Doping Journal 1, 2 (24 September 2004) find out how to cite this article

Jacquelin Magnay

c/o The Sydney Morning Herald, P.O. Box 506 Sydney NSW 2001l Australia
email: djnewsauthor@dopingjournal.org

Published online: 24 September, 2004  | Article readership

First published June 24, 2004 in The Sydney Morning Herald,  http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/21/1087669920575.html
Copyright © 2004 by The Sydney Morning Herald, licensee The Doping Journal

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High-profile US athletes being chased by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in the BALCO affair have been shown some of the evidence against them, including a shopping list of illegal drugs and a price list. The documents show being a drug cheat is not cheap. A five-month BALCO program believed to include banned drugs erythropoietin, designer steroids, growth hormone and a testosterone cream costs $US6355 ($9221). In addition there is a mandatory medical program including blood testing at $400 a month, medical consultations costing over $US10,000 and biweekly urine testing - essential for monitoring when an athlete may fail a drugs test. And if an athlete tasted success, the cheques for the company were to keep rolling in. If a client set a personal best time they were to pay BALCO $10,000. For a world record the price is $20,000. World Anti-Doping Agency chief executive David Howman told Herald his agency was confident in the USADA processes and revealed "some athletes are talking". He said the USADA was gathering first-hand evidence before charging athletes.

High-profile US athletes being chased by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in the BALCO affair have been shown some of the evidence against them, including a shopping list of illegal drugs and a price list (see Table 1 below).

The documents show being a drug cheat is not cheap. A five-month BALCO program believed to include banned drugs erythropoietin, designer steroids, growth hormone and a testosterone cream costs $US6355 ($9221).

In addition there is a mandatory medical program including blood testing at $400 a month, medical consultations costing over $US10,000 and biweekly urine testing - essential for monitoring when an athlete may fail a drugs test. And if an athlete tasted success, the cheques for the company were to keep rolling in. If a client set a personal best time they were to pay BALCO $10,000. For a world record the price is $20,000.

World Anti-Doping Agency chief executive David Howman told the Herald his agency was confident in the USADA processes and revealed "some athletes are talking". He said the USADA was gathering first-hand evidence before charging athletes.

San Jose's The Mercury News yesterday reported on email correspondence between BALCO owner Victor Conte and Remi Korchemny, the coach of disgraced sprinter Dwain Chambers [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. It revealed they experimented with the levels of drugs athletes took. Korchemny reported that when one athlete took "the new S supplement (believed to be code for the narcolepsy drug modafinil) he ran like crazy".

Conte referred to his products as rocket fuel and warned taking "E" (believed to refer to the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin), required the athlete to drink water, water and water. Conte wrote: "E makes the blood thick and water dilutes the blood, the way to prevent any type of blood clot is to dilute the blood with water."

The evidence is being shown to athletes such as Tim Montgomery, Chryste Gaines, Michelle Collins and Alvin Harrison in an effort to gain their co-operation to help unravel the drugs ring. They are also being shown their own emails, payments, invoices and personal calendars detailing drug regimes and laboratory test results.

A grand jury has indicted Conte, Korchemny, Greg Anderson, who trains baseball star Barry Bonds, and BALCO vice president James Valente.

Drugs regime over a five-month period:
 

G (growth hormone*) 20 weeks - 15 bottles at $150. $2250.

E (erythropoietin*) 12 weeks - 16 bottles at $65. $1040.

I 12 weeks - 1 bottle at $100. $100.

C (designer steroid THG*) 15 weeks - 45 doses at $25. $1125.

E nutrition - 12 weeks E, Fe, FA, B-12. $300.

Proquick - 20 weeks. $840.

Proglycosyn - 20 weeks. $200.

ZMA, Vitalyze, Tryosine - 20 weeks. $500.

Blood testing - $400/month. $2000.

Urine testing biweekly - 10 tests at $130. $1300.

Supply total: $9655.

Medical consultation: $10,345.

Bonus to be paid to BALCO for personal record: $10,000

Bonus to be paid to BALCO for world record: $20,000

*) Denotes what the letter is believed to represent.

All US dollars.

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1. Lewis S. Designer drugs. Irish Examiner (October 29, 2003) [ FullText ][ Back2Text ].

2. BALCO investigation. Mercury News Stories (last viewed Sept 23, 2004) [ FullText ][ Back2Text ].

3. Slot O. Drugs in sport: Jones and Bonds named in Balco case. The Times and The Sunday Times (April 27, 2004) [ FullText ][ Back2Text ].

4. Almond E. Lawmaker calls for Balco case probe. Congressman sees possible problem with Justice Dept. actions. Mercury News (Sept 17, 2004) [ FullText ][ Back2Text ].

5. BALCO owner admits supplying steroids. ESPN.com news services (April 25, 2004) [ FullText ][ Back2Text ].

6. Google search results on “Mercury News and Balco”. Google Web site [ Search Result ][ Back2Text ].

7. San Francisco chronicle search results on “Balco”. SFGate Web site [ Search Result ][ Back2Text ].   

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This article should be cited in the following way: Magnay J. BALCO drugs shopping list revealed. The Doping Journal  Vol.1, 2 (2004), Published online September 24, 2004, Available at: http://dopingjournal.org/content/1/2/( Provide web address when citing this paper )