“So why are people surprised?’’ Conte asks you. “Come on, how do you think that was possible?
“Any time you see a spike in numbers in this, numbers he never put up before, to go along with an intensive weight training program, it catches your attention. No one thought that something funny was going on?’’
Well, we prefer to call it the benefit of the doubt.
The trouble is that the longer you talk to Conte, you’re not sure what to believe anymore.
He believes there’s only two possible reasons why Colabello was caught with Turinabol in his urine.
“It was either a miscalculation,’’ Conte said, “or a contamination.
“It’s a drug that no one being tested uses anymore, because it’s going to stay in your system for three months. Maybe even as long as six months.
’’
So, the alternate theory to mere stupidity: There are so many amateur chemists these days, , Conte says, that athletes are relying on individuals using the same glassware whether they’re mixing up designer testosterone or old-fashioned steroids.
“You have all of these clandestine labs now,’’ Conte said. “So anybody taking these risks is really asking for a positive test. This isn’t getting something you’re buying from a GNC store; 80% of the stuff is coming from these underground labs. So they whip it up at home, use the same beakers and flasks, and sometimes don’t wash the glass well, and leave traces from the previous batch.
“We call it cross-contamination. Really, it’s just dirty glassware.’’