Olympics 007 drug busters

Adrian Warner|Evening Standard|In Athens

14 April 2012

Drug testers will use a special "007 strategy" at the Olympics where they will keep new testing techniques secret until they have terminated cheats, it was revealed today.

Standard Sport has learned that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not announce whether it is using a new test for the designer drug human growth hormone (HGH) in Athens. They will only reveal details when there is a positive test for the substance.

In the past Olympic leaders have trumpeted the development of new tests in a bid to scare athletes into pulling out of the Games.

But Olympic anti-doping chief Arne Ljungqvist said: "There is going to be a bit of 007 drug testing here. We will not be saying when a new test is coming. If there is a positive case it means we have done it."

Last month scientists at Southampton University announced they had found a new test for muscle-building HGH, which is believed to be used by some athletes in power and sprint events. But there has been confusion about whether it would be ready in time for the Games which open on Friday.

Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), revealed to Standard Sport two weeks ago that testers were preparing for the first time to freeze urine samples so that they could re-analyse them months after the Games - once the HGH research has finally been given scientific and legal approval.

This would mean athletes could lose their medals after the Olympics. Now it appears the IOC and WADA want to keep the athletes completely in the dark about new technology.

Pound said: "We are not going to tell anybody exactly what we have got." The strategy is high risk since it could lead to the Games being hit by the largest number of positive tests in Olympic history.

Already the build-up has been dominated by doping scandals.

Last night Kenyan boxer David Munyasia became the first competitor to be thrown out of the Games for testing positive in a random test. Pound said: "I think it is important to demonstrate that at the Olympics this stuff just doesn't wash. Every time you catch somebody it's a victory, not a defeat. It's not terrible, it's good."

Ljungqvist and Pound both believe that the IOC made a mistake in announcing a new test for the bloodboosting drug EPO before the 2000 Games in Sydney - because it gave cheats too much of a warning.

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