A question yesterday asked whether an athlete who thought they were taking a performance enhancing substance (but was in fact given a placebo substance) would fall foul of anti-doping rules.
My (different) question is whether an athlete would violate WADA anti-doping rules if they took a substance knowing that it was a placebo but in the belief that it would enhance their blood oxygen capacity. (It has been shown that placebo substances can still have an effect even when the recipient was aware that they were being given an inert substance.)
Clearly the athlete would not fall foul of rule 2.1 of the WADA code as there would not be a presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites in the athlete's body. They would also not fall foul of rule 2.2 so far as it relates to use or attempted use of a prohibited substance.
However, rule 2.2 also says that use (or attempted use) of a 'prohibited method' is a doping rule violation and the definition of prohibited methods includes at M1.2 'Artificially enhancing the uptake, transport or delivery of oxygen.'
So could an athlete taking a (legal) placebo substance in the belief that it would improve their blood oxygen capacity fall foul of this rule ?
