Loopholes in tests could help cheats go scott-free

LONDON: Major doubts have been raised over a key doping test just weeks before the Beijing Olympics, according to a BBC probe released on Monday — sparking fears that cheats are going undetected.  The investigation found that World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laboratories are classing positive tests for the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) as negatives — opening up the possibility that cheats are not being weeded out.

The findings led Professor Bengt Saltin — a top anti-doping expert — to paint a bleak picture of widespread EPO use at the Games.

“I would think that most of the medal winners and many in the finals of endurance events - there is a big risk for them having used EPO. Of course, they have to be clever but they don’t have to be very clever,” he said.

Dr Rasmus Damsgaard, who runs the anti-doping programme for the International Ski Federation and the Astana Cycling team, says he has clear proof that positive EPO tests are being misdiagnosed. Dr Damsgaard sent samples from skiers to a WADA lab for analysis earlier this year and they came back negative - but when he requested a breakdown of the results he found what he said was conclusive evidence of EPO use.

“It was very obvious that the gels were very un-natural or very different from natural distributions,” he said.

“But I also saw that they were declared negative because they didn’t fulfil the WADA criteria of a positive test; although they looked suspicious and had no natural bands at all, they were still declared negative.  “From a little work with a lot of blood profiles, I found maybe five positives. I wonder that maybe hundreds, maybe even thousands of EPO positive samples are lying around in WADA-accredited labs.”

The BBC probe also found that “copycat” versions of the drug, often undetectable, are available on the internet for as little as 50 dollars.

Experts believe WADA should widen their criteria for declaring a positive as athletes are using increasingly sophisticated means of self-medication. Although a test was introduced to detect EPO variants at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, many athletes succeeded in challenging the results in court. 

In response, in 2004, WADA tightened the criteria by which an EPO positive could be declared, resulting in a fall in the number of legal challenges. Dr Damsgaard added: “WADA is sitting on a mountain of positive EPO. They have these very strict rules, and declare that everything is working fine. But it’s not working at all! You can more or less do whatever you like with EPO and you will not be charged.” Prof. Saltin, a former winner of the IOC Olympic Prize, the highest honour in sports science, agreed. 

“The reason that I am still a little bit upset with the whole situation is that I have seen too many suspicious samples that are clearly abnormal. Athletes are getting away with it. Look how many have been caught for EPO misuse recently.” The numbers of athletes being prosecuted for EPO use has declined by two-thirds between 2003 and 2006.