Francesco Puppi on the Latest Doping Case

Francesco is one of the founding members and sits on the board of the PTRA, the organization that’s been pushing the issue of better doping control in our sport for several years now. He’s also been directly affected by a doping case having had his win initially robbed from him at OCC in 2023. He’s also very articulated and speaks to the nuances and challenges with a level head. Here’s the conclusion to his post he shared today:

Yes we’re all sad. And angry, as we should be. Yes, more efforts should be made to protect clean sport. But yesterday, the system worked. It’s not a perfect system but as of now, it’s the best we have. Cheaters eventually do get caught. There have been more suspensions now than ever before precisely because there’s more testing going on. Our sport is not dirtier today. We’ve taken another step towards becoming a clearer sport.

The entire post is worth your time and speaks, from an elite athlete’s perspective, to the challenges and realities our sport is phasing – and trying to address.