London: During an informative and entertaining address to an anti-doping conference last month, German researcher Mario Thevis referred to "80, 90, 100" new performance-enhancing drugs for which no tests yet exist. "They act like EPO (erythropietin) but they are structurally different and that means the current EPO tests will not pick them up," he said.
Thevis added that "according to anecdotal evidence and rumours" the drugs, which replicate EPO's blood-boosting qualities, were already used in elite sports. EPO stimulates the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells. This increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, allowing muscles to perform for longer.
News that up to 100 new drugs could be available in the run-up to this year's London Olympics will astonish only the naive.
"It doesn't surprise me," responded World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) director-general David Howman. "We are in the area where we are into third and fourth generations and they continue to climb. Whether they are detectable or not depends on the ability of the individual laboratory."
One in two competitors will be tested during the London Games, including all medallists, and the estimated 400 daily tests are higher than any previous Olympics. The problem will not be at the Games themselves, running from July 27-August 12, but the months before in the eternal cat-and-mouse game between the dope cheats and the testers.
"In terms of the programme that is in place for the Olympic Games, I think it is very good," Howman said. "The International Olympic Committee have got probably the most extensive programme they could possibly operate. From the day that athletes come into the opening of the village to the closing ceremony, that's good. "What we need is extensive pre-Games testing and we need all the samples that are collected to be tested for the full menu of substances."
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