Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand) Copyright: 2000 New Zealand Herald Contact: PO Box 32, Auckland, New Zealand Fax: (09) 373-6421 Website: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ Forum: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/forums/ Author: Catherine Masters KEEP IT CLEAN - SPORT'S WAR AGAINST DRUGS It was getting on for 7 o'clock on the evening of Monday, November 22. Double Commonwealth silver medallist and Olympic swimmer Trent Bray was relaxing in the spa pool, getting warm after a training session at the Philips Aquatic Centre pool at Mt Albert Grammar School. He had no reason to suspect he had been singled out for testing by the New Zealand Sports Drug Agency - but it was hardly unexpected either. Along with other top athletes, he had gone through it many times before. On that Monday, at 6.54 pm, along came Penny Edwards, a member of the agency's drug-testing squad. She had already arranged exclusive use of the disabled persons' toilet at the centre for the job at hand - collecting a sample of Bray's urine. Bray stayed in the spa pool while she went through the formalities. There was a form to sign, and she offered him a booklet setting out his rights and responsibilities. She also offered him a selection of sealed drinks, and he drank one to help him urinate. He signed the form and, with male drug-control official Terry Jacobs, headed for the toilet. When they got there, Bray went in with Mr Jacobs, while Penny Edwards waited outside. Bray urinated into a container while being watched - privacy is a right he and other competitors have waived to take part in their sport. He did not find out until January that he was the first New Zealand athlete to test positive for nandrolone, a banned anabolic, androgenic steroid. Bray, though, did not incur the four-year ban due for a first offence. He took the agency to court and won, although that finding is now under appeal. Auckland District Court Judge Roderick Joyce, QC, found that the agency used incorrect containers for Bray's sample and he cited a long delay getting the sample tested in Sydney. It is not over yet for Bray. While the agency's appeal runs its course, the swimmer, who strongly protests his innocence, is having to defend his tarnished reputation. He told a television interviewer that he wanted his name cleared because he had done nothing wrong. "I did not even know what it [nandrolone] was until this came up. As soon as they said anabolic steroid, it just blew me away." Around 1000 urine drug tests a year are carried out in New Zealand, with the samples sent to a Sydney laboratory for checking. >From America's Cup heroes to top netballers - a total of 43 sports - they all undergo the tests, which, according to a paper by Privacy Commissioner Bruce Slane, are "extremely intrusive into personal privacy." "The taking of a urine sample involves close scrutiny of a bodily function which individuals desire normally to be carried out in private." Under drug-testing regulations, a competitor must pass his or her sample into a container in front of an official. Those being tested must also "adjust" their clothing if asked to by the official to ensure an unrestricted view. Cyclist Anthony Peden (Australian but a New Zealand citizen racing for New Zealand) has already qualified for the Sydney Olympics. Privacy is not an issue, he says. There has to be drug testing to stamp out cheating. "It's not pleasant, but it's something we have to do ... Without them it would just be chaos out there. We need those guys." The idea of getting a false positive from a test is an ever-present fear - but one of the biggest worries is that food can easily be spiked with banned substances. At the Olympics, athletes eat together in food halls, often in a buffet-like setup. "That's the thing that scares you the most," says Peden, "because you are susceptible and open to so much, to anyone else tampering with food or drink. "You definitely watch what you eat. I don't like drinking anything that I can't open myself, and then I'm very watchful where I place my drink." Another complaint is the timing of the drug testers. Peden recalls the time he was leaving the country and changing planes at Auckland Airport only to hear his name called on the loudspeaker. It turned out to be drug agency officials after a urine sample. Are all these measures really necessary? Oh yes, says the agency. People in the past have been known to go to extraordinary lengths to switch urine, says the agency's drug-testing and education programme manager, Jane Kernohan. She speaks of catheters being used to store someone else's urine in the lower bladder. "And sometimes they've gone in with tubes ... attached to a bottle in their body and just run some urine out of a tube and it will be someone else's clean urine." Jane Kernohan concedes that it is inconvenient for athletes to be hauled off to the toilet after the elation of winning a competition, the agony of losing one, or just while training. But they are treated with respect by well-trained officials and the athletes know the testing regime is the only thing that will deter drug-takers. "Ultimately, it's protecting them as well ... Athletes are for the doping-control programme. In fact, I think the last survey was like 98 per cent of athletes were for it and wanted more drug tests done." In Australia, "sports performance consultant" Grant Ellison recently stirred up controversy and blackened competitors everywhere when he claimed that 80 per cent of Australia's elite athletes take drugs. Jane Kernohan says that's absolute rubbish. She says it is an example of a recurring claim that has popped up before other Olympics but is not backed by statistics. While she will not talk about the testing procedures here because the Bray case is under appeal, she says the New Zealand programme is vigilant and "world-leading" - and so is the Australian programme - and while drug-taking may be rife in other countries, cheats here are few and far between. "Internationally, where there are good testing regimes the results would say about 2 per cent are taking drugs we can track." Only one New Zealand athlete tested positive for drug-taking in the year to last July 31, the latest statistics available, and only one refused to provide a sample. "The athletes say to us that they think there are more athletes taking drugs than there have been before, but the testing doesn't really back that up," Jane Kernohan says. "There are no more positives than there have been, or anything like that, but there is more testing." But, she freely admits, that is just for drugs that can be tracked via urine. Drugs that cannot be tracked include human growth hormone and EPO, for which blood-testing is being developed, but probably not in time for the Sydney Olympics. EPO is popular with cyclists because it goes into the blood and acts as a massive stimulant. But when they relax, the blood turns syrupy and they can die - 23 cyclists suspected of blood doping have died internationally, according to Jane Kernohan. All the banned drugs are dangerous, she says. The dose that athletes need to get performance enhancement is way over recommended medicinal doses. She does not know if undetectable banned products are rife here, but suspects that high blackmarket prices probably preclude widespread availability. Some drugs, like nandrolone, occur naturally in small amounts, but Jane Kernohan says testing takes that into account. The tests err on the side of caution to ensure there are no false positives. Nandrolone has not marred just Bray's reputation. There is a virtual explosion overseas of athletes testing positive for the banned steroid. Former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie and Jamaican veteran Merlene Ottey have both fallen under the nandrolone shadow. Last year, there were 343 cases of nandrolone across sports, and the trend is being investigated by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. Other athletes did not want to talk to the Herald about their own drug-testing experiences, preferring not to be drawn into a sensitive issue. But Stephen Hollings, the performance director for Athletics New Zealand, says he, and the athletes he deals with, have no problem with the testing procedures. "You've nothing to fear anyway if you are tested in this country if you are clean. It's only people who are not clean who have got that fear." The main complaint he hears is that New Zealand is stringent with its testing but many other countries are lax. The main problem he encounters is that sometimes it can take a long, long time for an athlete to become rehydrated enough to urinate. All Black doctor John Mayhew agrees that our testing procedures are top-class and says players accept that there are good reasons to test. "None of them complain about the fact that someone watches them urinate ... The rationale behind it is that someone could actually have a sample of urine tucked up their trouser leg." He also urges athletes to be alert. "The advice I would give to athletes is be very careful what you take, because what someone says they're giving you may be different from what you're actually given." History of drugs in sport BC - Greek Olympic Games eventually dissolved because of political interference and the use of drugs (preparations including extracts of mushrooms and plant seeds). 1886 - First recorded drug death. Cyclist, Linton, has overdose of trimethyl. 1904 - First near-death in modern Olympics. Marathon runner Thomas Hicks used mixture of brandy and strychnine. 1904 on - Alcohol and strychnine most widely used drugs. Heroin, cocaine and caffeine also used, until heroin and cocaine become available only on prescription. 1930s - Amphetamines become choice over strychnine. 1950s - Soviets use male hormones for power and strength. Americans develop steroids as response. 1952 - Winter Olympics. Several speed skaters ill on amphetamines. 1960 - Olympics. Danish cyclist Kurt Jurgen dies from amphetamine overdose. 1964 - Noticeable increase in muscular appearance of Olympic athletes. Drug use suspected. 1967 - IOC take action after death of Tour de France cyclist Tommy Simpson (illegal amphetamine-taking). 1968 - Drug testing begins at Olympic Games. 1988 - Seoul. Sprinter Ben Johnson tests positive for banned anabolic steroid. Loses gold medal. Suspended two years. 1988 onward - Testing of athletes becomes progressively more stringent. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea