A Huge Doping Bust in Georgia Rugby / Epic Climbs and Concussions in Cycling / Who is the Greatest Track Athlete of Them All?

A Huge Doping Bust in Georgia Rugby / Epic Climbs and Concussions in Cycling / Who is the Greatest Track Athlete of Them All?

From The Real Science of Sport Podcast by Professor Ross Tucker and Mike Finch

May 15, 2026 · 1h 23m

About this episode

The episode discusses a major doping bust in Georgian rugby, recent developments in cycling, and debates on the greatest track athletes of all time.

Become a Supporter and share your views - a monthly pledge gets you access to the Community , and our endless appreciation! Show notes In the news this week: Operation Obsidian - A c ollaborative investigation between WADA and World Rugby produces a big doping bust in Georgian rugby , revealing collusion and corruption, but to what end? We explain how almost 40 years of bans were given out, and what remains unanswered and unknown (00:16:18) SA Prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye has been banned for 18 months , for drugs he says were prescribed by a specialist physician. We explore why this case may run for some time, and have some major implications (00:26:15) The women's Vuelta finished atop the Angliru, producing a new champion and some chat about gear ratios and torque. Plus, concussion in the Giro, with dramatic crashes and racing igniting the race in its first week (00:41:52) Who is the Greatest of all time? Sports scientists set out to take the subjectivity out of the question and produce their lists of the greatest track athletes ever . Do you agree? (00:54:25) A Times survey says a worryingly high proportion of young adults are using banned, harmful products. We wonder about the…

People in this episode

Hosts: Professor Ross Tucker, Mike Finch

Topics covered

  • doping in sports
  • cycling
  • track athletes
  • concussions
  • sports science
  • athlete bans

Keywords

  • doping
  • rugby
  • cycling
  • track athletes
  • concussions
  • sports science
  • bans
  • Operation Obsidian
  • Enhanced Games

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WADA, World Rugby

Places: Georgia, Angliru

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