Geneviève Jeanson interviewed on new show about the elimination of doping

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has a new show called “J’ai une question,” a new documentary series that debuted on Crave on Wednesday. In the first episode, the former football player has a conversation with Geneviève Jeanson. The question of the first episode is: can drugs be eliminated from sport? Laurent wants to understand what drives so many amateur and professional athletes to choose performance-enhancing drugs. He contends that when an athlete is caught for doping, they deserve only part of the blame, and there are additional factors to be considered.

The cyclist originally from Lachine, Que., echoes his position. The former professional used EPO starting at the age of 16 and was one of the  dominant female cyclists in the 2000s. In the interview Jeanson refers to the culture of “win at all costs” as an important factor.

“You can’t just target the athlete,” Jeanson said. “It is also the coach, the team, the federation, the media, the sponsors.”  Jeanson never claims to have doped without her knowledge, but she does say she was manipulated by her former coach.

“It was still doping a minor. We’re kids!” she said. “When you’re 15 or 16 years old, we think we are mature, but we are not at all!”

You can watch the show on Crave TV.