16 December 2010

WADA 2011 Prohibited List

WADA 2011 Prohibited List Now Published@WADA

Noteworthy changes compared to the 2010 List include:

Non-Approved Substances
A new section – “Non-Approved Substances” – has been added. This “open” section addresses the abuse of pharmacological substances for the purpose of performance enhancement which are not included in other sections of the List and which are not approved by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use (i.e. drugs under pre-clinical or clinical development or discontinued).

Platelet-Derived Preparations
Platelet-derived preparations (commonly referred as PRP or blood spinning), prohibited in 2010 when administered by intra-muscular route, have been removed from the List for 2011 after consideration of the lack of current evidence concerning the use of these methods for purposes of performance enhancement. Current studies on platelet-derived preparations do not demonstrate a potential for performance enhancement beyond a potential therapeutic effect.

Declaration of Use
The obligation for athletes to file a Declaration of Use for specific substances that are not prohibited has been removed. This change has been reflected accordingly in the 2011 International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions.

To consult the 2011 List, the 2011 Monitoring Program, a summary of major modifications, explanatory notes on the 2011 List, and a Q&A on major changes, click here.

To consult the 2011 International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions, click here.

London 2012 Cultural Olympiad events

London 2012 Cultural Olympiad events unveiled@sport business

Nobel Prize-winning American author Toni Morrison, former Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Oscar-winning Australian actress Cate Blanchett are among the big names involved in the 12-week event.

"Artistic talent from the U.K. and every continent will be part of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration," said LOCOG chairman Sebastien Coe.

Highlights will include:
• A travelling Shakespeare Festival produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company
• An exhibition celebrating the Bard at the British Museum
• The Desdemona Project, in which acclaimed US writer Toni Morrison collaborates with Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré on a theatre piece in response to the 2009 Peter Sellars' production of Othello
• A new installation by Scandinavian artist Olafur Eliasson
• A performance of the Philip Glass and Robert Wilson work Einstein on the Beach.

The Festival runs from June 21 to September 9, 2012. It will include over 1,000 events designed to attract three million people. Organisers said some of the events will be ticketed and others free.

02 December 2010

Rafter as a biomechanical model to help young tennis players

Pat Rafter puts his body on the line to help the AIS Pro Tour tennis program@ASC

Most people view retirement as a time to put your feet up and reflect on a career gone by, but that’s not the life for two-time US Open winner Pat Rafter.

The former world number one, and new Australian Davis Cup Captain, recently gave some of his time, and his body, to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Pro Tour tennis program when he spent several days with some of the best young players in the country.

Rafter and another former star, Wally Masur, the head of the National High Performance Academy in NSW, worked out at the AIS with players, coaches and performance research staff in Canberra.

AIS tennis head coach Brent Larkham said having the likes of Rafter and Masur provide their expertise to the Institute players is vital component of the program which aims to ensure the young athletes get to learn from the best.

“When someone like Pat steps onto the court with our players you can see it creates a real buzz. If a player can pick up just one new thing to add to their game from this experience then it’s a real positive.”

Not content with just offering advice or sparing in practice matches, Rafter also handed himself over to the AIS biomechanists who closely analysed his service action to allow comparison with the Institute players.

The grand slam champion had over 50 reflective markers attached to his body to allow AIS and Tennis Australia biomechanists to develop a complete profile of his technique and service action using state-of-the art motion capture technology.

“Pat was a great sport to take part in this analysis which gives us a visual and computer generated model of a really good service action. We can now use this information as a reference point to breakdown the various aspects of serving with our athletes and make the minor improvements which all add up to producing better players.” Larkham said.

“We really appreciate the time Pat and Wally took to work with the AIS players and hope they were able to get a better appreciation for what we are trying to do with the program.

“I’m sure the players would agree that the pair and other former Australian greats are always welcome to take a look at the program and provide input where possible.”

Through the AIS Pro Tour Program, athletes are given expert coaching, physical and medical support as they travel around the world on the tour, and also have access to world-class facilities and expertise not only at the AIS base in Canberra but also at Tennis Australia’s base in Barcelona and a network of other sites around the world.