BALCO architect Victor Conte loses battle with cancer at age of 75

Victor Conte a pioneering San Mateo nutritionist who was at the center of one of the biggest sports drug scandals in history involving Barry Bonds Marion Jones and multiple other star athletes and who later became a leading anti-doping advocate in the world of boxing died early Monday morning his daughters reported He was Conte remained ongoing in boxing working with a few of the sport s top athletes even as he battled pancreatic cancer for the past year He had spent much of the past two decades seeking redemption for his role in the BALCO episode that led to a -count indictment from an Internal Revenue Operation analysis There are perpetually going to be people who say I m the devil who hate me and think I m the guy who destroyed the national pastime Conte explained the Bay Area News Group during a visit to his Burlingame supplement company I understand I made chosen bad decisions and harmed a lot of people But I m not going to give up living my life Conte was true to his word to the end After serving a four-month prison sentence in - Conte launched a supplement company called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning or SNAC SNAC provided an entrepreneurial path for Conte to rebuild his net worth and reputation By he claimed sales of bottles a month of his ZMA sleep enhancer a zinc supplement His office in a San Carlos industrial park just off U S was decorated with photos and memorabilia from athletes Conte had worked with during his high-flying BALCO days as well as boxers As SNAC grew so did Conte s presence in boxing where he aimed to help athletes work without performance-enhancing drugs Conte s family disclosed he trained world champions in multiple sports including Terence Crawford who became the undisputed super middleweight titleist after upsetting Sa l Canelo lvarez in September Conte also worked with boxing stars Andre Ward Nonito Donaire and Zab Judah among others Victor Conte was a prominent figure in the field of physical conditioning and nutrition in professional sports World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaim n disclosed in a announcement In fresh years he dedicated his vast knowledge and experience to promoting excellence in the physical preparation of combat athletes Crawford s achievement reaffirms the enduring power of Conte s methods the family mentioned Tuesday in a announcement to BANG Adam Tafralis the former San Jose State star quarterback explained Conte s work in sports will be seen as part of the evolution of athletes from the s to s Sports are fickle and how narratives are spun are dependably stimulating mentioned Tafralis whose late father was one of Conte s best friends While Conte accepted the consequences of his actions in the early s while creating a then-undetected steroid called THC he also helped illuminate the extent of performance-enhancing drug use across the spectrum of American sports Related Articles Milan-Cortina reaches -day countdown with ice hockey arena still under construction How context change is changing the way athletes train ahead of the Winter Olympics At Cynthia Ranii was paralyzed from the chest down years later her sights are set on a Paralympic medal Photos Sharks home opener Minnesota man posed as high schooler to play on football group As a former high school track star Conte had a big interest in working with Olympians and baseball and football players by supplying them with banned drugs purported to help improve performance Conte repeatedly reported a Bay Area News Group reporter that he methodically monitored his athletes bloodwork to ensure they did not suffer serious side effects from a cocktail of performance drugs BALCO has had a deep effect on the national and international awareness of the depth of the drug challenge within sports at all levels stated Travis Tygart CEO for the U S Anti-Doping Agency in Born in Fresno on January as the oldest of three children Conte graduated from McLane High School as a track star before attending Fresno City College where he continued to run Much to the chagrin of his parents Conte quit school to join a Los Angeles-based band called Common Ground His bass guitar work eventually led Conte to play for the famed funk group Tower of Power from - He also collaborated with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and violinist Sugarcane Harris Later in life Conte communicated a reporter how much he enjoyed creating music but touring kept him away from home and his daughters for too long He eventually left the transient life to settle on the Peninsula Conte turned his photographic memory into learning about micro minerals and nutrition He founded BALCO in which led to working with specific unsavory characters in the world of bodybuilding They taught Conte how to create designer steroids Around the same time Conte became close with Gregg Tafralis a Olympic shot putter from San Bruno who was eventually banned for drug use Conte learned from Tafralis and other throwers how the system was rigged and drug testing he would tell BANG years later was a farce In Conte communicated this news organization Look at several of the things I disclosed in I knew all the state-sponsored stuff he reported Not only in Kenya and Russia it was going on right here in the United States Adam Tafralis and his sister Alexa a well-known Bay Area bodybuilder got a text from their mother on Tuesday saying their father who died in and Conte were now in heaven talking about how they went from barbecuing in the backyard in the s to being two guys talked about on Minutes By the time of the Sydney Olympics in a great number of top athletes sought Conte s help including baseball stars Jason and Jeremy Giambi and home run king Barry Bonds The federal scrutiny led to congressional hearings and forced Major League Baseball agents to create stricter drug-testing policies to counter the image of the Steroid Era Conte served four months at a minimum-security prison in Taft after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge and a steroid distribution charge as part of a plea deal He remained upbeat telling a BANG reporter he had made friends in Club Fed It s like a men s retreat here he announced during a reporter s visit in Funeral services are pending He is survived by his wife Amanda Tubbs Conte sister Cheryl Ginsberg and brother Ron Conte daughters Alicia Stearman Kisha Conte and Veronica Schuhmacher and eight grandchildren Abigail Violet Ella Kayla Justin Shelby Zachariah and Ezekiel His mother Shirley Deora Conte died in April at age