The Irish Sports Council have not yet revealed the details of their drug testing programme from last year. When they do, the banned substance nandrolone is likely to be one of the biggest offenders. And there is reason for it.

The IOC-sanctioned laboratory in Cologne recently conducted tests on 100 food supplements and found substances on 16 occasions that would lead to adverse nandrolone findings. The supplements were bought in Europe and the US and did not include nandrolone or related compounds among their listed ingredients.

In 1999, the last year figures were available, Olympic drug testing laboratories reported 343 positive tests for nandrolone. The message is clear. Don't use supplements as they are unreliable and under the IAAF's "strict liability" rule, the buck always stops with the athlete.