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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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New general joins drug war
By Sue Mott Where are we in the drug war? Following the fears expressed last week by the ousted director of the UK's anti-doping team, Michele Verroken, that the British system is not sufficiently robust or determined to catch the cheats, a new man is now in charge. John Scott becomes UK Sport's director of worldwide impact and standards - an enormous, new title which includes responsibility for major events, international relations and drug-free sport.
New regime: John Scott leads UK Sport's war against drugs How much does a cheating athlete have to fear from his appointment? He had a torrid start to his new role when he was taken to hospital in Greece on Monday suffering from a suspected allergy. Now released from hospital, he faces several crucial and immediate issues: Should Britain's drug testing be placed in the hands of an independent authority? Many would say this is unarguable. While the same organisation who fund elite athletes also test them for drug abuse, a conflict of interest exists. "No," said Scott, in his first interview after assuming his role. "We understand from time to time that people will have legitimate concerns about the way the system is administered but we at UK Sport are committed to an ethically based high-performance system. Furthermore, this is about sport owning its own problem. We have to teach athletes values and ethics that enable them to resist temptation." He added that a recent independent report concluded that an independent authority would add cost but no value. This is a difficult argument to sustain given the experience in the United States, where the US Anti-Doping Agency are widely credited for the extraordinary numbers of US athletes being exposed as drug offenders. People tend to believe that where there are no vested interests, there are no cover-ups. "By signing up to the World Anti-Doping Code, we are elevating practice and procedure to unprecedented levels," Scott said. "More out-of-competition testing, target testing, whistle-blowing, fairness and independence in the hearing processes, international co-operation. It is an evolutionary process." 2) How to handle missed tests? The new rule is that three missed tests constitute a doping violation. One might be because your grandmother was taken ill, two might be a genuine mistake, three – tough, you're nicked. A hearing will then be held. USADA publish the missed tests of US athletes. Will the UK? Will hearings be held? Historically, in Britain, that has not been the case. The last athlete to attend a hearing because of a missed test was Sally Gunnell, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist, during her competition days. "We don't want to start witch-hunts," Scott said. "What you have to bear in mind is that the higher profile athletes can afford very expensive lawyers. We are spending public money. We need to check that our responses would survive a legal challenge." Can we test for human growth hormone? According to Dick Pound, head of WADA, blood samples from athletes at the Athens Olympics are going to be tested for HGH. "We are going to try to surprise some people who thought they had something that was undetectable," he said. However, Prof Peter Sonksen, the emeritus professor of endocrinology at King's College, has pointed out that these tests will allegedly only capture athletes taking HGH within 24 hours of competition. Prof Sonksen's team at Southampton University have developed a test that could catch athletes taking the drug up to three months before competition. "I believe the test has been ready for five years but we spent a lot of time trying to get funding for the project. We have received money from WADA and $1 million from USADA. We've had not one penny from UK Sport." Prof Sonksen resigned from UK Sport's Anti-Doping Committee last year, in response to the summary dismissal of Verroken. "I don't know about the technicalities of the science, but I do know that some very eminent experts disagreed with Prof Sonksen," Scott said. "My view is that the sooner a test for HGH is available the better, but it must be able to stack up against a legal challenge when elite athletes' lawyers are willing to go through every nut and bolt of evidence." According to Scott, UK Sport's drug-free campaign will focus on schoolchildren as young as seven. The education budget has been tripled to £200,000. But while the properly indoctrinated seven-year-olds are growing up, there might be a few drug cheats yet slipping through the gaping loopholes. Closing them is a big job. Nine months after Verroken was asked to leave the position, UK Sport are advertising for a director of Drug Free Sport. |
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