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Has Australia done sufficient to combat drug-taking among Australian Olympic athletes?

The issue In July, 2000, two-time Olympian and former Commonwealth discus champion, Werner Reiterer, began to speak about a recently published book he has written titled Positive. In the book Mr Reiterer admits to having taken a range of performance-enhancing substances. He also makes a number of allegations. Included in these are that his drug-taking was facilitated by senior Olympic officials and that the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) is at best inefficient and at worst has members who collude with drug-taking athletes. Mr Reiterer also alleges that many of Australia's best performing sportsmen and women take performance-enhancing substances, many of which are currently undetectable. ASDA and a number of prominent Australian Olympic athletes have disputed all or most of Mr Reiterer's claims. John Coates, the president of the Australian Olympic Committee has called an internal investigation into the allegations. After 24 hours it looked as though this investigation would not be held but at the time of this outline being published it had been announced it would proceed. What they said ... The suggestion by ... the head of [the Australian Institute of Sport] that since no one has been caught there is no problem, is hilarious if it wasn't so frightening' Simon Baker, a former Australian Olympic walker and national coach 'I hope ... that the Australian public realise what an absolute joke these allegations are' Australian Olympic swimming champion, Kieren Perkins

Echo Issue Outline 2000 / 22-23
Copyright © Echo Education Services
First published in The Echo news digest and newspaper sources index.

Issue outline by J M McInerney

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Background
For Australia, controversy about the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs among our athletes dates back to 1989, when a Senate inquiry, the Black Committee, investigated allegations of drug use among our elite athletes.
The Committee made the rather startling finding that as many as 60 per cent of Australia's elite athletes were likely to be taking prohibited substances.
It made a series of recommendations, some of which have been acted on, others of which have not. The most obvious of these was the establishment of the Australian Sports Drug Agency in 1989 and with this the administering of random drug tests outside competition.
These steps appear to have prompted a conviction among many Australians that our athletes are drug free. This conviction has been further encouraged by the criticisms made by many of our athletes, coaches and other officials suggesting probable drug-taking among athletes from other countries.
The occasional detection of drug use among our athletes seems to be generally regarded as an aberration rather than an indication of a significant problem.
This confidence in our 'clean' status may, however, be a little premature as there are no reliable tests for a number of the substances, such as EPO and human growth hormones, currently being used to improve athletes' performances.

Banned substances intended to enhance sporting performance.
(The following information is derived primarily from the ASDA site - see the INTERNET LINKS section.)

Most national sporting organisations adopt the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code - Appendix A, Prohibited Classes of Substances and Prohibited Methods - 1st April 2000 as the basis for their doping policy.

Prohibited substances as of April 1, 2000, include:
* anabolic steroids (detectable, details supplied below)
* diuretics
* narcotics
* peptide hormones (detectable, details supplied below)
* stimulants
* blood doping
* artificial oxygen carriers or plasma expanders

Details of all the above can be found on the ASDA site. Information about some of them is offered below. Again most of the details are drawn from the ASDA site.

Anabolic steroids
Anabolic androgenic steroids are substances that have both anabolic and androgenic properties.
The anabolic effects can result in an acceleration of growth of muscle and bone. The androgenic effects are represented in the development of the male reproductive system and the secondary male sexual characteristics such as hairiness and deep voice.
Athletes mainly use anabolic steroids in an attempt to increase muscle size and strength. This growth appears to result from the significant effect anabolic androgenic steroids have on lessening the recovery time required after exercise. Athletes using anabolic androgenic steroids may be able to train at a greater intensity and for longer periods and therefore reap the benefits of the extra training.
Steroids come in tablet and injectable forms. Examples of steroids are androstenedione, boldenone, decadurabolin (nandrolone), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), stanozolol and testosterone.

Side effects may include jaundice and liver damage, acne, heart problems, euphoria, improved self-esteem, mood swings, depression, paranoia and aggression.
Effects specific to males may include the development of breast tissue, infertility and baldness.
Effects specific to females may include an increase in facial and body hair, menstrual problems, permanent deepening of the voice, fotal damage and clitoral enlargement.
Detection: Anabolic agents can be detected in the urine using gas chromatography- mass spectrometry techniques and high resolution mass spectrometry.
Status in sport
Anabolic androgenic steroids are banned under the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code Prohibited Classes of Substances and Prohibited Methods.

Peptide hormones
Prohibited substances in this class include the following:

* Chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), prohibited in males only
* Pituitary and synthetic gonadotrophins (LH), prohibited in males only
* Corticotrophins
* Human growth hormone (hGH) (currently undetectable, details supplied below)
* Insulin-like growth hormone (IGH-1) (currently undetectable, details supplied below)
* Erythropoietin (EPO) (currently undetectable, details supplied below)
* Insulin

Growth hormone (HGH) is a pituitary hormone which is necessary for normal growth of children and assists the body in building muscle and bone. Athletes may use growth hormone in an attempt to increase muscle size and strength.
Side effects can include overgrowth of hands, feet and face; soft tissue swelling, heart disease, increased sweating, increased oil gland production in the skin.
Detection methods are currently being developed to detect the use of hGH.

Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1) stimulates protein synthesis and reduces muscle cell breakdown leading to an increase in muscle bulk and reduced body fat. These growth effects are sought by athletes. Naturally occurring IGF-1 comes from mother's milk.
Side effects
IGF-1 may cause hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), acromegaly (gross overgrowth of the hands, feet and face), headaches and joint pains, musculoskeletal changes ie enlargement of the jaw, and enlargement of internal organs such as the heart. Muscles may at first become stronger, but ultimately are weaker due to degenerative changes in the joints.
Detection
Methods are currently being developed to detect IGF-1 in athletes.

Erythropoietin (rhEPO) stimulates the production of red blood cells. This increases the amount of oxygen the blood can carry to the muscles. Some endurance athletes use EPO to improve performance.
Side effects
EPO use can thicken the blood causing blood clots. Blood clots increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Endurance athletes are particularly vulnerable, as their blood is normally thicker due to dehydration.
Some international sporting organisations have introduced random blood testing to determine if the percentage of red blood cells is too high. This test does not detect EPO, but rather is a health check. Athletes with elevated red blood cell levels may be prevented from participating in an event on safety grounds.
Detection
Detection methods are currently being developed to detect the use of EPO.

Internet links

On July 27, 1998, the ABC investigative program, Four Corners, ran a report titled 'The Muscle Game'. This program investigated the black market within Australia for steroids originally intended for veterinary use. This is a very informative report and includes a number of comments from John Black, who headed the 1989 Senate inquiry into drugs and sport. Senator Black indicates that his inquiry actually recommended the regulation of veterinary steroids in 1990 and that this recommendation has yet to be acted on.
The Four Corners report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s11669.htm

The Age website has an Insight special investigation report titled 'Drugs in Sport'. The report is dated July 8, 2000. It is largely a reproduction of articles published in The Age on that date, however, it also includes a number of interesting background articles reproduced from the Sydney Morning Herald. In addition it supplies direct links to a significant number of other Age articles dealing with the issue. It also has a useful set of Internet links.
The Age special investigation report can be found at

The Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) home page can be found at http://www.ausport.gov.au/asda/index.html
This is a very informative site and includes a comprehensive listing of currently banned performance-enhancing substances, their effects and whether there are tests available for these substances.

The documentation from the International Olympic Committee's International Summit on Drugs in Sport which was conducted in Sydney in November 1999 can be found at http://www.nodoping.org/pos_drugsinsport_e.html
The site includes policy statements, information on testing, on the expected level of international co-operation and on the IOC commitment to drug education among athletes.

On August 4, 1998, the ABC's Lateline ran a report titled, 'Sporting Chance' looking at the issue of drug-taking in sport both as it applies in Australia and around the world.
A transcript of the program can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s12255.htm

In 1996 the Australian Medical Journal (AMJ) published a report on the psychological effect of taking anabolic steroids. Among these was a tendency to uncontrolled and violent rage.
The article was titled 'Anabolic steroids and the mind' and was written by Brian Corrigan. It can be found at http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/aug19/corrigan/corrigan.html

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Arguments suggesting that Australia has done sufficient to combat drug-taking among Australian Olympic athletes
There are five main arguments suggesting that Australia has done sufficient to combat drug-taking among Australian Olympic athletes.

1. Australia has established the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) as an independent body whose principal function is to test athletes for the use of banned substances.
ASDA was established in 1989 after a Senate inquiry into drug use at the Australian Institute of Sport. Its function is to monitor Australian athletes for drug use and to educate them about its dangers. ASDA is a major contributor to the testing program for the Sydney Olympics and also conducts tests for the AFL, NRL and the Australian Cricket Board.
Currently ASDA is said to be testing some 20 elite athletes a day. The quality of its testing is said to be indicated by the fact that it has caught some 400 Australian athletes taking banned substances in the last 10 years.

2. It has been claimed that ASDA's procedures are sound and that its officers do not collude with athletes to hide drug-taking
Responding to allegations made by Werner Reiterer that an Olympic administrator had given him detailed information about ASDA test results between 1997 and 2000, ASDA chief executive Natalie Houson claimed, 'Detailed analytical reports on our samples would have to come from the laboratory that does our analyses, and their own systems and balances would make it virtually impossible for an individual to be in any way colluding with an athlete without that being obvious to the whole team.'
Re allegations that ASDA officials sometimes deliberately warned athletes of impending drug tests, Natalie Houson indicated that warnings could sometimes be given inadvertently because ASDA officials sometimes had to ring sporting organisations to locate athletes before they could be tested. Houson has stated that measures are currently being taken to ensure that ASDA will not have to do this in the future.
It has also been claimed that Mr Reiterer's accusations would have more credibility had he been prepared to name those ASDA officials whom he believed were corrupt or demonstrably incompetent.

3. It has been claimed that Australian athletes and coaches have been pro-active in taking measures to ensure that performance-enhancing drugs do not become a part of the Australian sporting scene.
An example of this is that Australian swimmers have all offered blood samples as part of an international effort to develop an accurate test for the performance-enhancing drug, EPO.
Australian athletes have also offered to have their blood frozen so that it could be tested at some time in the future when tests for currently undetectable substances become available.
It has also been noted that there was a supposed ground swell of opposition from among Australian athletes and coaches when it was proposed that in 1997 that former East German coach Dr Ekkart Arbeit be appointed Australia's track and field head coach. It has been claimed that athletes objected to his proposed appointment because he had admitted helping athletes take steroids while coaching in East Germany.

4. It has also been claimed that neither ASDA nor the Australian Olympic Committee can be blamed for not having in place effective tests for EPO or human growth hormones prior to the Sydney Olympics.
According to defenders of Australia's efforts in this area the principal responsibility for this failure rests with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). According to this line of argument the IOC has not supplied sufficient funds to support research into developing reliable tests for EPO and human growth hormone.
In 1995 Australia was part of an international research effort working to find a fail-safe method to test for growth hormones. It has been claimed that this research was halted because the IOC did not supply the funding needed so that this work could be completed before the Olympic Games.
Defenders of Australia's actions note that while it would be highly desirable to have reliable tests for human growth hormones and EPO prior to the 2000 Olympics, such tests are available no where in the world and the responsibility for the delay in the most recent research effort is not Australia's.
There is, it is claimed, even the possibility that a test for EPO may be available by September.

5. It has also been claimed that Australia's Customs and law-enforcement bodies are taking all reasonable precautions to limit the importation and manufacture of banned performance-enhancing substances.
In March, 2000, Australian Customs announced that it had made more than 50 seizures of banned steroids and hormones in one month, compared to 49 seizures for the whole of 1996.
Over the last four years it has been claimed that Australia's confiscations of performance-enhancing substances has increased 25-fold.
The Australian Government last year introduced laws which made steroids a prohibited import and imposed trafficking penalties on a par with some narcotics offences. It has also backed the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency and Launched a Tough on Drugs in Sport policy as part of its general anti-drugs policy.
It has been claimed that to the extent that banned substances are entering Australia, they are doing so despite the best efforts of the relevant authorities.

Arguments suggesting that Australia has not done sufficient to combat drug-taking among Australian Olympic athletes
There are five major arguments put forward to suggest that Australia has not done sufficient to combat drug-taking among Australian Olympic athletes

1. It has been claimed that ASDA is an inefficient and possibly corrupt body which has not effectively monitored drug-taking among Australian athletes.
Werner Reiterer has claimed that details of tests results were released to him by officials working for ASDA over a four year period. Mr Reiterer has also claimed that some athletes appeared to have been warned by ASDA when supposedly random tests were about to take place. Mr Reiterer has also claimed that when he told a number of ASDA testers that he was taking substances for which they had no tests, they accepted that this was a possibility but took no further action against him. Mr Reiterer has also claimed that the allowable margin of banned substances in an athlete's blood is too high, because it allowed him to continue taking detectable prohibited substances and remain in his sport despite tests revealing the presence of these substances. Mr Reiterer has also accused ASDA of simple incompetence, in that he claims some athletes are having other people take their urine tests for them and ASDA is not picking up on this.

2. It has been claimed that ASDA was only established after a Senate Committee determined that drug-taking was a significant problem among Australian athletes.
In 1989 the Australian Senate conducted an inquiry, headed by Senator John Black, which suggested that up to 60 per cent of Australia's elite athletes were using banned substances.
The inquiry criticised the Australian Institute of Sport, various sporting bodies and individual athletes.
It has been claimed that random drug testing and the establishment of the ASDA, both recommendations of the Black Committee, are only as effective as the tests that are used.
Another of the Senate Committee's recommendations was that tests be developed for human growth hormones and EPO. In the absence of such tests, critics have suggested, it is likely that banned substances are being taken in the same way as they apparently were in 1989.

3. It has been claimed that Australian athletes taking part in testing programs and their generally stated opposition to drug-taking prove nothing.
It has been noted that a Canadian inquiry into drug-taking in sport, the Dubin Commission conducted in 1989-90, after Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for stanozolol, found that a number of confessed drug-taking athletes claimed that the general strategy of those who take performance-enhancing substances was to strongly deny that they did so. According to this, denial is not enough to prove innocence.
With regard to Australian athletes readily taking part in drug testing programs it has been suggested that while there are no reliable tests for EPO and human growth hormone being tested for banned substances does not prove that an athlete has not taken them.
It has further been noted that even though Australian athletes are volunteering to have blood samples frozen so that they can be monitored at some time in the future when more sophisticated tests become available, it has been claimed that this may not supply reliable evidence as blood samples are likely to have degenerated.

4. It has further been suggested that Australia should have had tests available for human growth hormone and EPO available by the 2000 Olympics.
According to this line of argument, it was a recommendation of the 1989 Black Committee that these tests be developed. This was recommended not as an obligation for the Olympic host, but as a means of countering a perceived drug problem among Australian athletes.
It has been claimed that if serious action had been taken on this recommendation over the last eleven years then tests would probably now be available.
The implication is that this should not have had to rely on IOC funding, but should have been a priority for the Australian Government and Australian sport, including the AOC.

5. It has also been claimed that Australian Customs and Australian law-enforcement bodies have not done sufficient to prevent the importation and manufacture of performance-enhancing substances.
Craig Flemming, the anti-doping officer for the AOC, has claimed that despite the obvious growth in the production and importation of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances in the led-up to the Sydney Olympics, not one police officer in the country has been specifically assigned to investigate the trade.
In 1997, Mr Flemming, who had studied the growth in drug use following the Atlanta Olympics, called for extra funding and a national task force to deal with the problem for the Sydney Games. Mr Flemming was at the time the head of the steroids interdiction program for Australian Customs.
Mr Flemming did not get the funds he requested, his Customs unit was disbanded and no task force was established.
It has also been suggested that Australia is a major producer of high quality steroids for veterinary use which are feeding the performance-enhancing drug market. It has been claimed that these drugs are available on the black market in Australia and that they are exported with inadequate regulation to countries such as Mexico, where they then help supply the international market for these substances as performance-enhancers.
Australia has been criticised because its overseas sales of these substances are inadequately regulated. It has been claimed that the National Registration Authority routinely issues export certificates to countries known to have a flourishing illegal trade in these drugs.

Further implications
The immediate fall-out from the current controversy will depend on what, if anything, is unearthed as a result of the inquiry to follow Werner Reiterer's allegations.
If nothing substantial emerges from this inquiry then the next potential source of controversy may well be the Olympic Games themselves.
If testing during the Games reveals that athletes from other nations are taking prohibited substances then this is likely to do no more than fuel Australian claims that our testing procedures have been adequate. If an Australian athlete, and in particular a prominent one, were to have been found taking a prohibited substance this is likely to cause the sort of controversy within and outside Australia that the detection of Ben Johnson did in Canada 1988.
It is actually fairly unlikely that too many 'drugs cheats' will be detected as popular wisdom has it that most are using substances for which there are currently no tests. This is no great cause for self-congratulation. All it means is that the extent of the problem, both within Australia and overseas is currently unknown.
What does seem likely is that like Atlanta before it, Sydney is about to become the performance-enhancing drug centre of Australia and a problem which may have been confined to Australian elite sport is likely to reach down into the ranks of lower level competition as performance-enhancing substances become more available and cheaper.
It now seems particularly important that Australia develop its own tests for EPO and human growth hormones, not for the Olympics, but to monitor sporting competition after the Games have left our shores. It also seems important that any doubts about the effective operation of the ASDA be removed.
In the long term it may be that the only way to effectively manage the use of performance-enhancing drugs around the world is that their use be legalised.
There are two levels of concern about these substances. One is the physical damage they can do athletes. The other is the unfair advantage they can give one athlete over another. Legalising and regulating them would reduce the risk of harm to athletes and hopefully mean that relatively safe substances were equally available to all athletes.
Even then, this would be only a partial solution as athletes seeking an advantage over others are likely to continue to move outside the range of known and approved substances.
If the current controversy means anything it is likely to have dented the average Australian's comfortable conviction that our athletes are all drug-free.

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Newspaper items used in the preparation of this outline
The Age
5/7/00 page news item by Ian Cockerill, 'Drugs tip-off claim'
5/7/00 page news item by Ian Cockerill, 'A star's descent to drugs'
5/7/00 page news item by Ian Cockerill, 'Doping backed by officials: athlete'
6/7/00 page 1 news item by Louise Evans, 'Inquiry into drug cheat allegations'
6/7/00 page 1 (Sports supplement) news item by Ian Cockerill, 'Drug query on coach's role'
6/7/00 page 2 (Sports supplement) news item by Chloe Saltau, 'Disgraced sprinter offers to help inquiry'
6/7/00 page 2 (Sports supplement) news item by Roy Masters, 'Agency concedes tip-offs possible'
6/7/00 page 2 (Sports supplement) comment by Ian Cockerill, 'Coates throws back to Reiterer'
7/7/00 page 14 editorial, 'Clear the air on the Olympics and drugs'
7/7/00 page 1 (Sports supplement) news item by Ian Cockerill, 'Coates suspends inquiry'
7/7/00 page 5 (Sports supplement) analysis by David Leser, 'Our land of dope and glory'
7/7/00 page 4 (Sports supplement) news item by Ian Cockerill, 'Positive at the start, feeble at the finish'
7/7/00 page 4 (Sports supplement) news item by Chloe Saltau, 'Rumours floating around: Fraser'
7/7/00 page 4 (Sports supplement) news item, 'Irate Perkins blasts claims'
7/7/00 page 4 (Sports supplement) news item, 'Warning on calls for the freezing of athletes' blood'
8/7/00 page 1 analysis by Mark Forbes, 'Steroids our flourishing export'
8/7/00 page 9 news item by Kerry Taylor, 'Costello backs sports drugs inquiry'
8/7/00 page 1 (News Extra supplement) analysis by Mark Forbes, 'Made in Australia'

The Australian
6/7/00 page 5 news item by Trudy Harris and Natasha Bita, 'Athletes' drug-taking "common"'
6/7/00 page 5 news item by Nicole Jeffery, 'Not a winning formula'
6/7/00 page 5 comment by Nicole Jeffery, 'No saints, but who's sinning?'
8/7/00 page 8 news item by John Lehmann and Natasha Bita, 'Athletes asked for doping proof'
8/7/00 page 27 analysis by Natasha Bita, 'Playing the blame game'

The Herald Sun
6/7/00 page 5 news item, 'A star's cocktail of drugs'
6/7/00 page 5 news item by Katrina Beikoff and Natasha Bita, 'I'll name names, says drug cheat'
6/7/00 page 18 editorial, 'Olympic drugs'