At least two top Comrades athletes will be breathing a sigh of relief with the news that the blood samples taken at this year’s race have been destroyed and will not be further tested for the latest designer steroid, tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).
‘All we do at Comrades is supply a facility for testing to take place. The types of tests and the life of the samples are left to Athletics South Africa and the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport [Saids],†said Comrades media spokesperson Cheryl Winn.
The man tasked with testing South African athletes, Saids board member Chris Hattingh, sees little hope for would-be THG junkies.
But he says ‘the Comrades marathon samples would have been dumped after 30 days if there were not any positive tests, which there weren’t. Accredited laboratories worldwide are extremely careful about their status. Once a sample has been tested it is, by implication, tainted, and they would not risk their reputation on keeping such items.
‘It’s a race with the suppliers of these stimulants. We are sometimes behind [them] but we always catch up. Take former East German sprinter Katrinna Krabbe’s clash with the doping authorities, for instance — that dragged on for years. The ruling at that stage was that 24 hours’ notice for out-of-competition testing had to be given.
”She and two of her fellow athletes were ready with alternative samples that they concealed inside themselves. Since then the law has been amended. No notice is given for out-of-competition testing.
‘Besides the side effects of the drugs — sterility, heart disease, cancer and mood/personality changes — it is a criminal activity. Steroids in their various forms are schedule five drugs and cannot be obtained over the counter. They have to be prescribed,†says Hattingh.