Two months ago Justin Gatlin, the joint world 100m record holder and reigning Olympic sprint champion, gave a remarkably prescient interview to the magazine Sports Illustrated: ”I understand what it would mean to track and field if I ever tested positive or went down in some scandal. Not to have an ego about it, but it might be the KO for our sport.”
So when Gatlin put out a statement this weekend that he had tested positive for testosterone after a relay event in Kansas in April, it sent shockwaves through a sport that has grown wearily accustomed to drug scandals.
Coming just days after it was revealed that his fellow American Floyd Landis, the winner of the Tour de France, had tested positive for testosterone, it reignited the debate about drugs in sport. Can spectators have any confidence in the integrity of today’s sporting superstars? And can the authorities ever eradicate the cheats, or will sport have to surrender and accept a level of drug-enhanced performance?
Gatlin (24) who prided himself on being a role model for young athletes as the world’s fastest man, is protesting his innocence, saying: ”It is simply not consistent with my character or my confidence in my God-given athletic ability to cheat in any way.” His coach, Trevor Graham, said Gatlin had been ”set up”.
It is likely that Gatlin will be stripped of the 9,77-second 100m world record he achieved in Doha in May. He also faces a life ban from athletics because of a suspension in 2001 after testing positive for amphetamines from a prescribed drug.
Frank Dick, the coach who guided British athletes in the halcyon days of the 1970s and 80s, said on Sunday: ”We don’t know if he is guilty, but I despair every time this happens … it tarnishes the reputation of track and field.”
Free-for-all
Gatlin is only the latest addition to athletics’ long rollcall of drugs scandal: Canadian Ben Johnson, stripped of his gold medal after being exposed for using anabolic steroids at the Seoul Olympics in 1998; Tim Montgomery, banned after links with the US Balco drugs scandal — which also snared Dwain Chambers, Kelli White and Chryste Gaines after Victor Conte, a US chemist, pleaded guilty to distributing the designer steroid THG to athletes.
On Sunday, the disgraced 44-year-old Johnson further fuelled the debate with a call for a drugs free-for-all, suggesting spectators wanted speed at all costs. ”The spectators don’t care,” he told Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek. ”All they want to see is the world’s fastest man. That’s the way life is and people have to come to terms with that and just enjoy track and field.”
But Paul Doyle, the agent for Asafa Powell — who shares the 100m world record and, if Gatlin is banned, the man on whom the reputation of global sprinting will depend — said offenders should be banned for life for failing a single test. ”Any time a positive drugs test comes out and an athlete gets banned, it’s a good thing in the long run,” Doyle said. ”What it means is we’re cleaning up the sport, taking a step in the right direction.”
The British Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, agreed. He said more cases were coming to light because of a more stringent anti-drugs regime. The British government has taken a lead in bringing in the World Anti-Doping Agency code, which has been adopted by the governing bodies of all sports.
”The code is a big warning to all athletes of every description,” Caborn told The Guardian. ”The real message is that cheats cannot prosper in sport.” He said the agency and UK Sport had been given increased powers to test in and out of competition, and rejected calls for drugs to be permitted.
”I do not accept that. The vast majority do not accept that. The message that the way to get on the podium is via doping is unacceptable. It would send an appalling message to young people, particularly those inspired by London 2012. Sport is all about inspiring young people and that inspiration has to be clean,” Caborn said.
Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Commission, said doping was an issue for all sports. He defended cycling’s attempts to stamp out cheats. ”A sport is credible whenever it conducts the necessary amount of testing in and out of competition,” he said.
The credibility of the Tour de France is at stake after the positive test on Landis (30) who denies committing an offence — although his lawyer said he expected the B-sample to also test positive for testosterone. Landis is likely to be the first Tour champion to be stripped of the title — a huge setback for the event, which was also rocked by the withdrawal of nine competitors after they were implicated in a Spanish doping investigation.
Police inquiry
Pat McQuaid, the president of the Union Cycliste International, promised to hold a full audit of the sport on Sunday. ”We will look at all aspects, the competition, events, calendar, teams and the management of teams. If we can do that, then we will regain some ground and credibility.” He suggested that the police could help crack drug networks and suppliers using hidden cameras. ”We have to continue the fight. Doping is not just a problem in cycling, but in sport in general.”
As Gatlin prepares to face the US Anti-Doping Agency and the affair reverberates around the world of athletics, Peter Ueberroth, the US Olympic committee chairperson, summed up the mood by comparing doping to a cancer. ”It tears at the fabric of what makes sport unique and important to our society. We are committed to winning this battle, but the cold reality is … we are not yet winning the battle.”
Artificial aids
Erythropoietin
EPO is a naturally occurring hormone which helps create red blood cells. It boosts endurance by enabling the body to carry more oxygen.
Steroids
Athletes seeking to boost muscle mass have been taking anabolic steroids since the 1950s. The negative health consequences of taking steroids include increased risk of heart attacks and liver problems.
Tetrahydrogestrinone
The ”designer drug” THG was developed by a US scientist specifically to avoid detection. Until 2003, when an athletics coach leaked names of athletes using an unknown form of steroid which builds muscle strength, THG could not be detected by conventional tests.
Modafinil
A prescription psycho-stimulant, also known as Provigil, which is usually taken to combat sleep deprivation. It has stimulating properties similar to amphetamines.
Human Growth Hormone
HGH, an anabolic hormone, has been used to help stunted children grow normally. Although banned it is used to to strengthen joints and bones. – Guardian Unlimited Â