hormone biosynthesis.

How are they able to rule out false-positives based on carbon isotope ratios? That seems a bit dicey, and destroying someone's career if indeed it is a false positive is a particularly devastating consequence.


----------



## Finx (Oct 19, 2017)

She is 44 years old and never had issues with testing prior to this. She was always a strong advocate for clean cycling/racing. She said the positive test was five months after the sample was taken, and she had no hope of identifying the source of the synthetic hormones after that much time. 

After reading her statement, I take her for her word that this was not an intentional thing. She was about to retire anyway. Just pretty sad that this happened to her...


----------



## Mackers (Dec 29, 2009)

But but but, she said this could never happen to her because she wouldn't take supplements that would be tainted, did she not, in jan 2020?


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

It’s kind of weird... The timing is kind of bizarre. Her bio passport had an “irregularity” so the once negative sample was re-tested using a more sophisticated testing method. 

That said, it’s there or it isn’t. Assuming no malfeasance in the testing, which would be weird, she’s super well regarded, so it is positive. She doesn’t deny the results, she disputes how it came to be positive. 

Someone spiked her drink with steroids? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Mackers (Dec 29, 2009)

So her testosterone levels were within the limits but differed enough from what they normally were to arouse official suspicion but did not differ enough to arouse KFnC's own suspicion?

Top notch science from "someone"


----------



## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

Katie was one of my favorite racers to watch during the height of her career, but I am sorry- the whole "I have no idea how that got in there" defense is getting old, especially when it comes from professional athletes that are reminded every year that they are 100% responsible for what is put in their bodies (remember the Contador "it must have been the beef" defense???). There's just too many stories like this these days and when you look at the fact that she was basically unbeatable on U.S. soil for like a decade and now her test pops positive, how can you believe there's no connection between the two? I am finding it hard to do so and it sounds like Trek is struggling with it too.









Trek ‘disappointed’ after learning of Katie Compton’s positive test


‘We trust the process was fair and respect USADA's decision’ says long-time sponsor




www.cyclingnews.com


----------



## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

As the kids say "Sus"


----------



## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

Grog McCog said:


> Thinking more about this ...
> 
> Birth control pills typically contain synthetic estrogen and progestin. Cholesterol is also a precursor for hormone biosynthesis.
> 
> How are they able to rule out false-positives based on carbon isotope ratios? That seems a bit dicey, and destroying someone's career if indeed it is a false positive is a particularly devastating consequence.


It's nothing dicey at all.

from USADA:


> Her urine sample was analyzed using a specialized test, known as Carbon Isotope Ratio testing, that differentiates between anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) naturally produced by the body and prohibited anabolic agents of external origin


Androgens and estrogens are different chemicals. The test is testing for anabolic androgens.
The test uses carbon istope ratio of naturally occuring testosterone versus synthethic testosterone. Too complicated to discuss here, but here are some scholarly articles about this test:








Issues in detecting abuse of xenobiotic anabolic steroids and testosterone by analysis of athletes’ urine


Abstract. Over the last decade the number of laboratories accredited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has grown to 25. Nearly half of the ∼90 000 sa




academic.oup.com












Stable carbon isotope ratio profiling of illicit testosterone preparations – domestic and international seizures


Stable carbon isotope ratio profiling of illicit testosterone preparations from Australia and abroad has been undertaken to provide up-to-date intelligence for anti-doping laboratories around the wor...




analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com


----------



## Grog McCog (Jan 19, 2020)

Thanks for the links. I'm interested in this, as a chemist, but this is far from my own area of expertise.

I do understand the use of carbon isotope ratios, and that this rules out an endogenous source. What I am wondering is if there is an innocent way one can ingest an anabolic steroid hormone or its biosynthetic precursor.


----------



## Grog McCog (Jan 19, 2020)

Two things that caught my attention upon first reading this:

1. This:


> Another aspect of xenobiotic steroid testing that merits review is the question of the origin of the steroid and metabolites. One report [9] describes the finding of small amounts of boldenone and two metabolites in the urine of a normal man who had not received boldenone. This case argues for caution in interpretation of positive tests for low quantities of boldenone, for additional studies of this issue, and for devising ways to discriminate between endogenous and exogenous sources of boldenone. It is illegal in most countries to treat or feed cattle with anabolic steroids, and European countries in particular vigorously monitor meat for contamination with anabolic steroids; nevertheless, evidence of contamination exists [10]. Debruyckere et al. [11], investigating the possibility that contaminated meat could result in steroids or their metabolites in human urine, found that some meat ob- tained from butcher shops contained clostebol acetate and that its ingestion led to excretion of a clostebol metabolite (4-chloro-delta-4-androstene-3-alpha-ol-17-one [9]) in urine.


2. The control experiments appear to be all men. This might mask a significant difference.

I'm not an analytical chemist, or a pharmacologist, but I wonder why a simple urine ELISA test isn't used. It shouldn't be any more difficult than a home pregnancy test kit, and would be a lot less indirect.


----------



## Grog McCog (Jan 19, 2020)

Just read the second paper (needed academic access). This paper is essentially a control for false negatives, not false positives, so I am afraid it doesn't address my question.


----------



## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

More details. I have been following pro cycling long enough to know this result is not shocking though. 









Why Katie Compton's doping case is so shocking


'US rider has either been lying about being against doping or is another victim of contamination'




www.cyclingnews.com


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Rashadabd said:


> More details. I have been following pro cycling long enough to know this result is not shocking though.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Must have been the burrito. As opposed to, I’m getting older and I just can’t generate the power and endurance I have been able to in the past. Dirty is guilty, clean is innocent.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

PBL450 said:


> Must have been the burrito. As opposed to, I’m getting older and I just can’t generate the power and endurance I have been able to in the past. Dirty is guilty, clean is innocent.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I am with you on that. I clearly don't know what really happened here, but I do think it's funny how this kind of thing rarely/never seems to happen to the guys/ladies consistently finishing in last place. I wonder why it's always the winners/dominant racers?  If it's such a complex and unreliable science, wouldn't this be happening all over the place? Losers eat steak and burritos too ya know.


----------



## NoCanSurf (May 1, 2021)

Rashadabd said:


> I am with you on that. I clearly don't know what really happened here, but I do think it's funny how this kind of thing rarely/never seems to happen to the guys/ladies consistently finishing in last place. I wonder why it's always the winners/dominant racers?  If it's such a complex and unreliable science, wouldn't this be happening all over the place? Losers eat steak and burritos too ya know.


 How often are last place finishers tested?

I’ve finished in last place often, and even once as high as second to last and never got tested. Joke aside, is everyone test each race or just the top riders.


----------



## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

NoCanSurf said:


> How often are last place finishers tested?
> 
> I’ve finished in last place often, and even once as high as second to last and never got tested. Joke aside, is everyone test each race or just the top riders.


It's very different in pro cycling. They have bio passports. 









Anti-doping


Anti-doping



www.uci.org













Biological Passport: Have dopers found ways to beat it?


Procycling investigates the cracks that have appeared in the tool credited with cleaning up cycling




www.cyclingnews.com













What the Heck is the Biological Passport, Anyway?


To anti-doping authorities, it's the best way to ferret out cheaters in a wide range of sports. To cyclists and other athletes, it's a way to prove you're clean when critics claim you aren't.




www.outsideonline.com


----------



## Grog McCog (Jan 19, 2020)

Rashadabd said:


> More details. I have been following pro cycling long enough to know this result is not shocking though.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't really follow it at all (and only posted to this at first to make a snarky comment, then I got to thinking about it).



> The case is lose-lose for Compton's fans and fellow athletes alike; she has either been lying about being against doping or she's another victim of contamination in supplements or the industrial-farming food chain. Either way, there is no getting around the anti-doping system.


As I mentioned, there could be other sources. There is also the possibility that some disgruntled competitor spiked her food or water at some event. I have no clue, and I am being really naive, but her reaction doesn't really sound like that of someone who just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

BTW, why does the 13C/12C ratio differ for synthetic hormones vs. endogenous? (I know there is an isotope effect measurable in some enzymes, but this is a very large difference).


----------



## akod (Feb 18, 2007)

Grog McCog said:


> The Trek tradition continues...


Commentary is awesome if you ask me. Good stuff. Thanks for that.


----------



## mike1111 (Jul 8, 2007)

ogre said:


> She denies ever knowingly taking anything, but the USADA report contradicts that.
> 
> U.S. Cycling Athlete Katherine Compton Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation | U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
> 
> ...


Armstrong denied until he didn't. I don't know if she doped or not . but most likely she got sloppy and got caught. its funny that she said it was from meat she ate. is that like alberto Contador's high performance stakes. Its hard to believe and athlete at this level would be that careless about what they eat. very hard to believe


----------



## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

Grog McCog said:


> I don't really follow it at all (and only posted to this at first to make a snarky comment, then I got to thinking about it).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not biochemistry nor endocrinology expert. But I'm sure there are reason why test protocols exist like they do. Test protocols simply don't come into being without scrunity from the experts.

As for Compton, she definitely got reaching in the cookie jar. Why do I say this?
Well on August 11, she said:



> _Unfortunately, seeing that it was five months between the sample collection and the notification, trying to figure what allegedly got into my body proved to be impossible, and I have decided to stop fighting an expensive and difficult battle and accept the sanction._











Katie Compton on USADA ban: 'I have always been a clean athlete'


Katie Compton has said she never intentionally or knowingly took a banned substance after USADA issued her a four-year ban.




www.velonews.com




Her position here is it was impossible for her to prove anything after that long period of time.

But then on Aug 17, she said:


> Compton told _Cyclingnews_ she suspected some beef she'd had for dinner the night before the doping control was to blame.











Why Katie Compton's doping case is so shocking


'US rider has either been lying about being against doping or is another victim of contamination'




www.cyclingnews.com




So now she seem to suddenly recall it could have been the beef she had eaten the night before.

Let me ask this, if she thought it was impossible to recall anything, which is a reasonable position to take, then how did she suddenly seem to recall it beef she ate, 7 days later? No. The reality is she got caught and is trying to move the alibi goal post to save her reputation.

And in a part of her official released statement:



> _I’ve processed all the emotions over the past year and realized that I don’t need bike racing in my life anymore. I still love riding my bike and enjoying that with friends, but I have no desire to ever race or be competitive again, which is probably good since the sanction includes a four-year ban from competition._


It just sounds like a cheater entering the final twilight of his/her career and decided to cheat and if they got caught then they will play the "I-don't-know" game. Isn't it odd that a person who has dedicated her life to competitive cycling suddenly seems to detest it after getting caught? Her words and attitude don't seem reflect that of totally honest person.


----------

