Anti-Doping Pressure Rising?

Story written by Eric.

UK Sport is putting together a new task force which it hopes will hit the anti-doping initiatives it has squarely on the head, drive out cheats, shore up the sport's fragile image with the public and prove to be a good opportunity for athletes, trainers and medical professionals in contact with each other to report suspected anti-doping violations according to a report in The Guardian.

John Scott, head of the United Kingdom's anti-doping authority, said that UK Sport currently attempting to develop start-up national anti-doping organisation independent of UK Sport that will place a much larger emphasis on intelligence gathering and investigation than current anti-doping measures in place.

"What we want to do is demonstrate through rigorous pre-games testing that we are doing everything that we can to prevent anyone who is cheating going to the Games," Scott stateed. "Whether it will be 100% successful we don't know but we are sending out very strong messages to discourage people."

The apparent message which will be sent out to athletes is one which sounds like it comes straight from a British spy novel.

The new agency, which will be functional before the Beijing Games begin, has a goal of having athletes keep an eye out on other athletes on the track and in the locker rooms; trainers keep a look out for irregularities in their groups which could signal one of their members breaking an anti-doping rule; and for medical staff - including trainers, doctors and anyone else who treats athletes to break out a state of what it is considering complacency and speak up when suspected drug abuse has occured.

"Tests will be planned using our intelligence-based testing approach which focuses the allocation of tests around where they have a maximum impact in terms of detection and deterrence," said Scott on the UK Sports home page (link).

"Whilst the overall aim is to test everyone at least once, obviously those in more high-risk sports or disciplines can and will be tested more often. Essentially there is no limit to the number of times we might test any individual athlete."

It all sounds good on paper to a certain degree, though there are some inherent risks involved as well as a margin of payback which must be factored in to the equation as well.

A track and field agent approached me two years ago regarding a prominent athletics group in the United States which had been notorious for what he considered breaking anti-doping rules.

Had the UK Sport inititiative been in place then, perhaps a few of the group members would have been caught earlier - and even more of them rounded up and suspended than the nearly dozen or so who ultimately were.

However, had this particular person had a bone to pick with the particular trainer or any of the athletes for whatever reason, he could have used this against the group and began submitting anonymous claims to the relevant agency to have the group investigated.

UK Sport will need to have a procedure in place which will weed out false claims and be able to truly understand which ones are of true significance. It will also need to be able to handle non-analytical positives whereby one athlete may make a claim that another athlete has spoken about illegal drug use or methods, has employed them and/or has requested the same of the athlete.

UK Sport is hoping that this initiative will gain thorough support from the groups it intends to market the idea to, and that the sport's image will clean up as internal accountability between the atheltes, trainers and medics becomes better. Their aim is to have a clean team compete in Beijing, and they hope that all finalists will have had deposited either a urine or blood sample prior to the Games.

Dwain Chambers' name naturally surfaces when discussion about catching cheats in sport - specifically in the United Kingdom - arises.

Chambers was part of the BALCO scandal which netted his main rival, Tim Montgomery, a ban from the sport and a stripped world record-title and time and netted Chambers a lifetime Olympics ban from his governing body.

Chambers travelled to the United States to train with Ukrainian Remi Korchemny, and became part of BALCO's illegal drug organisation.

UK Sport has been consistently and more openly in pursuit of information Chambers may have which can connect dots between other athletes and BALCO; other athletes and unknown suppliers; trainers and suppliers; and potentially medical staff with whom Chambers may have been in contact whilst under the doping regime. The belief is that Chambers has more information to provide the anti-doping pursuers than that which he has been fortcoming.

Victor Conte, BALCO's founder, has on occasion - and in no uncertain terms - stated that he would not ever reveal the identities of athletes who were caught up in the BALCO debacle but who had not been publicly brought to light. Chambers, who may have information on one or more of those athletes - or their trainers - from his time in California, would be a good asset to tap into, say UK Sport.

Conte and Chambers have both been willing to help out the cause of cleaning up sport, but Chambers' request appears to have too steep a price for UK Sport, namely re-instatement into the Olympic opportunity should he have the opportunity to qualify.

Will the new initiative find favour with other athletes who, unlike Chambers, have not been caught in a net of deceit, but have perhaps chased athletes who have been suspected of doping?

I don't believe the programme will have the stirring success it is attempting to achieve at the on-set, but it does have potential to be of terrific benefit in the longer run in the lead-up to London 2012.

The Beijing Games are only four months away, and, according to Conte, most world-class athletes who are doping (whether or not that is a large percentage of the athletes, themselves, or a smaller one is up to debate) finish their strength cycles in March. Any athletes who should test positive in the next few months would have done so by slipping up and using past the expiration date, so-to-speak.

On that front, there is a small hope that some cheats may get caught if they are left out to compete without any preparation on how to mask their drugs.

However, this is an apparently small percentage of athletes, and the fight to catch them will be more costly than the reward - though preventing any Olympian from shaming their nation before millions of people may be a just cause to make such pursuits.

Given time, more means and better opportunity to reach the inner circles in which athletes travel, the UK Sports initiative can have a greater effect of persuading athlete "A" to discuss with authorities the illegal events he (or she) knows that athlete "B" is employing to gain an advantage over their competitors.

Two of last year's surprise doping tests on Bulgarians Venelina Veneva and Vanya Stambolova netted positive results following what is believed to be a tip by an athlete or their trainer on their out-of-competition whereabouts.

Veneva had long been suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs, but had never had an analytical positive result, hence leaving her performances simply up to speculation in the absence of proof.

There are other anti-doping measures out here in the EU which attempt to help athletes who compete clean to turn in those who they suspect are dirty. WADA has an initiative which permits athletes to leave anonymous tips, as well as does the IAAF - the governing body of track and field in the world.

Due to the lack of reporting on how athletes are caught, it is impossible to make a guesstimate on how successful the programmes are, however.

UK Sport's goal is to promote the highest standards of sporting conduct whilst continuing to lead a world-class anti-doping programme for the UK and being responsible for improving the education and promotion of ethically fair and drug-free sport, according to its website.

Ceplak Banned Two Years

Jolanda Ceplak, the world indoor 800m record-holder who tested positive for EPO at a meet in July 2007, has had a two-year ban upheld by her athletics federation, AZS, reports stated on Thursday.

Ceplak, who is 30, has likely lost an opportunity to ever compete for a gold medal in any future Olympic Games, as she will be 34 when the Games head to London four years from now.

Older age has not always prohibited athletes from achieving amazing results, but it has been a hindrance more than athletes have been able to defy it.

Ceplak set her current world indoor standard of 1.55,82 six years ago in Wien, and set her outdoor best - 1.55,19 - later that outdoor season at Heusden-Zolder.

Ceplak finished 2007 with a 1.59,86 run at Lignano Sabbiadoro.

IAAF Says Only Three Percent Flunk Doping Tests in 2007

Story written by Eric.

The International Asociation of Athletics Federations stated on Thursday that roughly three out of every 100 athletes tested both in and out-of-competition failed doping tests conducted under its jurisdiction in 2007.

According to IAAF records, 3.277 urine samples were collected from the period of 1-January to 31-December 2007, with 1.759 sampled from place out-of-competition (OOC) tests by 749 athletes, 1.426 from athletes selected during a competition event, and 92 urine+ EPO samples taken pre-competion.

The IAAF state that 164 athletes received four or more OOC tests, 66 received 6 or more, and 18 received 8 or more. The IAAF is unable to reveal the indentities of those who have been tested most frequently, but did state that one athlete had 12 OOC test performed on them last year.

Americans Sanya Richards, Leonard Scott, LaShawn Merritt, Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall, Tyson Gay, Damu Cherry, Marcus Brunson and Xavier Carter were all tested at least four times according to the information provided in the IAAF report.

Athletes from Russia, Kenya and the United States were the three highest-tested groups, but of the 10 athletes whom the IAAF publicly stated tested positive last year, the biggest names involved were Bulgarian 400m sprinter Vania Stambolova and her teammate Venelina Veneva, a high jumper.

Both Bulgarian athletes -- who share the same coach, Georgi Dimitrov -- had their urine samples collected at an unexpected check during training in Budapest, Hungary on 2007-January-24, and had them later turn up with positive traces of testosterone. Veneva also provided a further positive sample from an IAAF OOC doping control conducted on 2007-February-6 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

IAAF president Lamine Diack, praised the IAAF's efforts in a statement released today.

"I am proud that the IAAF continues to conduct one of the world's largest out-of-competition testing programs," he said.

"And the crucial importance of this is shown in the fact that the majority of our positive results are found in this form of testing."

The great majority of the tests conducted in 2007 done during times where competition schedules are at their peak, with 983 of the tests (30%) conducted at the spring season and 1.321 (40,3%) conducted during the summer season.

The remaining 29,7% of the tests were conducted primarily in the late winter (18,7%), and the remaining 359 samples collected 1-October to 31-December.


ARE TESTERS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME (OF YEAR)?

Victor Conte was the posterboy for cheating.

Where there was a will, there was a syringe and a calendar to make the way. The former BALCO founder helped propel many an athlete up and over the top, and to a crashing halt once they were discovered to have cheated and deceived their ways to the top.

Since his release from prison and home-confinement, his pitch has changed over the past two years from supporting a premise that one must cheat to win to stating that the current state of testing for performance-enhancing drugs is unacceptable, because the testers are completely off key in their pursuit of the cheaters.

If the IAAF are happy with their testing measures, and the IOC believe that there will be a bonafide Human Growth Hormone (HGH) test in place by the time athletes are ready to compete in Beijing, who among those speaking is actually right?

There may be a viable test on its way to head off cheats in Beijing, but Conte's assertions have been that the testers are attempting to get to the athletes at the wrong times of the year - a point he discussed with former WADA head Dick Pound at a meeting earlier this year.

The IAAF have not broken their historical data down by quarters, rather by years - most of which have not been calendar years, but fiscal ones.

It is difficult to ascertain with any certainty whether or not the IAAF have been surprising more athletes at off-peak times, but Veneva and Stambolova were two prime athletes who were OOC tested during such time and were caught with illegal substances in their bodies.

Nevertheless, of the nine cases the IAAF have stated brought to light, five of the OOC specimens were collected and tested Q1 (1-January to 31-March) in 2007. Two athletes flunked their drug tests in Q3 (1-July to 30-September), and two failed their tests in Q2 just ahead of the summer season.

Salbutamol (12-month ban); rh-EPO (2-year ban); Prostanozol Testosterone (2-year ban); and six cases of Testosterone (2-year ban) were the drugs of choice named in the anti-doping offences.

The 10 confirmed cases the IAAF have discussed are far shorter than the number of cases on their 2007 sanctions list, however, as 55 athletes appear on the list, with Marion Jones the sole member who didn't fail an actual test in 2007.

Moreover, the IAAF have not yet indicated athletes who have failed "A"-sample tests and are having their cases reviewed and/or arbitrated, as is their best-business practice.

Two world record-holders fall into that category, one with an indoor distinction and the other an outdoor event contender. Both have been mentioned by their athletics federations, and the information is available with the use of a search engine.

The IAAF, however, have not made that information readily available to the public on its pages dedicated specifically to anti-doping.

IAF anti-doping measures were at their near peak in 2007, with doping control officers taking 3.277 samples, or only 127 fewer than they did in 2003 -- a world championships year.

There should be no speculation or inferences in who has been tested any given number of times, as several of the aforementioned Americans either won a national title (Drossin and Hall) or were in every IAAF Golden League competition (Richards) in 2007.


USADA REPORTING PHILOSOPHY

The IAAF does not make a distinction as to when any athlete is tested.

USADA, the national testing agency in America, does make a testing history available, however.

USADA selects track and field athletes to test in an OOC based on an automated draw that considers a number of factors, including the athlete's ranking in the sport, their risk of doping and test their previous test history.

LaShawn Merritt and Michelle Collins were each tested 11 times in 2007, followed Mary Wineberg (10) and Reese Hoffa, who were selected for 10 tests, respectively.

Merritt came off the best season of his life in 2007, winning a silver medal at the World Championships in Osaka (43,96) and becoming the ninth athlete in world history to break the 44,00-flat barrier.

Collins has been fighting a previous drug charge which has since gone back into arbitration by the IAAF.

Wineberg had a break-through season in which the then 27-year-old lowered her 400m personal record down to a very respectable 50,24 and was part of the gold medal-winning 4x400m quartet which defeated Russia in Osaka, and Hoffa was the 2006 USA national indoor and world indoor shot put champion.

There have been 24.829 IAAF anti-doping tests conducted on athletes from 2000-2007 - an average of 3.103 each year. If the number of cheaters are, indeed, reducing in numbers, the IAAF can hold its head high and claim to be catching the leaders in the cheating game.

Unfortunately, Marion Jones was able to escape unscathed more than 150 times behind a wall of deception throughout her career, so to state that the testing system works and is a suggestion that athletes today are less apt to take drugs is not entirely true.

Athletes Sanctioned for a Doping Offence in 2007:

• ADEOYE, Susan Olufunke (NGR), In Competition 05.07.07, Ephedrine*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• AJJAJI, El Mokhtar (MAR), In Competition 18.03.07, Stanozolol Strychnine Norandrosterone, 3 years ineligibility from 22.06.07 - 21.06.10
• BALSEN, Julien (FRA), In Competition 09.12.06, Prednisone* Prednisolone*, 6 months ineligibility from 12.07.07 - 11.01.08
• BELL, Kenta (USA), In Competition 24.06.07, Methylprednisolone*, Public Warning and 3 months deferment
• BOTEZAN, Mihaela (ROM), In Competition 28.04.07, Chlorthalidon, 2 years ineligibility from 17.10.07 - 16.10.09
• CHEPKEMEI, Susan (KEN), IAAF OOC 10.09.07, Salbutamol, 1 years ineligibility from 19.10.07 - 18.10.08
• CHESANI, Silvano (ITA), In Competition 26.08.07, Formeterol*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• DEHIBA, Hind (FRA), IAAF OOC 23.01.07, rh-EPO, 2 years ineligibility from 16.02.07 - 15.02.09
• DENISOVA, Lyubov (RUS), IAAF OOC 20.03.07, Prostanozol Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 27.04.07 - 26.04.09
• FILIPPIDIS, Konstantinos (GRE), In Competition 16.06.07, Etilephrine, 2 years ineligibility from 11.07.07 - 10.07.09
• FORTES ANDRE, Bruno Miguel (POR), In Competition 11.02.07, Cannabis**, 2 years ineligibility from 15.03.07 - 14.03.09
• GAUTHIER, Franck (FRA), In Competition 09.04.07, Heptaminol*, Public Warning & Disqualification from 20.07.07 - 19.10.07
• IVANOVA, Alena (BLR), In Competition 14.07.07, Furosemide, 2 years ineligibility from 06.08.07 - 05.08.09
• JAYSUNA, Saidy (NOR), In Competition 28.06.07, Cannabis*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• JIMLA, Omar (MAR), In Competition 15.04.07, rh-EPO, 3 years ineligibility from 31.05.07 - 30.05.10
• JONES, Marion (USA), admission of use of a prohibited substance, 2 years ineligibility from 08.10.07 - 07.10.09
• JOSEPH, Jasmine (IND), In Competition 12.02.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 07.05.07 - 06.05.09
• KAOUCH, Adil (MAR), In Competition 13.07.07, rh-EPO, 2 years ineligibility from 08.08.07 - 07.08.09
• KECHI, Héni (FRA), In Competition 19.06.07, Cannabis*, 3 months ineligibility from 09.10.07 - 08.01.08
• KEHLER, Lisa (GBR), In Competition 07.07.07, Terbutaline*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• KEITA, Naman (FRA), IAAF OOC 20.08.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 01.09.07 - 31.08.09
• KHANFARI, Ahmadreza (IRI), In Competition 08.05.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 31.05.07 - 30.05.09
• KOCABAS, Jonathan (BEL), In Competition 23.06.07, Cannabis*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• KOLAROVA, Teodora (BUL), IAAF OOC 26.06.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 10.08.07 - 09.08.09
• KONEVA, Yekaterina (RUS), In Competition 14.02.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 23.03.07 - 22.03.09
• KRAVCHENKO, Olesya (RUS), In Competition 07.02.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 20.02.07 - 19.02.09
• KUMAR, Gajendra (IND), In Competition 11.02.07, Mephentermine, 2 years ineligibility from 14.07.07 - 13.07.09
• KYYRO, Mikko (FIN), In Competition 05.08.07, Methylprednisolone*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• LACASSE, Florent (FRA), IAAF OOC 18.05.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 13.07.07 - 12.07.09
• LEWANSKI, Mikolaj (POL), In Competition 30.06.07, Cannabis*, Public Warning & Disqualification from 30.06.07
• LING, Peng (CHN), National OOC 19.09.07, Methandienone, 4 years ineligibility from 08.10.07 - 07.10.11
• LIPSCOMBE, Jesse (CAN), In Competition 12.05.07, Ephedrine*, 6 months ineligibility from 16.08.07 - 15.02.08
• MAHDAVI, Seyed Shahrokh (IRI), National OOC 20.10.07, Methandienone, 2 years ineligibility from 20.11.07 - 19.11.09
• MOSAZADEH, Kavian (IRI), In Competition 24.05.07, Norandrosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 25.06.07 - 24.06.09
• MUCERINO, Giuseppe (ITA), In Competition 11.03.07, Tuaminoheptame*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• NIKODEM, Dawid (POL), In Competition 27.01.07, Cannabis*, 6 months ineligibility from 27.01.07 - 26.07.07
• PAYNE, Jamie (TRI), In Competition 17.03.07, Stanozolol Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 22.05.07 - 21.05.09
• PINTO, Luzia Souza (BRA), In Competition 01.04.07, Sibutramine*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• RAVI PINTO, Rosalba (ITA), In Competition 25.03.07, Furosemide, 2 years ineligibility from 05.07.07 - 04.07.09
• SANCHEZ-REY, Pablo Lopez (ESP), In Competition 06.05.07, 13.05.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 30.07.07 - 29.07.09
• SAVI, Stefano (ITA), In Competition 31.07.07, Cannabis*, 2 months ineligibility from 05.11.07 - 04.01.08
• SECHNEV, Yuriy (RUS), In Competition 06.10.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 20.11.07 - 19.11.09
• SEGATO, Marco Francesco (ITA), In Competition 25.02.07, hCG, 2 years ineligibility from 14.06.07 - 13.06.09
• SEVUKTEKIN, Yahya (TUR), Tampering or attempting to tamper with doping control (Rule 32.2e), 2 years ineligibility from 11.04.07 - 10.04.09
• SHMAGAYLO, Vadim (RUS), In Competition 21.04.07, Norandrosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 25.05.07 - 24.05.09
• SIHAMMANE, Abdeljabbar (MAR), In Competition 07.01.07, Furosemide, 2 years ineligibility from 20.02.07 - 19.02.09
• SLEPOV, Aleksander (RUS), In Competition 09.06.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 03.07.07 - 02.07.09
• STAMBOLOVA, Vania (BUL), IAAF OOC 24.01.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 10.04.07 - 09.04.09
• TURSKIS, Tomas (LTU), In Competition 15.09.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 04.12.07 - 03.12.09
• UUDMÄE, Jaanus (EST), In Competition 23.06.07, Sibutramine*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• USLU, Binnaz (TUR), IAAF OOC 13.03.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 24.03.07 - 23.03.09
• VENEVA, Venelina (BUL), IAAF OOC 24.01.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 03.04.07 - 02.04.09
• WANG, Yaqi (CHN), National OOC 22.08.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 11.09.07 - 10.09.09
• ZOLADKIEWICZ, Christin (GER), National OOC 07.09.07, Refusal, 2 years ineligibility from 30.10.07 - 29.10.09
• ZOUBAA, Khalid (FRA), In Competition 27.01.07, rh-EPO, 3 years ineligibility from 22.02.07 - 21.02.10

* = substance which was classified on the WADA 2007 Prohibited List as a "Specified Substance" and as such may result in a reduced sanction
** = Second offence

Doping statistics and list of offenders courtesy of IAAF.