What is an allowable limit?

What is an allowable limit? In Nathan Jendrick's book Dunks, Doubles and Doping: How Steroids Are Killing American Athletics, I remember a chapter where a former athlete and user of illegal performance enhancing drugs talks about how utterly ridiculous the allowable limit ratios are. For testosterone the allowable limit was 6:1 (testosterone to epitestosterone). The normal balance for a healthy young man is 1:1.

What if an athlete with the means to hire a private doctor with the resources to keep a testosterone level steady at, let's say, a ratio of 5:1. This ratio is still within the allowable limit set by FINA or the World Anti Doping Agency. The athlete is adhering to a VERY strict regime of testosterone injections and should their level ever go over the set target of 5:1 then the doctor simply ups the counterbalancing hormone epitestosterone with another injection.

Is this cheating? The athlete is taking more shots than a team of diabetics, of banned substances, but is within the "ridiculous" allowable limit.

Then let's say that athlete takes an extended break from the sport.

The attention of FINA and WADA, through publications and books perhaps, is brought to the absurd imbalance of what is "allowable". The ratio is reduced to 4:1 in 2005. However, there is no press release. There is no big news of the change.

The athlete makes a comeback. A comeback to old practices as well as training and competing. The injections resume and the target of 5:1 reached. He fails a drug test.

The situation is discussed in back rooms. All can agree that a scandal like this could set the entire sport back, and they are correct in assuming so. All can agree that this man is a really nice guy that has done much for the sport of swimming. Options are discussed. Leniency is considered because of the rule change.

A sudden retirement and an effort to sweep the scandal under the rug occur. Then information is leaked.

Now a strategy from his team of lawyers attempts to prove a long history of 5:1 ratio. This should be easy enough to do. But will his ratio be 5:1 in court the day a verdict is made, a naturally occurring imbalance? Or will they only prove that his ratio was 5:1 when he was swimming?

The story is speculation. It is what I believe might have happened with Ian Thorpe. Of course he is innocent until proven guilty, oh wait, he did fail a drug test. If he cheated or not will be discussed, heatedly I am sure. It brings up a very important question about what an allowable limit is.

Now that the ratio is 4:1, which is four times what a normal healthy man produces, is it okay for an athlete to take shots of testosterone and epitestosterone if they keep within the allowable limit? Is it cheating?

Yours truly,
Gary Hall Jr.