Jones scandal highlights testers incompetence
October 10th 2007 12:05
In light of his recent comments regarding Marion Jones, the IAAF president Lamine Diack would do well to remember that even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut.
Speaking to the press he commented, “There is a feeling of satisfaction as it shows that it doesn't matter how big a name you are if you are doping, we will get you in the end.”
It is a statement that he will surely come to regret in time.
Marion Jones, like former partner and fellow disgraced sprinter Tim Montgomery never officially failed a drugs test – their bans and subsequent falls from grace have come about as a direct result of FBI involvement – not from WADA or IAAF efforts who have been left embarrassed at their inability to catch these cheats earlier.
Both sprinters as well as BALCO chief Victor Conte were ensnared in a investigation into illegal steroid use in professional sports, but without the help of a certain Trevor Graham – coach of some dozen athletes who have tested positive for various substances over the years, including Montgomery, Jones and Justin Gatlin they might still not be aware of the revolutionary performance enhancer THG or ‘the clear’.
It was Graham who in 2003 sent a syringe of the substance to doping officials and a test was reverse engineered – up until that point the drug authorities were clueless to its existence.
Those of you might also question how so many notable athletes managed to evade drugs testing procedures for so long – after all Jones is 31 and Montgomery was 30 when he was caught.
Jones even tested positive for EPO last year but still successfully avoided a ban after her ‘B’ sample came back negative – an event that is rated as almost impossible by chemical analysis experts.
If anybody would know about how lax the doping procedures are it would be Conte who as a convicted steroid distributor describes protocols as “basically inept” and “very easy to beat”.
So where does this leave WADA or indeed the IAAF, they may smile and publicly preach that their sport is one step closer to being drug free but in private those smiles turn to sighs and groans at the impotence of their testing in catching the guilty.
Speaking to the press he commented, “There is a feeling of satisfaction as it shows that it doesn't matter how big a name you are if you are doping, we will get you in the end.”
It is a statement that he will surely come to regret in time.
Marion Jones, like former partner and fellow disgraced sprinter Tim Montgomery never officially failed a drugs test – their bans and subsequent falls from grace have come about as a direct result of FBI involvement – not from WADA or IAAF efforts who have been left embarrassed at their inability to catch these cheats earlier.
Both sprinters as well as BALCO chief Victor Conte were ensnared in a investigation into illegal steroid use in professional sports, but without the help of a certain Trevor Graham – coach of some dozen athletes who have tested positive for various substances over the years, including Montgomery, Jones and Justin Gatlin they might still not be aware of the revolutionary performance enhancer THG or ‘the clear’.
It was Graham who in 2003 sent a syringe of the substance to doping officials and a test was reverse engineered – up until that point the drug authorities were clueless to its existence.
Those of you might also question how so many notable athletes managed to evade drugs testing procedures for so long – after all Jones is 31 and Montgomery was 30 when he was caught.
Jones even tested positive for EPO last year but still successfully avoided a ban after her ‘B’ sample came back negative – an event that is rated as almost impossible by chemical analysis experts.
If anybody would know about how lax the doping procedures are it would be Conte who as a convicted steroid distributor describes protocols as “basically inept” and “very easy to beat”.
So where does this leave WADA or indeed the IAAF, they may smile and publicly preach that their sport is one step closer to being drug free but in private those smiles turn to sighs and groans at the impotence of their testing in catching the guilty.
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Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Until all nations demand the IOC and other international sporting bodies change the system, we will continue to NOT see all the cheats!
cheers
fog