Guilty until proven guilty

Canoeist Laurence Vincent-Lapointe was Quebec's top medalist at the Tokyo Games next summer. Thirteen times world champion. A dominant athlete. Usain Bolt of the canoe, I wrote last Tuesday.

Alexandre Pratt
The Press

Bad comparison.

Since yesterday, and until proven otherwise, she is rather the Ben Johnson of the canoe. The 27-year-old has failed an anti-doping test. She is suspended until further notice. His qualification for the Olympics is obviously compromised.

What was found in his urine? Ligandrol. A crap. "A substance that can increase muscle mass without the side effects of steroids," says the Australian anti-doping agency. The long-term impact on health? Unknown. No wonder it's the fashionable drug among elite athletes. A dozen of them have been suspended for three years for consuming ligandrol.

"There was a very small amount, just above the limit," explained yesterday a person from the entourage of Laurence Vincent-Lapointe. Except that the limit is precisely set at this level for a reason. Beyond that, the product provides an advantage to the doped athlete.

How did all this happen? It is unclear. Laurence Vincent-Lapointe will provide explanations this morning. But already, we know she will challenge. Canoe Kayak Canada reported yesterday that its athlete "did not intentionally take any prohibited substance".

A nice excuse.

Unfortunately, we have heard it too often. Among the famous cases of athletes doped without their knowledge:

– Alberto Contador, double champion of the Tour de France, had blamed a piece of contaminated meat;

– Ben Johnson, winner of the 100m at the 1988 Games, believed that a man had traded his "beer of victory";

– Floyd Landis, elite cyclist, explained his rise in testosterone by his high consumption of whiskey;

– Marco Boriello, a soccer player, said that his wife had a vaginal infection and that she had used a cortisone cream that had contaminated her (the excuse was not retained);

– Daniel Plaza, Olympic walker, had justified his positive test with nandrolone by a cunnilingus lavished on his pregnant wife;

– Anderson Silva, mixed martial arts champion, had his brother-in-law convince him to try a magic product to increase his sexual prowess;

– And my favorite, the American cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who suspected that foreign blood cells in his body had been produced by his twin brother … who was stillborn!

In short, it looks bad for Laurence Vincent-Lapointe. No, she is not innocent until proven guilty. Both of his samples were positive. It's more up to her to prove her innocence.

Good luck.

Champions rarely come out winners of this fight. First, they are responsible for everything they ingest. Point. The skier Therese Johaug learned it the hard way; she was suspended because her lip balm contained traces of a forbidden product.

Also, athletes can not plead ignorance of the rules. It is their job to find out about the list of prohibited drugs. Good example: Maria Sharapova. The tennis player had been using a product for about ten years. She continued to take it after he was blacklisted. Result: a suspension of 15 months.

In the case of athletes who have undergone a positive ligandrol test, all have been suspended.

According to Sydney Morning Herald, most of the culprits are excluded for four years. A Canadian wrestler got away with a one-year sentence. Basketball player Joakim Noah with only 20 games. But the NBA is not recognized for its collaboration with anti-doping agencies.

A long-term suspension therefore seems inevitable.

So what is holding Laurence Vincent-Lapointe?

Maybe in the case of Shayna Jack. She is also guilty of ligandrol doping, the Australian swimming champion defends her reputation fiercely. She also says she did not knowingly ingest the drugs. She blames a contaminated supplement. She is trying to reduce her sentence so she can compete in the Tokyo Games, where she has a good chance of being medalist with the relay team. The story – which arouses passions in Australia – has not yet been settled.

The battle of Laurence Vincent-Lapointe is just beginning. But the headwind is strong. Even for the best canoeist in the world.

A great man

The former captain and general manager of Canadian Serge Savard is a man of projects. While protecting the blue line of the Habs, he had founded the Collegiate League AAA, a circuit of high level without violence. He has long proposed the creation of a trophy for the best defensive defenseman in the NHL. He is also a man who has had success in business.

His last idea? The creation of a $ 5 million fund for student-athletes at the Université de Sherbrooke. He committed to personally hand over $ 400,000. A remarkable gift, which will greatly help young people to reconcile sport and studies. All will benefit – not just the players of the football team.

The Serge-Savard Fund already has 1 million in its coffers. The Senator was counting on his golf tournament at the Islesmere Club yesterday to increase supplies. Several big names in hockey – Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson, Pete Mahovlich, Jacques Lemaire – were present. A nice complicity for an exciting project, which will allow the Université de Sherbrooke to compete with other Quebec institutions.

A great man (2)

It was two years ago. One night of the week, after a hockey game of my junior. In the car, we put the radio. AT Good evening the sportsmen, like always. Derek Aucoin was the moderator. A man in distress called.

Derek could have hung up. He listened to it. Length. With compassion and humanity. For almost 20 minutes. A great moment of radio. That night, I'm sure he hung up his listener to life.

Today, Derek is experiencing more difficult days. The former Expos thrower suffers from brain cancer. "I have glioblastoma multiforme. This is clearly not the news I was hoping for, "he said in a statement yesterday.

A sad news. I wish him better days. For him. For her family. For his friends. And for us all too. Because he is a man who does good around him. Few people have a heart as big as this nice giant.