this steroid lab story is getting a lot of press where I am
Yes, it's a worldwide story. Currently 2510 Google hits: news.google.com
For the record here's a WaPo article:
USADA: Elite Athletes Using 'Designer' Steroid
By Amy Shipley, Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 17, 2003; Page D01
washingtonpost.com
In what they describe as the biggest anabolic steroid bust in sports history, U.S. drug-testing officials say several elite track and field athletes have tested positive for a steroid they say was distributed by a nutrition company in California with connections to dozens of high-profile athletes.
Terry Madden, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said yesterday that the athletes tested positive for a "designer" steroid, a substance manufactured specifically to be undetectable in standard drug tests. Officials say they were tipped off to the new drug by an anonymous track and field coach who sent a used syringe to USADA.
Madden said yesterday in a conference call that the coach told USADA officials the substance came from Victor Conte, the founder of Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) in Burlingame, Calif. BALCO's legal nutrition products have been used or endorsed by a long list of well-known athletes, including home run king Barry Bonds and track and field stars Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Kelli White.
"What we have uncovered appears to be intentional doping of the worst sort," Madden said in a statement issued before his conference call. "This is a far cry from athletes accidentally testing positive as a result of taking contaminated nutritional supplements.
"We're not dealing with supplements here, we are dealing with hard-core, anabolic steroids," he added during the conference call.
USADA has turned its findings over to the Department of Justice.
Madden declined to identify those who tested positive or how many athletes tested positive, other than to say all participate in track and field. Madden said their names will be made public when USADA's adjudication process runs its course, likely by early December. A source said there were about a half-dozen positives.
Madden said USADA officials "have a strong belief international athletes were involved as well," but declined to elaborate. USADA has jurisdiction to test only U.S. athletes.
U.S. shot put champion Kevin Toth is among those who have tested positive, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation. Toth could not be reached for comment yesterday; his wife, reached at their home, declined to comment.
BALCO was raided in September by agents from the Internal Revenue Service and San Mateo Country Narcotics Task Force. Two days later, the house of Bonds's trainer, Greg Anderson, also was raided. Officials from the two agencies declined to comment.
A man who identified himself as "Joe" at BALCO said Conte was not available and that the company had no comment. However, in an interview with Agence France-Presse, Conte said:
"In my opinion, this is about jealous competitive coaches and athletes that all have a history of promoting and using performance-enhancing agents being completely hypocritical in their actions.
"As many will soon find out, the world of track and field is a very dirty business and this goes far beyond just the coaches and athletes."
After USADA received the used syringe, it was turned over to Don Catlin, director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, who said the lab did extensive testing to identify the drug as tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). Catlin described the drug as a New Chemical Entity, a drug with no prior record of manufacture or existence.
"In the 25 years I've been doing this kind of work, it's the biggest and most complicated case I've ever been involved in," Catlin said.
Said Madden: "This is a very sophisticated designer steroid created by very sophisticated chemists."
Madden said drug-testing officials became aware of the existence of THG in early June. After Catlin had identified it, all 350 urine samples taken at this summer's USA Track and Field Championships in Palo Alto were re-analyzed for THG. Madden said he also ordered another 200 out-of-competition tests, which included, but did not specifically target, athletes with ties to BALCO.
Athletes found to have used steroids would face two-year bans, which would include the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
BALCO trumpets on its Web sites its affiliation with track and field athletes, players in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball and tennis players. Among the dozens listed include Michael Chang, John Elway, Dan Marino, Bill Romanowski and Regina Jacobs. The company claims that Bonds came to BALCO in the winter of 2000.
"I'm just shocked by what they've been able to do for me," Bonds is quoted as saying in an article on the Web site.
Madden added during a conference call yesterday that USADA officials had also discovered modafinal, a stimulant used to treat narcolepsy, in the urine of some athletes, whom he also declined to name.
White, a U.S. sprinter who won the 2003 world titles in the 100 and 200 meters, tested positive for modafinal at the world championships in Paris in August. White said she used the drug because she has narcolepsy, but international track and field officials said she was guilty of a drug offense and stripped her of her medals.
She already admitted to using the drug at the U.S. championships. |
