U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says it has uncovered steroid 'conspiracy'
Associated Press
Oct. 16, 2003 02:30 PM
Several track athletes tested positive for a steroid that until recently was undetectable and now face suspensions that could bar them from the 2004 Athens Olympics, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday.
USADA chief executive officer Terry Madden called it a widespread "conspiracy" involving chemists, coaches and athletes that was brought to the agency's attention by an anonymous tip.
He said the inquiry has expanded to other U.S. professional sports, but wouldn't give specifics. He also refused to details about the athletes or say how many tested positive for the steroid, known as tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG..
"What we have uncovered appears to be intentional doping of the worst sort," Madden said in a statement before his conference call from USADA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. "This is a far cry from athletes accidentally testing positive as a result of taking contaminated nutritional supplements.
"Rather, this is a conspiracy involving chemists, coaches and certain athletes using what they developed to be 'undetectable' designer steroids to defraud their fellow competitors and the American and world public who pay to attend sports events."
Olympic athletes face drug tests at major competitions, as well as random testing between events. Their samples are divided in two and stored for future reference.
The athletes whose "A" samples revealed THG have been notified and will now have their "B" samples tested. If those are positive, a review process will begin. Appeals could last for months. Track athletes found to have used steroids would face two-year bans.
THG has a chemical structure similar to the banned anabolic steroids gestrinome and trenbolone, Madden said. Though THG is not specifically named as a banned substance in world track, it would be considered a related substance outlawed under the sport's doping rules.
Madden said the USADA received a call from a man in June claiming to be a track coach and naming athletes whom he claimed were using an undetectable steroid. He then sent the agency a used syringe containing some of the substance, Madden said.
The anti-doping laboratory at UCLA determined the syringe contained THG, leading the USADA to retest 350 urine samples taken from athletes at the U.S. track and field championships in June at Stanford, as well as 100 samples from random out-of-competition tests.
Madden said USADA contacted federal authorities with the findings.
The anonymous tipster, Madden said, identified the source of the THG as the founder of a laboratory that supplies nutritional guidance and supplements to athletes.
As part of the retesting of the 350 samples from the U.S. track championships, Madden said, officials discovered several positives for the stimulant modafinil - which sprinter Kelli White says she took for the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
White tested positive this summer at the world championships in Paris for modafinil, and it could cost her a pair of sprint gold medals. Her case currently is being considered by USADA.
Associated Press
Oct. 16, 2003 02:30 PM
Several track athletes tested positive for a steroid that until recently was undetectable and now face suspensions that could bar them from the 2004 Athens Olympics, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday.
USADA chief executive officer Terry Madden called it a widespread "conspiracy" involving chemists, coaches and athletes that was brought to the agency's attention by an anonymous tip.
He said the inquiry has expanded to other U.S. professional sports, but wouldn't give specifics. He also refused to details about the athletes or say how many tested positive for the steroid, known as tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG..
"What we have uncovered appears to be intentional doping of the worst sort," Madden said in a statement before his conference call from USADA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. "This is a far cry from athletes accidentally testing positive as a result of taking contaminated nutritional supplements.
"Rather, this is a conspiracy involving chemists, coaches and certain athletes using what they developed to be 'undetectable' designer steroids to defraud their fellow competitors and the American and world public who pay to attend sports events."
Olympic athletes face drug tests at major competitions, as well as random testing between events. Their samples are divided in two and stored for future reference.
The athletes whose "A" samples revealed THG have been notified and will now have their "B" samples tested. If those are positive, a review process will begin. Appeals could last for months. Track athletes found to have used steroids would face two-year bans.
THG has a chemical structure similar to the banned anabolic steroids gestrinome and trenbolone, Madden said. Though THG is not specifically named as a banned substance in world track, it would be considered a related substance outlawed under the sport's doping rules.
Madden said the USADA received a call from a man in June claiming to be a track coach and naming athletes whom he claimed were using an undetectable steroid. He then sent the agency a used syringe containing some of the substance, Madden said.
The anti-doping laboratory at UCLA determined the syringe contained THG, leading the USADA to retest 350 urine samples taken from athletes at the U.S. track and field championships in June at Stanford, as well as 100 samples from random out-of-competition tests.
Madden said USADA contacted federal authorities with the findings.
The anonymous tipster, Madden said, identified the source of the THG as the founder of a laboratory that supplies nutritional guidance and supplements to athletes.
As part of the retesting of the 350 samples from the U.S. track championships, Madden said, officials discovered several positives for the stimulant modafinil - which sprinter Kelli White says she took for the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
White tested positive this summer at the world championships in Paris for modafinil, and it could cost her a pair of sprint gold medals. Her case currently is being considered by USADA.
