Inside the Slipstream Of Doping’s Darker Corners
Jul 17, 2025
Inside the Slipstream Of Doping’s Darker Corners
BSCG President Oliver Catlin appears in ARD’s latest documentary, offering sharp insight into Aicar, testing blind spots, and why anti-doping is still playing catch-up.
When ARD releases one of its doping exposés, it seldom whispers. This German broadcaster doesn’t hold back. Their previous work dismantled Russia’s Sochi-era drug coverup and exposed China’s use of trimetazidine in elite sport. Now they have another feather to add to their anti-doping cap. The documentary is called Doping Top Secret: In the Slipstream. This focus is on cycling, and it was cleverly aired just weeks before the Tour de France. If your German is up to scratch, you’ll find that Oliver Catlin is a key anti-doping voice. He’s asked to assess what athletes are taking and what regulators might be missing. His inclusion as an anchor expert underscores how deep his influence runs in the anti-doping science worldwide. Catlin helps the viewer navigate a world where performance-enhancing drugs aren’t always banned, because sometimes enforcement can lag behind innovation. Anti-doping is no longer a battle for right and wrong. It’s now become a contest between the speed of science and the slowness of systems trying to catch the cheaters.
AICAR and The Problem with Detection
The film focuses on Aicar. This synthetic compound boosts energy metabolism and has been banned by WADA for quite some time. But the conversation doesn’t stop at one substance. Catlin points out that after a basic online search reveals over 160 Aicar analogues, but only four of them are individually listed by name on the Prohibited List. He explains that this gap is exactly where unscrupulous athletes might thrive. His quote suggests that doping controls are an intelligence test. "If you are caught competing with things that are on the prohibited list, that would be unsurpassed in stupidity in today's world." Why? Well, what athletes are now using often isn’t technically banned. Yet. The film links these kinds of loopholes to a broader failure in detection strategy, where doping has become less a game of compliance and more a spectacle of clever chemistry. In this respect, Catlin’s commentary reframes the debate. It’s not about who’s cheating. It’s about who’s staying just one molecule ahead of the rules. The next step is about who’s watching closely enough to catch them before the next scandal erupts.
Whistleblowers And Watchlists
This investigative documentary’s power lies in its mix of scientific analysis and people willing to speak up. If you watch it, you’ll find how anonymous insiders allege that doping remains active, especially in the top-tier cycling teams. Some sources even report receiving death threats for speaking up. The Tour is not clean, despite what the stats might have you believe. Despite official claims, these accounts suggest otherwise. The film paints a picture of a world where banned drugs are simply replaced by their biochemical cousins. This means they might be legal in name, but pretty much identical in effect. Catlin’s observations are that the vast majority of similar substances remain unnamed on the banned list, suggesting that most anti-doping detection systems have not kept up. And with Aicar’s close relatives still circulating, the risk isn’t theoretical. It’s immediate. Athletes, brands, and regulators could all be walking blind into the next compliance crisis. These grey zones may not be empty, especially when you look at them across multiple sports. Instead, they’re becoming increasingly crowded and complex.
The Science is Evolving. Is the Rulebook?
Performance enhancement will probably never stand still. Where there’s dollars and glory, there will be a way forward. Whether it’s Soviet-era blood doping or today’s metabolic modulators, the science behind bigger, faster, and better athletes will always keep moving. Catlin’s presence in Slipstream highlights a critical tension point between anti-doping enforcement that is struggling to keep up with the pace of pharmaceutical progress. While the governing bodies behind sports work through policy changes and approval cycles, the substances in question are already in use, undetected and unregulated. The film raises a hard truth, which is one Catlin has long articulated: by the time a drug is banned, its damage may be done. It’s pattern recognition. Every generation of doping starts in a blind spot, and scientists, not sanctioning bodies, often spot that danger first. Catlin’s role in this documentary explains how he’s not just reacting to a problem, he’s charting where it’s heading. And if sports really want to stay clean, they may need to stop chasing the past and start listening to those already living in the future.
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