Bridge player suspended for..... for doping?

Mr Person said:

There are sports in which one has come to expect a certain amount of doping. Cycling, for instance: so much doping. Weightlifting. Any Winter Olympic sport that involved Russians who competed at the 2014 Sochi Games. Just pick one. If you believe the International Olympic Committee, they doped like there would be no doping tomorrow.
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As announced Thursday by the World Bridge Federation, Geir Helgemo has been suspended for one year after he tested positive for synthetic testosterone and Clomiphene, a fertility drug that accelerates testosterone production in men, after last September’s World Bridge Series in Orlando. The WBF said Helgemo — a Norwegian-born player who now competes for Monaco — admitted to doping and accepted his suspension, which ends Nov. 20.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...al-rocks-world-bridge/?utm_term=.0dad827bacd0



Say what?

Testosterone is testosterone. Clomiphene is more used by dopers to block estrogen's effect after a cycle of steroid taking (since steroids and a number of other things these people use suppress natural testosterone production), but I suppose it also does what the articles say. But either way, the point of any of this would be rapid muscle growth, which is kind of irrelevant to Bridge. It might make you more aggressive generally (hence "roid rage") but I'd really have expected any such doping to be by way of stuff like Ritalin, Amphetamine, Mondafidnil. That would actually help improve memory, attention span, alertness, etc.

This is just strange.

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Rexedgar said:

Isn’t Bridge the game that has “rubbers?”

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Mr Person said:

No idea about the term, but it's a card game where sharp focus and accurate memory are key.

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Mr Person said:

There are sports in which one has come to expect a certain amount of doping. Cycling, for instance: so much doping. Weightlifting. Any Winter Olympic sport that involved Russians who competed at the 2014 Sochi Games. Just pick one. If you believe the International Olympic Committee, they doped like there would be no doping tomorrow.
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As announced Thursday by the World Bridge Federation, Geir Helgemo has been suspended for one year after he tested positive for synthetic testosterone and Clomiphene, a fertility drug that accelerates testosterone production in men, after last September’s World Bridge Series in Orlando. The WBF said Helgemo — a Norwegian-born player who now competes for Monaco — admitted to doping and accepted his suspension, which ends Nov. 20.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...al-rocks-world-bridge/?utm_term=.0dad827bacd0



Say what?

Testosterone is testosterone. Clomiphene is more used by dopers to block estrogen's effect after a cycle of steroid taking (since steroids and a number of other things these people use suppress natural testosterone production), but I suppose it also does what the articles say. But either way, the point of any of this would be rapid muscle growth, which is kind of irrelevant to Bridge. It might make you more aggressive generally (hence "roid rage") but I'd really have expected any such doping to be by way of stuff like Ritalin, Amphetamine, Mondafidnil. That would actually help improve memory, attention span, alertness, etc.

This is just strange.

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• Every Man A Bridge Master

Xelor said:

From the article:

Bridge is played in tournaments two or three weeks long. People tend to get tired so a stimulant can keep you awake during play.​

Seriously? Okay, to a point, I get it. Two to three weeks of daily tournament bridge play is, by my observation, most nearly, as goes the stress and physical intensity, roughly comparable to a couple weeks of nonstop speaking engagements and business presentations (lectures, proposals, and client advising, analysis and strategy/planning sessions). At worst, its like the long workdays of during a two to three week "high burn" strategy project, a major proposal effort, or the couple weeks ahead of a technology implementation major milestone, a phase-end or go-live.

But come on...What has a tournament bridge player to do? Eat, sleep, fill out a convention card and sit at a table and play the damn game? It's exhausting the way a long day at the office is, not the way crew, hockey, figure skating or basketball is.

• Every Man A Bridge Master

Mental exhaustion is real, but still, it's a card game. You sit. You lean back in the chair. You casually or with flair toss cards on a table. I think doping is rightfully proscribed, but doping to play bridge is what strikes me as truly bizarre.

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