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Thursday, March 15, 2012

CCA official release to Jim Armstrong Doping Violation

The CCA has officialy release a response to the doping violation handed down to Jim Armstrong.


1660 Vimont Court, Cumberland, Ontario, K4A 4J4/ Phone: (613) 834-2076 / Fax: (613) 834-0716/ Website: www.curling.ca

CCA STATEMENT

The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) has learned that one of our national wheelchair athletes, Mr. James Armstrong, has been sanctioned by the World Curling Federation (WCF) following a WCF Doping Hearing Panel’s ruling of an anti-doping violation. This sanction is a suspension which is applicable to James Armstrong for a period of 18 months from the date of the panel’s initial ruling (February 17, 2012).

As the National Governing Body associated with the athlete, we have been notified of the finding as published on the WCF website. The out-of-competition testing had been administrated by the international federation and its dealings direct with the athlete.

The CCA has a formal agreement with the WCF and we abide by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) protocols as it relates to doping and potential subsequent sanctions. The CCA’s policy is to respect sanctions imposed by other agencies, such as the WCF, to the extent of their authority. To this avail, the athlete is no longer a member of the National Team Program subject to a pending appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, which we are informed, is imminent.

The CCA believes doping has no place in sport and furthermore fair and equal competition is an essential tenet of sport and why our Association makes significant efforts to see that effective national and international anti-doping education and doping control programs are in place.

That said, and having read through the comprehensive report, we can certainly empathize with the athlete as there appear to be some extraordinary circumstances related to this matter.

The sport of curling is recognized as a very low risk sport as it relates to doping and given the "non-intentional" and "non-competitive advantage" nature of this infraction, and the surrounding circumstances, we believe such a status will be maintained.

The CCA’s National Team Program will continue to strive for podium results and we will continue to invest in Team Canada and our National Team Program athlete pool as we move forwards from this, with the best interests of the sport front of mind.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

So the CCA cuts Jim's throat, and leaves him hanging in the wind on his own?

Seems a little odd to me.

Anonymous said...

Actually, I would think the CCA's hands are tied by WCF, and Jim will be on his own.

Tough luck, and tough spot for CCA and Jim

Bruce Cameron said...

This was "self inflicted" and it seems he cut his own throat and the CCA had nothing to do with it other than to abide by the WCF ruling. Of all people, someone with a doctorate in dentristy and injestes illegal drugs....shame, shame

Anonymous said...

Bruce,

Even the Doping Panel admit it was an accident.

Everyone knows your love of Jim, but please don't embarrass yourself without reading the facts.

And what advantage or reason would he have to take Tamoxifen?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Cameron;

I don't think you have read it all, or certainly not thought it through.

The interest in this is simply the oddity of the infraction. This WAS NOT Cocaine, or any other prohibited substance that was knowingly ingested.

There IS NO BENEFIT to taking this medication by anyone but a woman with Breast Cancer.

You are welcome do your opinion, but please ensure it is accurate.

Wheelchair Blog 2 said...

The fact is that Tamoxifen would have cause Jim greater problems, moreover problems with his heart.

Please go to Wiki and look up Tamoxifen for better details. This is not a performance enhancer

Anonymous said...

Good for Bruce Cameron for saying what most rational and reasonable people are thinking. I suspect that most people have not taken the time to read the 14 page document produced by the WCF outlining the rationale for their decision. The WCF made a sound and just decision and I trust that it will stand up upon appeal. It's now time to focus on the development of this sport, development which to date has been seriously compromised because of all of the funds and energy that have surrounded one particular "athlete". I didn't see Mr. Armstrong's wheelchair when he walked out of court after being sentenced for selling and dispensing counterfeit Viagra and Cialis drugs: http://wheelchaircurlingblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/team-canada-skip-sentenced-in-fake.html
Shame on you Jim Armstrong for bringing our sport into disrepute and not knowing when to retire and shame on the CCA for being complicit in this mess.

Anonymous said...

Get serious.

An inadvertent error occurred. This has drawn a lot of attention because of who it is, and the stupidity of the sanction.

Your issues with Jim fall on deaf ears.

Anonymous said...

To those who say Tamoxifen is not a performance enhancer, you should read the whole 14 page decision since it says in para: 6.14, "It is well known that Tamoxifen may be used to stimulate the endogenous production of testosterone, a hormone which contributes to the improvement of strength through the increase of muscle mass."

What is being missed in the comments so far is why did they not make contingency plans to replace Jim as skip if necessary. They had lots of time and should have considered the possibility of a sanction.

Anonymous said...

I just read the 14 page decision...and it pretty much says it all. Enough said, but I am curious, as the previous person mentioned, why there was not a contingency plan to replace Jim as this issue was brought to light with plenty of time to do so.

Anonymous said...

Comments to comments;

Tamoxifen is ABUSED by steroid users after they have completed their cycle of steroids to potentiate the effect (minimizing estrogen production, which is how the drug works in breast cancer).

There is NO other use for Tamoxefin.

Jim and Dr. Ferguson clearly pointed this out, and further, the urinalysis confirms this, since no steroid metabolites could be detected.

So, then there was no intent to enhance performance, since it couldn't, AND the infraction occurred "out of performance".

It has been pointed out that there was NO advantage, nor was there any intent to ingest.

What has occurred here is an unfortunate result of a very unwieldy system, and Jim is trapped in the middle. Throw out any idea of common sense, since there is none.

Jim did everything correctly. He did not request re-sampling (the panel did anyway). He has not argued lab error. He has not argued the system.

He is arguing the lack of common sense, and I am sure some minor errors in the decision to get his lawyer in the door as a reason for appeal.

Check out decisions under CAS...they tend to protect the system, BUT every once in a while, they slip a touch of common sense in.

He has a tough uphill battle in what appears to be such an obvious injustice, but I BELIEVE HE WILL GET THE SENTENCE REDUCED.

Regarding contingency plans...HOW and WHO would Team Canada have drafted?

This is the point Chris puts forward, as well as where does the Program go from here.

Have they talked to Jim about his position if the appeal fails? Will he retire if he is out for another full season?

Succession has been liberally mentioned over the years, but what happens if he is not available to train someone?

It seems he has been coaching as much as Joe has, AND Jim has the on-ice experience.

a tough time for the Program....with all respect, I doubt a 3 and 6 record is not much of an incentive for Own The Podium to continue what appears to be liberal funding to the Program.

Anonymous said...

Whether or not there was intent to use the drug, the fact is he should have known better. He is a doctor after all and has studied and prescribed drugs for years in his practice.

That aside, he just needs to step down and go away. He has:

1) - been seen around town walking without any aids so he is arguably disabled. Only when it suits his needs. Certainly not enough to be a wheelchair curler. Worst case scenario he should be a stick curler.

2) - been convicted of trafficing drugs.

3) - busted for doping.

What will it take for all you Jim Armstrong lovers to let him go?Can't you see that he has given wheelchair curling in Canada a huge black eye? It's always poor Jim, he's been dealt a bad hand and treated unfairly. If nothing else, he is a smart man. Smart enough to have you people fooled!

All the while Jim and the CCA are taking away opportunities from honest, decent, dedicated (and actually disabled)wheelchair curlers.

I think the most disturbing part is that both Jim and the CCA are so arrogant, they believe that there is nothing wrong with this whole scenario.

If every Canadian wheelchair curler boycotted the Team Canada program, there wouldn't be one. Maybe that is what we need to do to effect change.

My top goal is to get to and win the Nationals. As for Team Canada, as far as I'm concerned, they don't even exist. I would never be part of such a crooked organization.

Anonymous said...

Well said.

Anonymous said...

Well, with respect, it would be hard to "know better" if he was unaware of ingesting it in the first place.

Disability was beaten into the ground years ago, and rules are there now, as they have always been..he is eligible, and that is that.

Perhaps you should try to eliminate everyone that is better than you, then you actually MAY win Nationals.

The National Team is, in my opinion, so far ahead of the pack, you would need binoculars to see them, whoever you are.

There was, I believe only one head to head competition of Team Canada and Manitoba last season, and it was a very comfortable win.

Anonymous said...

Further to the blogger slamming Armstrong......Have yo met him to see his arrogance?

I have yet to hear from ANY PLAYER, from present Team Canada members to Chris Daw who has EVER had anything negative to say about him.

I have heard, since he left Vancouver, that he has, on his own time, helped the London players, as well as a Toronto team, and has never refused to help.

I heard his speech at the big Richmond camp, and learned more about strategy in 20 minutes than I have with our coach in three years (no slam, coach!)

If you have personal experience with Jim that has been negative, I would be very interested to hear about.

Anonymous said...

Actually, I, too, would be interested in anyone that has had a negative personal experience with Jim.

I have known him for over ten years, and have never seen him even ignore anyone.

I very much doubt anyone could attest to a bad personal experience with Jim.

As for "should have known better".....it was an inadvertent ingestion.......hard to have known better, when he was not even aware.
You want to hang him, fine...BUT let us hear your terrible personal experience.

Anonymous said...

...from an earlier comment...

"Regarding contingency plans...HOW and WHO would Team Canada have drafted?"

Several come to mind. Bruno,Jack S.,Chris S., Denis T., among others.

Nobody is irreplaceable.

Unknown said...

How shameful that canada continues to allow Jim Armstrong to represent. Canada at the Paralympics - he is a sham - is able to walk unaided, has been involved with drug smuggling but blamed his dead wife and his son rather than own up to his part.
Shame on you Jim Armstrong - you bring shame to Canada,

Unknown said...

Shame on you Jim Armstrong - you bring shame on Canada - you can walk unaided, you have been involved with drug smuggling - no way do you deserve to represent our country
Shame on you!