LOCAL triathletes who are worried about rumors of doping in the Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 Philippines have launched their social media campaign #NopeToDope.
#NopeToDope is being used by a lot of local triathletes who are are pushing for a drug test before the race level the playing field.
The international triathlon race kicks off this Sunday at Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu.
Although there’s no clear proof of doping during the race, some triathletes have heard rumors and expressed their concern about the matter.
Last year’s third placer in the Filipino elite division, Kristiane Lim of Alaska Trispire along with other Cebuano triathletes were among the first to campaign #NopeToDope in their social media accounts.
“Yes, there’s rumors [sic] coming out that there’s blood doping going on,” Lim said. “The best [thing to do] is we do a drug test before the race. I am all for a level playing field.”
His former teammate, Cianyl Jamae Gonzales of Parklane Tri Team, who will also compete in the female division of the Filipino elite category, also wants the organizers of the race to conduct testing before or after the race, especially in the pro and Filipino elite divisions.
“I think it is very rampant in the male division of the race. I hope someone brings this up to the organizers. My teammates are very concerned about this issue because they trained hard and fair for this race,” Gonzales said.
Boholano contender Emmanuel Comendador of Parklane Tri Team/Paseo de Loon strongly opposes this kind of cheating in the race and he also suggests a testing in his division.
“They use it to make the race easy. I hope there’s a test among the competitors,” said Comendador.
Also last year’s second placer in the Filipino elite division John Philip Dueñas of Ford Forza Tri Team believes that there are some triathletes who are using performance-enhancing drugs in the race.
He said international events this big should include drug testing to make sure everyone raced fairly.
“Even in the Southeast Asian Games, each athlete in athletics underwent examination to make sure they are clean. I just hope that organizers will take action,” said Dueñas.
Race organizer Princess Galura, the project director and general manager of Sunrise Events Inc. (SEI), said it is not easy to catch those triathletes using performance-enhancing drugs.
“As the organizer, we don’t know who and when this will happen. Doping is happening around the world and it’s very difficult to track down the culprits because they’ve planned it very well ahead of the race. We are very aware of this issue,” said Galura.
She said it’s very hard for organizers to trace or prove someone using these drugs.
“We can’t trace it through urine. We have to do a series of blood testing and it’s a very long process,” Galura explained.
She cited as an example how long it took officials of the Tour de France to catch Lance Armstrong, who was accused of doping.
Galura said she hopes those who are using performance-enhancing drugs should think twice about doing so.
“They are competing for bragging rights. But what are you bragging about if you are cheating, right? So it’s up to them,” she said.
On Sunday, 2,618 triathletes coming from 52 countries will be joining the annual triathlon event being held here in Cebu for the fourth straight year.