Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Starts with G, rhymes with Dr. Malea (don't want google trolls)

interesting ... a sports medicine guy you all know, formerly from the F.I., is under criminal investigation by the FBI and RCMP. He is suspected of providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.
Several years ago, one of the national team athletes (one of the good guys) who was doing olympic lifting at that gym, told me that Dr. G had approached him with vague questions about what he'd be willing to do to improve his performance and made veiled references to an innovative treatment he was developing. At the time, I asked, "is he talking about blood doping?" and the athlete said he couldn't believe such a nice guy would be involved in that. After the paddler made it clear he wasn't interested, the doc never brought it up again.

Anyway, one day I was telling one of the other national team guys what I'd heard about Dr. G. and he said that he didn't believe it. He thought he was reputable and that those athletes shouldn't be telling stories about a professional with so many high-profile athletes in his care. I thought, you know, he's right. It's all heresay anyway. I didn't mention the incidents again, even when Dr. G's name came up in conversation (which it did frequently since so many paddlers were members at the F.I.).
So when I was driving home tonight and heard that "a Toronto sports medicine doctor was facing criminal charges" on the radio, even though I guessed it would be him, I was still a little surprised based on all the good things athletes had to say about him.
The thing giving this story legs seems to be that he treated T-Woods at one time. I have a feeling that if Cheatie McCheater wasn't so big in the news right now, this wouldn't even be on their radar but he's December's 9-day wonder and the media is just piling on.

Click here to read the NY Times article.

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