The Doping Scandal in Sports
414 words
31 October 2003
The New York Times
National Edition
22
English
(c) 2003 New York Times Company
The investigation into whether prominent athletes are using a new steroid that was designed to escape detection shows how difficult it will be to root out such cheating. The Food and Drug Administration wisely banned the substance as unsafe this week. Now it will be critically important to discipline any athletes who have used it.
The inquiry started when an anonymous track coach tipped off the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which conducts testing for Olympic sports, saying several American and international athletes were using an undetectable steroid. The coach also supplied a syringe of the substance to be analyzed. It took experts more than two months to figure out what the substance was and devise a test to detect it. They identified the drug as tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, a new entity closely related to known anabolic steroids that are already banned from Olympic sports. Clearly, it will not be easy to stay ahead of chemically sophisticated cheaters unless whistle-blowers can be persuaded to turn them in.
The head of the antidoping agency has called the case the biggest athletic drug crackdown ever, revealing a conspiracy by chemists, coaches and athletes. Urine tests are reported to show that some half-dozen American track and field stars may have used the substance. Some 40 or more athletes in various sports are said to have been summoned to testify before a grand jury. It is not clear whether these athletes are suspected users or merely witnesses against the company suspected of supplying the drug. But it will be important for them to tell all they know or face perjury charges. The company denies supplying the drug and claims that THG may not even be an anabolic steroid.
The doping inquiry ought to send a warning jolt to the lethargic governing bodies of amateur and professional sports. American track and field authorities have belatedly announced a strong antidoping strategy that would penalize steroid users with lifetime bans and fines of up to $100,000 apiece, and would punish their coaches. The governing bodies of other sports are talking about adding THG to their lists of banned substances and disciplining athletes who use it, although their zeal for a crackdown varies. Whatever testing is done needs to be independent of the athletic governing bodies to ensure no cover-ups. And punishments must be draconian enough to deter coaches and athletes from seeking a drug-enhanced path to athletic glory.