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1 1 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 6 BALCO labs' Victor Conte plans to meet with anti-doping chief Dick Pound
By TERI THOMPSON
He knows who's been naughty and nice - and Victor Conte is going to share that knowledge with World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound on Wednesday in New York.
As the Daily News has reported, Conte has already provided some information on what he calls "rampant drug use in elite sports" to WADA officials and will offer more details in the meeting with Pound, the drug-monitoring agency's outgoing president.
Conte, the mastermind of the BALCO laboratories at the center of a federal steroids investigation that has already ensnared several elite athletes, served four months in prison for distributing steroids and laundering money. The BALCO investigation has brought charges against the recently indicted Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, the sprinter who pleaded guilty last month to lying to federal investigators.
Conte has been crictical of Pound and other anti-doping advocates as being soft on catching drug cheats, but says he believes he can help clean up sports.
"It's my hope that this will help with the effort to create a more genuine level playing field for the competitors and to enhance the perception of integrity for the fans," Conte said. "I'm also doing this for the young athletes of the future. Ironically, I feel it's some of the poor decisions and past mistakes I've made that uniquely qualifies me to make a contribution.
"I plan to share specific knowledge of past and present Olympic-caliber athletes, coaches and suppliers involved with doping around the world and how they've been able to easily circumvent the anti-doping procedures in place."
Conte, who still sells legal dietary supplements out of his Burlingame, Calif., office, circumvented drug testers in 2000-03 by giving athletes previously undetectable designer steroids known as "the clear" and "the cream." He now says that he believes he can help clean up Olympic sports, pointing out that Jones was forced to give back her five medals from the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney but that the athletes in line to receive them might also have used performance-enhancing drugs.
"Several of Jones' competitors may have also used performance-enhancing drugs and it's important that what I have to share be considered before the IOC awards any medal upgrades," he said.
As the release of the Mitchell report approaches - it is expected to be released Thursday - Conte also says the owners and officials in sports must take responsbility for the problem. Conte says former Sen. George Mitchell contacted him when he began his steroids investigation at the behest of Commissioner Bud Selig almost two years ago but that he did not talk to Mitchell then because of his ongoing legal issues.
Conte says Mitchell never got back to him.
"Doping in sport is a collective problem that has been widespread for decades and the athletes are not the only ones who are accountable," he said. "The Olympic officials, professional sports team owners and players' union executives also share in the blame. Before crucial changes can take place, the parties who have received most of the financial gain from sport must step up and acknowledge their responsibility and duty. Ultimately, they are the ones with the money and power necessary to help create a better world of sport."
1 3 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 6 BALCO's Conte spills dopers' secrets
By Dick Patrick
The meeting Wednesday between World Anti-Doping Agency President Dick Pound and BALCO founder Victor Conte in New York went so well, they plan to have more.
"It was kind of our first date," Pound said.
Both said Conte, who served four months in prison for his role in distributing steroids to several top athletes including sprinter Marion Jones, did not provide specifics about individuals but general information about drug user's strategies.
Conte's main points:
• Target only the top athletes. "Instead of testing the top 100 two times a year, test the top 20 10 times each."
• Emphasize offseason testing over in-competition. "That's when they're using anabolic steroids. That's when they do their intensive weight training and build their strength base."
Conte also talked about what he calls "duck and dodge" techniques in which athletes in countries that don't have anti-doping federations have what Conte terms "virtually a green light" to use performance-enhancing drugs.
If international teams arrive for out-of-competition testing, athletes are often tipped off and disappear. Three missed tests within 18 months can result in a ban, but such suspensions are rare.
"We've got to get smarter at finding those folks," Pound said. "It's no big deal to miss a test. That kind of strategic stuff is good to hear from the other side, how they're able to do it for so long without getting caught."
Conte told Pound that fast-acting testosterone has surpassed designer steroids in popularity.
Improved testing and changed laws have made designer steroids passé. "It's not worth the risk," Conte said.
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
