Olympic Games: A new study has revealed what Olympic chiefs called an "astonishing" amount of pill-popping by competitors at last year's Sydney Games with athletes admitting to taking an average of six to seven types of medication each.
The substances, such as anti-asthma products, multi-vitamins and pain-killers, are not banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if needed for medical treatment. But IOC medical chief Patrick Schamasch said yesterday, at an IOC meeting in Moscow, the high number had surprised officials.
"The average was six to seven per athlete. The highest was 29 substances taken by one competitor," Schamasch said. "It is astonishing. It is quite an impressive number." The study, which is due to be published in August, analysed the number of drugs athletes said they were taking before undergoing routine tests for banned substances.
Competitors are obliged to fill in a form detailing any medication they are using before giving a urine test.
Schamasch also said the IOC had signed a contract with Munich University in Germany to carry out research into Human Growth Hormones (HGH), the muscle-building drugs.
Drug Testing: The Irish Sports Council announced yesterday that drug testing of GAA players is set to get underway in the coming weeks, reports Ian O'Riordan. At a recent meeting between the Irish Sports Council and the GAA regarding the doping programme, the GAA were satisfied they had no further outstanding issues regarding the programme.
The GAA is due to sign a letter of authorisation in the immediate future. The final agreement between the Sports Council and the FAI is also expected in the near future. A total of 49 of the country's national governing bodies have signed up to the programme since its establishment in November 1999.
The Council aims to test more than 600 athletes this year, and yesterday they announced testing figures for the period January-June 2001. A total of 310 tests were carried out, broken into 138 out-of-competition and 172 in-competition tests.
The Council has also endorsed an education initiative, developed by the Irish Pharmacy website at eirpharm.com. Eirpharm have developed a free online service allowing sports people to check a database of all over-the-counter medicines available in Ireland to see if they contain substances prohibited by the International Olympic Committee.
The Council also published a handbook for anti-doping officers. It held an education workshop on June 11th on disciplinary procedures.
Hockey: Development of the game in Irish circles will be tested in San Sebastian (Spain) and Padua (Italy) today when the European Youth Cup tournaments get under way with The Netherlands providing the opposition at boys and girls under-16 and under-18 levels. In San Sebastian, the boys under-16s may be the best equipped to make an impact. The under-18s, though, field several players capable of gaining inclusion in the Junior World Cup squad and if the Dutch side proves too powerful, the matches against France, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic ought to yield some positive results.
In Padua, the Irish girls face the same opposition and here, too, the under-16s may enjoy the more successful start.
