Duncan Mackay
AT least four positive drug tests taken at the Olympic Games in Atlanta are yet to be made public, according to an expert on testing.
Only two positive tests were reported from athletics events at this summer’s Games, which were hailed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)president Juan Antonio Samaranch as among the cleanest Olympics in history.
But Don Catlin, joint head of the IOC’s doping panel, who was in charge of testing for steroids in Atlanta, says he reported at least four positive samples which have not been announced by the IOC.
“There were several other steroid positives from around the end of the Games,” he said. “I hope the test results will be published. I expect all the cases to be acted upon.”
He is afraid the names will never be known, as drugs tests are conducted in anonymity. The code numbers identifying the cheats are held by the IOC and he knows neither the names of the competitors nor in what they competed.
They are, however, likely to be medallists, as the standard practice is to test the first three in each event, and one other finalist selected at random.
Dope-testing at Atlanta was carried out by the multinational pharmaceutical company Smithkline Beecham – the first time a commercial firm has been in charge since testing began in 1968.
Dr Barry Sample, of Smithkline, said this week that all results were reported to the IOC within a week of the closing ceremony and that any delay was not the company’s responsibility.
Prince Alexander de Merode, chairman of the IOC’s medical panel in charge of doping control, who was at an Olympic meeting in Mexico, refused to comment.
The results may never be announced. After the Los Angeles Olympics 12 years ago, the last time the Games were held in the United States, confidential documents relating to nine positive drugs tests were shredded by a hotel cleaner, according to IOC officials, preventing any further action from being taken.
The cover-up only came to light when Catlin published a research paper.
Olympic drugs tests can be processed within 24 hours. “A lab at the Olympics should at least be capable of reporting results within 48 hours,” Dr Catlin said.
“I can think of no reason why these results have not been published.”
Catlin and his team from the University of California were brought in two months before the Games opened when it emerged that technicians at Morehouse College, the new $2,5-million Smithkline lab used for testing, would be unable to cope with 1 800 tests in the two weeks of the Games – more than they would be expected to process in a year.
Catlin is unhappy that a commercial laboratory was used. “It would be risky for any company to be associated in any way in the doping control process,” he said. “It’s even worse for a commercial drug manufacturer to be involved.
“I don’t think it’s fair. Smithkline make testosterone, which is a very effective anabolic agent. They also make testosterone patches, which administer the steroid through the skin. I wish those products just weren’t on the market.’
Sample denied any conflict of interest. “It’s the physician’s responsibility for the prescribing of drugs, not the manufacturer’s.”