Victor Conte, the mastermind behind the BALCO steroid scandal, met with former WADA chairman Dick Pound in December to share inside information on athletes' doping practice. Conte believes more out-of-competition testing is needed to help curtail use of illegal performance-enchancing drugs.
On December 12, 2007, I advised WADA's Dick Pound to routinely send disguised drug testers to Jamaica, and to begin doing so immediately. I had received information about a specific drug supplier - WADA received this person's name, address and phone number - who was allegedly working with elite track athletes. I also explained to Pound the importance of "offseason" testing and that testing at competitions is ineffective. The offseason is when athletes use anabolic steroids in conjunction with intensive weight training and develop the explosive strength base that serves them throughout the competitive season.
However, Pound stepped down as the Chairman of WADA just two weeks after our meeting. It now seems that others working with WADA, who actually conduct investigations and provide drug testing, have failed to act upon the information.
I have no evidence of doping by any of the winners of medals in Beijing, but when times begin falling like rain, questions arise, especially when the record-setters are from countries such as Jamaica and other Caribbean nations where there is no independent anti-doping federation. In the women's 100 meters, for instance, four of the eight finalists in the event were from such countries. Jamaican women swept all three Olympic medals: Shelly-Ann Frasier's winning time of 10.78 seconds is blazing fast, and reflects a drop from a best of 11.31 in 2007 to 10.78 in 2008, an improvement of more than five-tenths of a second in a single year and about five meters faster than before.
Jamaica's Usain Bolt won the men's 100-meter gold medal in a shocking world-record time of 9.69, which is almost unbelievable since he shut it down before the finish line. Richard Thompson from Trinidad and Tobango won the silver medal in a personal best time of 9.89. Once again, five out of the eight finalists in the men's 100-meter race were from an area where there is minimal out-of-season testing: five-of-six 100-meter medals were won by athletes from Caribbean countries without independent anti-doping federations.
Again, I have no knowledge that these individuals were involved in wrongdoing. All I know is that they and other athletes come from regions where minimal offseason testing is administered.
My message to Pound was based on the simple premise of doping in combination with strength training during the offseason. Here's how it works:
The IAAF - track's governing body - claims to rarely collect offseason samples for drug testing in Caribbean countries, mainly collecting out-of-competition (OOC) samples between competitions during the European track circuit from May until September of each year. In my opinion, this is basically a waste of funds and the same as in-competition testing because there is no routine offseason testing from October to January, when athletes who are cheating use steroids in combination with intensive weight training.
Testing at competitions - and in between - is flawed because athletes who are using drugs have already tapered off. The IOC claims to be doing 4,500 tests in Beijing, but there have been only a handful of positives. In 2007, at the World Track and Field Championships in Osaka, Japan they did more than 1,000 drug tests and had zero positives. The testers are basically wasting their money. Testing at competitions is more about propaganda. They should spend at least 50% of the available funds doing offseason testing on the home soil of targeted athletes, such as those in the Caribbean who are winning all the medals.
There is a desperate need for each of the Caribbean countries to have an independent and fully functioning anti-doping federation. Until that is the case, the sprinters from these countries are going to continue to be under a cloud of suspicion.
I believe that these athletes need to be frequently drug tested on a random basis during the offseason, so that the cloud of suspicion can begin to move on. It's my opinion that more effective drug testing in the Caribbean will help to restore the credibility of entire sport of track and field.
) was because when I came in the door tonight and switched on TV I thought I heard mention of the Americans protesting against something, but then I had to leave room so don't know what their gripe was
