War on drugs turns into Chinese whispers

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http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/c ... 38,00.html

War on drugs turns into Chinese whispers

Steve Cram
Tuesday October 25, 2005
The Guardian

Late night channel hopping occasionally turns up a sporting gem. Last week Death on the Mountain told of the tragic circumstances around the British cycling star, Tommy Simpson, who died while competing in the 1967 Tour de France. The amphetamines he took to maximise his performance pushed his system over the edge on a hot gruelling climb up Mount Ventoux in the French Pyrénées. Simpson paid the ultimate price for embracing the completely reckless drug culture prevalent in his sport at the time. Partly as a consequence of his death a new impetus was given to drug testing in sport and conversely a more scientific approach to doping was initiated.

Almost 40 years later those two opposing philosophies continue to grapple for the upper hand in determining future sporting performance. The testers appeared to have a good week. In the US Victor Conte and his cohorts were handed prison sentences for their part in the Balco designer-drugs saga. He appears to have got off lightly with a four-month incarceration after a plea bargain which so far has apparently offered no more information or culprits than that already reported. In Marseille, the French marathon runner Benoît Zwierzchiewski was arrested by a drugs squad who allegedly found illegal substances at his home. The European record holder was later released but investigations continue as the French police maintain their co-operation with the drug testing authorities.
There were more revelations from former East German athletes determined to eradicate drug-fuelled records from the history books and give today's young German athletes more realistic targets to aim at. However, the major headlines were reserved for the positive test attributed to the Chinese distance runner Sun Yingjie, who was competing in their national games last week. Headlines, because this had seemed as likely as to happen as Sir Alex Ferguson imposing a three-match ban on Wayne Rooney for chiding the referee, in the interest of setting a good example to youngsters.

So pardon my cynicism, but what is going on here? The Chinese authorities are obviously keen to be seen to be shaking off the rumours and secrecy that have surrounded their performances over the years and Sun Yingjie's exploits last week don't help. On the Sunday she won the Beijing marathon in a very quick 2hr 21min 01sec having already passed a pre-race blood test. A post-race urine sample was also negative. Barely 30 hours later, she won a silver medal in the 10,000m behind the Olympic champion Xing Huina. As if this was not enough work for one week she then qualified for the 5,000m final.

From an athletic point of view to string together a series of endurance races at that intensity almost defies belief, however Sun Yingjie and others have produced similar exploits in the past. What does stretch the bounds of credibility was the positive test announced shortly afterwards. The standard anabolic steroid, androsterone, was found to be present in her A sample despite not having been present in the tests given 24 hours earlier. Androsterone was described thus by Zhao Jian, the deputy head of the Games Anti-Doping commission: "This steroid has been listed as a banned substance for a long time and has been easy to detect for a long time. It is not likely she took it accidentally."

If it is so easily detectable then why was one of China's top athletes, who travels extensively and competes in major championships, stupid enough to use it?

Last week in the US the Washington Post purchased five supplements on the internet. They asked Don Catlin, the director of the US Olympic drug testing lab at UCLA, to test them. Catlin is the man who identified THG, the designer steroid at the heart of the Balco case. His tests showed that four of the supplements had new designer steroids he had never seen before and the fifth has only been in circulation for two years. One of the distributing companies proudly boasts that its new steroid is the closest thing possible to Trenbolone, a steroid of renowned efficacy, which is prominent on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list. Their boasts continue with the reassurance that the new steroid is not on any banned list, including President Bush's Anabolic Steroid Act, which was enabled last year.

I am no apologist for Sun Yingjie or drug cheats anywhere but if these substances are available on the open market then how come the blundering positive test when more refined substances must surely be easily acquired? The athlete, as usual, protests her innocence and is asking her own questions of her federation as she awaits the results of the B sample. However her fate appears almost sealed as is that of her coach Wang Dexian, who also coaches Xing Huina.

The Chinese authorities new found zeal for detection is only surpassed by their swiftness to judge and sentence. If we accept that China will be ruthless in its pursuit of gold medals in Beijing, then there is much here for the conspiracy theorists to chew over. Sun Yingjie may just be surplus to requirements for 2008. Those national games were littered with personal bests and a world junior record. One way or another Chinese athletes are on the move. An American runner who has recently spent time training and racing in China observed that "their efforts are going to make Balco look like kids playing with a chemistry set in comparison."

Alarmist perhaps, but despite the recent successes the war on drugs in sport has reached a critical phase. Money, science and mass communications are weapons that both sides can employ to good effect. We can only hope that stepping into a new era of experimentation does not result in another athlete paying the ultimately penalty, as Tommy Simpson did.