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I hate to bring bad news to the PV world, but I just saw this on Yahoo.

Pole vaulter suspended for positive drug test


July 22, 2003
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Pole vaulter Chase Shealy has accepted a provisional suspension after testing positive for a prohibited substance, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Tuesday.

Shealy, 18, of Cayce, S.C., tested positive for an amphetamine at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Palo Alto, Calif., on June 21, the agency said.

He placed second in the junior men's pole vault.

If the agency determines Shealy violated international anti-doping rules, the time he spends on provisional suspension would be deducted from any suspension he is given

I have heard he was taking something for ADD that made the test turn up positive.

I just read something on usatf or iaff site that said if an athlete is on something for ADD they need to get a letter from their doctor who is prescribing the medicine and some other steps. I was just wondering about Red Bull. A friend of ours' sister plays basketball for SMU and they told them not to drink Red Bull because it had something in it that was on the illegal substance list. We've been to a national meet this summer where a vaulter was drinking it. I guess it doesn't matter if they are not going to drug test a vaulter????

As athletes, it is our responsibility to find out what we can and cant take, and what we can take with a doctors permission. I had to get a note from my doctor and give it to our training staff to take a certain asthma medicine, because if i ever got chosen to get tested, i would show up positive. If there is ever any question, all the banned substances are listed on the ncaa webpage...its better to be safe and check, than sorry...

The sad part is that there are so many things...supplements...for example, that have things in them that are not listed. These are things that can be purchased at any health food store....just like you can buy Red Bull at the grocery store. So it is really hard to know with some of the over-the-counter supplements. There may or may not be something in there that they consider illegal but you might not know it!

It really is too bad that Chase was held out of the Pan Am Games for testing positive for a drug that he had a prescription for. Its one thing for the atheletes at the professional level to be monitored so closely and held so accountable, but its another thing for an amatuer high school athelete to be held to such strict rules that can so often times be confusing and in the grey area.

As for the Red Bulls.....The illegal substance in Red Bulls is none other than Caffiene. However, b/c caffiene is such an abundant substance that we intake in everyday life, IAAF set a limit on the amount of caffiene one can consume. Because I am one that likes to have a caffience buzz when jumping, and my preferable way of getting that is through red bull, i did some research as to how much caffiene i could consume before having an "illeagal" amount in my system. I found that generally, a 160 pound person can consume 1 red bull before having an "illegal" amount of caffiene in their system. However, caffiene also passes through one's system very quickly so more than that can be consumed and pass through the system by the time the drug test is conducted. Usually one only needs to worry about being tested for caffiene at championship meets, so at any smaller meets it doesn't hurt to take in more caffiene than is "legal". When I went to the USATF Junior Championships, the same place Chase got tested and turned up the "illegal" substance, I drank one red bull. This way I could still get the caffiene buzz I liked to have, but also I stayed under the legal limit. Unfortunately i jumped like crap and never had the honor of being tested.

Once again I think it is very unfortunate that an ametuer, high school athlete can be held so accountable for taking a common prescription drug. If i were in his shoes i probably wouldn't have bothered to go through the sad, confusing beaurocracy that we call USATF to find out if the prescription drugs i am on are alright either.

Yeah Dude, I heard it was Adderral or something but Thats remedial. How is AdderraLl going to help someone pole vaUlting.

Unfortunately junior athletes and parents just don't know what they don't know. Anti-doping awareness doesn't really begin until the college level. I'm Chase's dad and coach and we were blindsided by this a few days before the flight to Barbados. Chase was taking "Adderall" for A.D.D. and is not the only athlete to test positive for it or "Ritalin". I have been told that this has become a problem and USATF, USOC and USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency did the testing) are working on trying to come up with a solution that will satisfy the IAAF. I'm being told that the problem is that IAAF, and most of europe, doesn't recognize A.D.D. and could care less if you have a prescription or not. If you take Adderall or Ritalin and test positive for amphetimine you are suspended... PERIOD. The question is how long which can be up to two years. Justin Gatlin's was quick at only 6 months for Ritalin. In the mean time, WE (the pole vault community) need to get the word out, because it is not getting out otherwise. Coaches, athletes and parents need to know more than they thought they needed to, so that the "Junior" athletes competing at a high level don't get blindsided like Chase did. Also FYI: You can not get to the anti-doping section of the USATF website through the "Youth" link. Only via the "Elite" link. This doesn't help the problem.

Bottom line... Chase took Adderall because he didn't know it was a problem to take it. If he had known he would not have taken it. Please pray for Chase, and our family, during this difficult time.