drugs, genetics, supplements, testing

The Australian Olympic committee have today confirmed that they will be freezing the urine samples they took from their competitors at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in order to re-test them if and when new doping methods become available.

The samples can be thawed and re-tested any time should new technology allow drug testers to find previously undetectable substances. For the purpose of science and the comparison of drug testing methods it will be an interesting experiment but you have to question, how much they will actually benefit from this?

Testing old samples will of course convict any previously unknown drugs cheats and will see justice prevail. However the problem with just one country using a method that has the advantage of hindsight is that any sample found positive for prohibited substances will create more questions surrounding other athletes and events.

For example, if a test from an Australian swimmer or sprinter who competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was later found to be positive, contrary to the original test, then questions will be raised over how many athletes from other countries were cheating. The likes of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, now Olympic legends, could be labelled as drugs cheats simply because they have no frozen samples to prove their innocence. A state of uncertainty is thus created around the legitimacy of the competitors’ performances and the competitions they took part in. For this idea to be truly effective it needs worldwide participation.

However, regardless of the pros and cons of this method, the decision to freeze these samples certainly makes a statement of intent about how Australia is fighting to deter drug cheats. Britain will be hoping that their example of lifelong bans for drug cheats will also be followed by other nations and more specifically the International Olympic Committee. However interestingly, Britain is currently facing a drug stance dilemma of its own.

Britain’s new head coach of athletics, Charles van Commenee, has stated that he is happy to welcome back controversial drugs cheat Dwayne Chambers to represent Britain in any competition other than the Olympics. This revelation from Commenee contradicts Britain’s previous stance on drug cheats and somewhat undervalues the World Championships, if Britain feels that Chambers can represent them in this but not at the Olympics.

It is important that new advancements in tackling drugs cheats are being made on a global scale and it is certainly commendable that Australia is looking into new steps to combat the problem, let’s just hope that no one mistakes these samples for ice lollies in years to come!

	Author:	The Sports Nut (The Sports Nut's profile, The Sports Nut's blog)
	Posted On:	Wed, 2008-09-24 17:22
	Tags:	testing, supplements, drugs and genetics
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