DOPING NEWS 2004

News on all aspects of doping science, doping usage, anti doping control, and anti-doping code appearing in lay and business press are vitally important. The Doping Journal fulfills its obligation to inform interested scientists, athletes, funding agencies, regulatory bodies and legislators about the news stories on doping.

Legal notice: 'Doping News' page of the Doping Journal is provided for educational purpose only. A reference for news at length of this page is not an endorsement or approval of a news article content. The list below does not make a claim to being comprehensive; It is no substitute for your own research, and should not be relied upon for any purpose. Further info is available at the Doping Journal disclaimer statement. Please note that Doping Journal may inadvertently omit certain national/international news stories due to the lack of information. If you notice an omission please let us know. Each citation may include URL links to related articles.

Document navigation menu and related items:

DJ NEWS 2006 | NEWS INDEX

DJ NEWS 2005, PART 1 | PART 2

DJ NOTEWORTHY

GOOGLE SEARCH

GOOGLE SCHOLAR

GOOGLE NEWS

NIH PUBMED

DJ News pages readership 1 January 2005 - 31 August 2005: 4519

Exclusive Interview: WADA's Dick Pound
Pelkey, Charles
Inside Triathlon - InsideTri.com (This report filed 27 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Editors note: "...While the interview [with WADA Director Dick Pound] touches on triathlon and other sports, it is admittedly focused largely on the doping issues affecting cycling. Nonetheless, Pound's comments, his general philosophy and his approach to the problem of doping in sport may prove to be of interest to all of us. Taking advantage of what the Internet has to offer - namely, bandwidth and space - we can present that interview in its entirety here on InsideTri.com..."

Interview Excerpt: "...One of the things that we all agreed upon when we drafted the world anti-doping code in Copenhagen. Everyone - athletes, IFs, governments - agreed that in order to be effective, we couldn't just stop at the Olympic movement. I've written to the commissioner of the major sports - baseball, football, hockey, basketball and golf. Hockey is in complete denial. They didn't even bother answering. The others all say three things basically: 1. There is no problem in (name the sport). 2. Even though there is no problem, we have a doping policy that we're satisfied with. 3. Even if we wanted to do something, it's a matter of collective bargaining and our hands are tied. That last point is what really floors me. I mean it's completely antithetical for a players union to be opposed to anti-doping. I just don't understand the belief structure. I saw some hope last year while watching the American president's state of the union address. There, while my wife - who is an American - and I were watching just to see if this year's speech was any more boring than last year's speech, this little nugget appears where he raises the issue of doping in sport. His message was clear to them: "Folks, you have a problem. Either you fix it or someone else will fix it for you..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Talk Today: BALCO scandal
Patrick, Dick
USA Today (26 May 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Don't know the difference between USADA and USTAF? Confused about the BALCO steroid scandal? USA TODAY reporter Dick Patrick will answer your questions and fill you in on the latest news and rumors..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

BALCO unwittingly triggered sweeping anti-doping movement
Williams, Flance, Fainaru-Wada, Mark
San Francisco Chronicle (29 December 2004) p.A1
[FullText]  [FullText at alternative source] [Author s contact]

Leading text: "It began with what the government called an “enforcement action” at an obscure nutrition laboratory near San Francisco International Airport. Now, 15 months after two dozen armed agents burst into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative - pausing in their search for evidence to view the photos of star athletes that adorned the walls - the federal probe into the suspected steroid mill called BALCO has pushed the topic of sports doping into the consciousness of even the most casual sports fan. Driven by a U.S. grand jury investigation, the threat of federal legislation and the steady drumbeat of media disclosures, the BALCO scandal is forcing the public to confront a dirty secret of American sports: that elite athletes, including some of sports’ biggest stars, routinely have used steroids, growth hormone and other banned substances in their quest to excel. “We have turned a corner,” says Dr. Steven Ungerleider, an Oregon-based sports psychologist and doping expert. “BALCO has been pretty ugly, but the silver lining is, if we hadn’t had the BALCO scandal, we’d still be in denial, covering up and playing the same charade that has gone on for years.” Ungerleider says that recent disclosures in the case - including a televised interview in which BALCO founder Victor Conte admitted providing drugs to Olympic superstar Marion Jones, and San Francisco Chronicle stories reporting that baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi used substances from BALCO - have created intense pressure to end what he called the “national embarrassment” of steroid abuse in big-time sports..."

Also see:

Editorial: Why we brought you the BALCO story
Bronstein, Phil
San Francisco Chronicle (12 December 2004) p.D4
[FullText] [Author s contact]

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Federer baffled by tennis doping
No Author
BBC Sport Tennis (29 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "World number one Roger Federer has hit out at his fellow professionals over failed drugs tests in tennis. Austrian Stefan Koubek was suspended for three months last week for failing a dope test, but plans to appeal. "It doesn't make any sense to me, taking drugs to play tennis," said Federer. "There are reports of several substances being used by players. "Some may be energy supplements but being professionals, the players should know what to use and what not to use." He added: "It's hard to believe some of them saying that they didn't know what the substance was." Koubek suspended after drugs test: Koubek claims he was given the banned substance triamcinolon acetonid in an injection administered by an Austrian doctor for a wrist injury, despite being assured by the doctor that the injection contained no illegal substances..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

British deny sneezing at their doping responsibilities
No Author
Sunday Morning Herald (27 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "The British Rugby Football League has tried to make light of another doping embarrassment after admitting that two members of the Leeds Rhinos team which won the Super League grand final in October had played for Great Britain in the Tri-Nations series despite testing positive for ephedrine. Keith Senior and Ryan Bailey were each fined £1500 ($3750), ordered to pay £700 costs and severely reprimanded after a hearing on Wednesday as the RFL's advisory panel accepted that the substance was contained in a cold cure, which both had declared taking before their positive tests. One of them is understood to have tested positive late in the Super League season, and the other during the Tri-Nations series when most of the Great Britain squad had a gastric virus. Explaining the apparent leniency of its punishment, the RFL pointed to the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines which classify ephedrine as a "specified substance" that is "particularly susceptible to unintentional anti-doping violations" - and therefore should not necessarily carry a ban..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Task Force On Doping And Medication Policy
News Release, 22 December 2004
United States Equestrian Federation, Inc. (23 December 2004)
[FullText] [USEF contact]

Leading text: "The FEI Task force on Doping and Medication Control held its first meeting in Lausanne on December 15, 2004. Chaired by Sven Holmberg (Sweden), the Task Force heard submissions from the FEI Legal Department, the FEI Communications department, the Chairman of the FEI Medication Sub Committee Andrew Higgins (Great Britain), and the Chairman of the FEI Judicial Committee Ken Lalo (Israel). The areas covered in the day long meeting included..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Olympic laboratory charged in Hamilton doping case
Associated Press
Times Wire Services (21 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "An Olympic doping laboratory in Athens, Greece, was charged Monday with destroying a sample that belonged to gold medalist cyclist Tyler Hamilton. Prosecutors charged "unknown perpetrators" with destroying a backup sample of the U.S. rider's blood. After winning his event at the Athens Games, Hamilton took a doping test, and an initial sample and backup sample were kept by the lab. A test of the initial sample showed evidence of a blood transfusion, but the case against Hamilton was dropped after his backup sample was frozen, leaving too few red blood cells to analyze. Hamilton tested positive again at a September race, with both samples confirming the result. He has questioned the reliability of the testing system for blood doping. Prosecutors also charged Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis with taking banned substances during the Olympics. He was stripped of his bronze medal after a drug test showed an abnormally high level of testosterone. He faces a misdemeanor charge..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

World Anti Doping Agency: WADA collects more than 90 percent of dues 2004. U.S. Payment of $1.44 Million Received. Additional $3.7 Million Received for 2002 and 2003
From wire reports
SportsFeatures.Com (23 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Montreal, December 22, 2004 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced today that it has collected approximately 94 percent, of its dues from governments and the Olympic Movement for 2004. This figure is the highest percentage of payments collected by the Agency in a calendar year since WADA was founded. The United States recently paid its dues of U.S. $1.44 million, the second highest amount paid to WADA by a government this year. The U.S. had reached an agreement with the Canadian Government whereby the two countries would pay 75 percent of the dues owed to WADA by the American continent. WADA’s budget is financed equally by governments and the Olympic Movement. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which makes payments to WADA on behalf of the Olympic Movement, matches dollar for dollar contributions made to the Agency by governments. “We are very pleased with the effort governments have made in 2004 to fulfill their financial obligations to WADA,” said Richard W. Pound, WADA’s president. “It seems the mechanisms are now in place for governments to pay in a timely manner, which will ensure that WADA has the resources it needs to carry out its responsibilities. WADA amended its statutes this year to require that all governments pay their dues or be excluded from participation at WADA Foundation Board and Executive Committee meetings, as well as risk sanction from the sporting movement by being barred from hosting international events..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

IOC President Jacques Rogge pleased
From wire reports
USA Today (21 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "IOC President Jacques Rogge believes 2004 marked a breakthrough in the fight to rid sport of drug cheats, despite the doping scandals that blighted the Athens Olympics. "It's a positive year, if I dare say, for the fight against doping," the International Olympic Committee chief told French sports daily l'Equipe in an interview published Monday. Rogge said the increasing influence of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the change of attitude by U.S. anti-doping authorities had been the main improvements. "This changing position has led to its first results," Rogge said. "We also made major scientific breakthroughs. From the detection of (the blood-boosting drug) EPO ... to blood testing in Athens, we've made constant progress," he said. Even before they began, the Athens Olympics were rocked by a doping saga involving Greek sprinters Katerina Thanou and Kostas Kenteris, who have been charged over missed drug tests on the eve of the Games. Both deny any wrongdoing. "I considered it as a breakthrough," Rogge said. "We are tracking down cheaters wherever they are, regardless of political implications that we should keep a blind eye on the host country..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Drugs in Sport: Britain's anti-doping progress grinds to a sorry halt
Verroken, Michele
The Guardian (16 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Excerpt: "The conviction of the Juventus club doctor for supplying drugs to players between 1994 and 1998 is a wake-up call. The World Anti-Doping Code allows for the reduction or elimination of penalties if athletes can show that they did not know they had been administered banned drugs. Doctors or other medical staff could find themselves in the frame for a player's doping offence; however, the UK has always shown remarkable tolerance to the involvement in doping of medics or coaches. The Balco situation in the United States should kickstart investigations into other products such as the use of the supplement ZMA by UK athletes. However, there is no mechanism in the UK for a Balco-type investigation. Without a national anti-doping organisation with investigative powers and formal authority, it will be left to sports governing bodies to see what their coaches and athletes are up to in the pursuit of medals. If David Millar had not admitted to a French judge he took EPO, we would never have known. Plans for the future do not look good. Revisions to the UK's national anti-doping policy may remove the life ban from lottery funding for athletes who cheat. When an independent review by UK Sport concluded that the UK did not need an independent agency, it did recommend further work to examine governance, reporting and line management in more detail. In the US, President Bush spoke out against steroid abuse in baseball, but here in the UK things are apparently rosy in the garden..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Shaikh Fawaz meets Wada boss
Gulf Daily News (16 December 2004) Vol. XXVII, No. 271
[FullText] [Author contact]

Excerpt: "General Organisation for Youth and Sports president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa met with World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) president and International Olympic Committee vice-president Dick Pound during his visit to Greece where he attended the International Physical Education Conference held recently. Shaikh Fawaz offered to host an anti-doping seminar in Bahrain in June next year in an effort to fight doping amongst national athletes..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

information given by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Press Information Bureau, Government of India
Rajya Sabha (15 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading : "Since 2001, seven Indian sportspersons have tested positive for dope during International competitions and 196 sportspersons have been tested positive for dope at Dope Control Centre, Delhi. National Sports Federations take appropriate action against sportspersons found guilty of doping. Government of India has also taken action against coaches in the light of dope results in respect of certain sports persons coached by them. This information was given by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Punishment despite no positive tests. Defense questions doping penalty
Almond, Elliott
Mercury News (15 December 2004)
[FullText] [Related article] [Author contact]

Leading text: "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) will face a serious challenge today to its case against sprinters Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines, two sources familiar with the matter said. A three-member panel from the Court of Arbitration for Sport will meet in Montreal to consider defense motions questioning the agency's authority to prosecute athletes who have not failed drug tests. Montgomery and Gaines are facing lifetime bans from track and field for drug violations based on circumstantial evidence collected in the Balco Laboratories scandal. Their cases are scheduled to be heard next summer. If arbitrators accept defense arguments in today's preliminary hearing, the charges could be dismissed, one source said. That would be a blow to the anti-doping agency's ability to conduct investigations based on what are called ``non-analytical positives..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Phonak turns to court in bid to regain licence
Almond, Elliott
Swissinfo.Org (15 December 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Swiss cycling team Phonak has turned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to regain its racing licence, which it lost following a series of doping scandals. Phonak said on Wednesday that it was seeking to overturn a decision by the International Cycling Union (UCI), which stripped the team of the right to participate in next year’s ProTour circuit. The team had been expected to take the issue to court after the UCI’s licences commission in November upheld an earlier decision to deny Phonak a licence following three positive doping tests involving its cyclists. At the time, UCI said the team had failed to “provide guarantees in respect of sporting ethics as they apply to doping”. It added that granting Phonak a licence would “harm the image of cycling as a sport”. Phonak's stable of riders included Olympic time-trial champion Tyler Hamilton of the United States, who Phonak sacked shortly after UCI's licence hearing. Blood transfusion. Phonak and Hamilton have denied claims of doping..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

How Russia and Australia will go for Hamilton's gold: Will the podium change?
Stevenson, John, Knappn, Gerald
Cycling News (17 November 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "The Russian and the Australian Olympic committees' joint appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have Tyler Hamilton stripped of his Olympic gold medal may be more than just an ambit move to gain more medals. If the appeal is successful, Russian rider Viatcheslav Ekimov will be awarded the gold medal and Australia's Michael Rogers will get the bronze. (Hamilton's countryman Bobby Julich would step up from bronze to silver). According to Cyclingnews sources, neither the Russians nor the Australians would be bringing the case to CAS if they didn't think they had a good chance of success. But what could be the grounds for the appeal? Hamilton returned a positive A sample in the new homologous blood doping test, but World Anti-Doping Agency policy is that an athlete is only positive if both A and B samples return positive results. While there have been plenty of cases of athletes admitting they used a banned substance after a positive A sample, and so not asking for the B sample to be analysed, athletes have a right to request a B sample counter-analysis. In the case of Hamilton at the Olympics, the B sample analysis was inconclusive because the blood sample had been frozen rather than refrigerated. The test relies on examining whole red blood cells by a technique called flow cytometry; unless conducted using special techniques, freezing destroys red blood cells, making a sample useless for the test. According to Sean Winnette, spokesman for the Australian Sports Drug Agency (SADA) there is no precedent that the organisation is aware of for an athlete to be stripped of a medal on the basis of the A sample alone. Rick Christie, the Sydney sports lawyer who represented Australian rider Ben Kersten when Kersten was attempting to secure a berth on the Australian Olympic team earlier this year, was also unable to find such a precedent. However, it may be that the Russian and Australian case won't rely on such a precedent. "We are going to argue on different grounds," AOC media relations manager Mike Tancred told Cyclingnews. "Our in-house counsel, Simon Rofe, has been speaking to medical experts to understand the scientific basis of the test and if the B sample is actually necessary..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

WADA code opens door to Hamilton appeal
Edited by Jeff Jones & John Stevenson
Cycling News (18 November 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Tyler Hamilton's is believed to be the first doping case to hinge on detection of a prohibited method of enhancing performance rather than a prohibited substance. As such, the Hamilton case and the appeal currently awaiting a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) are likely to set some important precedents. The outcome of the Russian and Australian Olympic Committees' appeal to CAS to have Hamilton stripped of Olympic gold may hinge on the interpretation of the master document in the sporting world's fight against doping - the World Anti-Doping Agency Code. But it's therefore also possible that Hamilton's lawyers could use interpretative arguments to defend his medal. "Athletes being found guilty of doping can arise from a broader range of events than just a positive sample" - Sean Winnette, Australian Sports Drug Agency. The WADA Code sets out the philosophical and practical basis for the anti-doping regime in all sports that are WADA signatories. That includes cycling and every other major sport - in particular, if you want your sport to be in the Olympics, you must be a WADA signatory. In Article 2 of the code, WADA sets out the situations that constitute doping, starting out with the most common one: a positive finding for a prohibited substance. Doping, it says, is established by, "The presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an Athlete's bodily Specimen..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

News: How doctors help the dopers
Bjerklie D, Park A
Time (16 August 2004) 164(7): 58-62
[NLM Record] [Author contact]

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Doped athletes flex muscles against drug company
Schwarzberg K
Nature (12 August 2004) 430(7001): 713
[NLM Record] [FullText] [Author contact]

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

IOC drops doping case against Tyler Hamilton
Associated Press (24 September 2004)
[FullText at Hindustan Times] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Tyler Hamilton will keep his Olympic cycling gold medal because a backup drug test was inconclusive, the International Olympic Committee has said. Hamilton tested positive for signs of blood doping in the initial sample on August 19 after his time-trial victory in Athens. But analysis of the backup sample failed to confirm the original finding because of "lack of enough intact red blood cells," the IOC said in a statement on Thursday. As a result, the IOC said it had dropped its investigation into the case and "would not be pursuing sanctions regarding this matter." IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist said the Athens lab made a mistake by deep-freezing Hamilton's blood sample rather than simply refrigerating it. As a result, the specimen deteriorated and the B sample could not be analysed, he said. "It was a case of human error ... An unfortunate accident," Ljungvist said in a conference call. Asked whether Hamilton had been lucky to slip through the net, he said, "It's up to everyone to draw his own conclusions on that..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Designer drugs
Lewis, Simon
Irish Examiner (29 October 2003)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "It is ironic that a word as cumbersome as tetrahydrogestrinone should be the name of a drug so easy to digest. That the drug is so potent, however, that just a couple of drops slipped under the tongue could help make an athlete run faster, jump higher and throw further is a little more difficult to swallow. THG, as it is known to those of us outside the chemical laboratories, is at the centre of the biggest doping scandal in sport since EPO stuck a spoke in the wheel of the Tour de France in 1998 or Ben Johnson stopped the Seoul Olympics in its tracks 10 years earlier. And it is the newest and, to date, most powerful threat to the integrity of sporting endeavour. Reports say more than 20 athletes who took part in the US track and field championships in June and tested negative for banned substances at the time have now tested positive for THG after officials used new methods and re-tested samples which competitors provided four months ago. Named so far are US shot putt champion Kevin Toth, hammer thrower James McEwan and middle-distance runner Regina Jacobs. Also named has been British sprinter Dwain Chambers, the European 100-metres champion. THG is an anabolic steroid that is, a synthetic version of the male hormone testosterone designed as much to escape the procedures of the drugs testers as to give cynical athletes a head start against their rivals by increasing muscle bulk and stamina. It had been performing a vanishing act when urine was subjected to the normal processes that take place during laboratory drug testing..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

BALCO drugs shopping list revealed
Magnay, Jacquelin
Sydney Morning Herald (22 June 2004)
[FullText] [FullText @Doping Journal] [Author contact]

Leading text: "High-profile US athletes being chased by the US Anti-Doping Agency 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 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. 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..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Idea lab: Athletic Profiling
Austen, Ian
NYTimes.com New York Times Magazine (12 September 2004)
[FullText (registration required)] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Richard Pound, the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has a point when he says that the record number of positive drug tests at the Athens Olympics was a good sign. Those tests, along with the bizarre mini-drama that ensued when two Greek runners skipped their test appointments, show that a serious effort was made by the antidoping forces. But you don't have to be a hardened cynic to realize that the antidoping effort is nonetheless in crisis. When athletes are suspected of doping, they often cite a lack of positive tests as proof of innocence. But designer drug laboratories like Balco have been accused of seeking to distribute potent steroids that don't test positive. And Balco aside, some of the biggest gains in artificial performance enhancement over the last decade have come from difficult-to-detect yet highly effective human-growth hormones. In response, the United States has adopted an incoherent approach to surveillance. Athletes find themselves under investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency not for what they've done but, in some cases, for whom they know. Innuendo and suspicion have become substitutes for evidence. Is there a better way? Ultimately, the model used by the antidopers since the 60's is the one that's been employed in the larger war on drugs: find the users and punish them. And this is simply a dead end..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

The double-standard for doping: it's alright for art
Hamish, Stewart
Sydney Morning Herald (2 September 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "The Olympics may be over, but the cloud of drug abuse still hangs heavy. The only question is, why do we care? I think we should be much more worried about drugs in another field entirely: the arts. Artistic drug cheats have been getting an unfair advantage for years, and nobody says a word about it. Look at Coleridge's Kubla Khan. Sure, it's a classic poem. But everyone knows the guy was doped up to the eyeballs when he wrote it. He couldn't even complete it once the drug's effects had worn off. What kind of "natural" talent is that? Does anyone denounce Coleridge? Does anyone question his true abilities? Has his poem been disqualified from English lit courses? I don't think so. Poor old Greek sprinter Kostas Kederis was banned from the Olympic Games in total disgrace, while Coleridge sits untouched in the pantheon of literature. He's not the only one. How about Jack Kerouac? Or Irvine Welsh? Hunter S. Thompson? The evidence is there, page after page: mescaline, dope, LSD, you name it.  But where's the Anti-Doping Agency now? Who's heading to the next book launch, with a specimen jar at the ready, determined to get a urine sample?"

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Jones Wants Public Hearing On Possible Drug Case. Olympic Champion Investigated For Possible Doping Violations
NBC Olympics (16 June 2004, updated 17 June 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Olympic champion runner Marion Jones called Wednesday for a public hearing in her campaign to clear her name and prevent drug allegations from keeping her out of the Athens Games. "I am not going to engage in the United States Anti-Doping Agency's secret kangaroo court. I will answer questions in a public forum that will be open for the entire world to see, hear and evaluate," Jones said at a news conference. The USADA is investigating Jones for possible violations of rules banning performance-enhancing drugs. Jones met with USADA officials last month to discuss possible drug evidence against her, and received a letter from the agency last week asking follow-up questions..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Genetic engineering: Monkeying with gene doping. Hormone stimulant builds muscle mass; coaches, athletes are intrigued despite serious consequences ( DNA May Soon Be in Play )
Zarembo, Alan
Los Angeles Times (27 August 2004)
[FullText at NewsDay] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Dr. Jim Wilson never intended to create supermonkeys. A pioneer in genetic engineering, he was experimenting with inserting single genes into muscle cells, a technique that could eventually treat a variety of genetic illnesses. He chose a gene that boosts levels of erythropoietin, or EPO, a key hormone in the production of oxygen-toting red blood cells. But EPO has long had another claim to fame. Its synthetic version, created in the 1980s to treat anemia, is one of the most notorious performance-enhancing drugs in competitive sports, able to increase endurance by raising the oxygen supply to muscles. In less than two weeks, many of Wilson's rhesus monkeys had red-cell counts greater than those of world-class runners who train at high altitude. By three weeks, they had a higher concentration than even the worst EPO abusers in sports. cience has already opened the door to the next frontier in athletic fraud: gene doping..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

More dopers punished
AP
The London Free Press (27 August 2004)
[Free FullText] [Author contact]

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Doping: Athens, the Doping Games. Interview with Prof. Ulrich Haas, representative of the Independent Observer Programme at Athens 2004 Olympic games
Interviewer: Andreas Tzortzis
Deutsche Welle, DW-World.de (August 2004)
[Free FullText] [Related article: 1 | 2] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Anti-doping officials went into the Athens Games more confident than ever they would catch cheating athletes. So far, 30 athletes have been caught or are being investigated, putting Germany's top doping official in a good mood..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Probe reveals drug cheats are being shielded. Top stars and major federations stand accused
Mihir, Bose
Sundaytimes.co.za (29 August 2004)
[Free FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "IN A devastating secret memorandum, the International Association of Athletics Federations have admitted that their own anti-doping measures have failed to curb drug cheats. The document goes on to say that many national federations, including some with high-profile successful athletes, try to hide guilty parties or cover up doping cases. In the memorandum the world governing body for athletics also admit: "The doping-related incidents in Athens and earlier this year are evidence that neither national federations nor the IAAF are doing enough to ensure fair competition and a positive reputation for athletics. There are weakness in our rules, our policies and the enforcement of our rules..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Record drug busts mark new era in doping battle
Wilson, Stephen.
Associated Press (28 August 2004)
[Free FullText at Fortwayne.com] [Author contact]

Leading text: "As soon as the little-known Belarusian sprinter crossed the finish line to win the women’s 100 meters, the cross-examination began. How did you improve your times so dramatically? What are your training methods? Yuliya Nesterenko had never run less than 11 seconds before the Olympics, but did it in all four rounds – including a career best 10.93 in the final. Minutes later, the line of reporters’ questions at her post-race news conference alluded to suspicions of drug use. Nesterenko patiently replied that her sudden success simply came down to hard work. Then she passed her post-race drug test. Such is the climate shadowing virtually every medalist’s performance in Athens – and not without some justification. A record 20 athletes have been thrown out of the Athens Games for doping violations so far..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Doping Cases at the Athens Games
Associated Press (28 August 2004)
[FullText] [FullText at alternative source] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was the first athlete in Athens stripped of a medal because of a doping offense. Sampanis lost his bronze from the 62-kilogram class. Russian shot putter Irina Korzhanenko tested positive for steroids after she won the gold and was stripped of her medal. Hungary's Robert Fazekas lost his gold medal in discus for allegedly tampering with a doping test. Hungarian weightlifter Ferenc Gyurkovics was stripped of his silver medal and kicked out of the Olympics on Saturday for using the steroid oxandrolone..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

The Olympic doping threat explained
Fordyce, Tom
BBC (10 August 2004)
[FullText] [Author contact]

Leading text: "Olympic president Jacques Rogge has warned that there could be more positive dope tests in Athens than at any other Games in history. Record numbers of athletes will be tested, new tests developed and samples frozen so they can be analysed retrospectively. But what are the drugs and methods that cheats might be using, what benefits would they gain and how easy are they to detect? STIMULANTS What are they? Substances that act on the brain to stimulate the body mentally and physically..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Experts warn Olympics blood-doping cheats
ABS-CBCNews (20 July 2004)
[FullText] [News source feedback contact]

Leading text: "Blood doping, a scourge in world sports since the scandal-hit 1998 edition of the Tour de France cycling classic, will not help athletes to glory at next month's Olympic Games in Athens, experts say.

"If you cheat, you will be caught," Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), wrote in the agency's Play True newsletter. Swede Arne Ljungqvist, who heads the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) medical commission, echoed Pound's confidence that blood-doping cheats would be caught, saying testing would increase in Athens during the August 13-29 Games. "All ways of enhancing the performance capability by increasing the number of red blood cells are well covered by anti-doping laboratories," Ljungqvist told Reuters in a recent interview. Blood doping can boost athletes' performance, especially in endurance disciplines such as long-distance running, swimming and cycling..."

contributed by Alexei Koudinov | This item permanent URL

Watch latest original research on doping published in other journals. Click here.