Pound backs new drug tests

By Saj Chowdhury
BBC Sport

World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound hopes new tests for the banned drug Human Growth Hormone (HGH) will be ready for the Athens Olympics.

A research team from Southampton University are close to creating a test for the previously undetectable drug.

"If the test's not ready then I'd rather wait until it's proved to be fully reliable," Pound told BBC Sport.

"We'll ask for the samples from the Games to be saved so that we can test them at a later date."

Pound added: "If any athletes are found guilty then they will be stripped of their medals."

What is Human Growth Hormone?

The test for HGH, a drug which stimulates the growth of muscles and bones, will be conducted in two stages.

Urine and blood samples will be taken from athletes selected at random in each event within an hour of the finish.

If the test is ready by the start of the Games, then the first analysis will be carried out in Athens at the Olympic anti-doping laboratory and will reveal if the athlete has taken HGH in the past 36 hours.

Disqualification of an Olympic athlete focuses attention on the anti-doping effort Dick Pound

The samples will then be flown back to England for the second test to be done over the following weeks.

This will show if HGH has been in the athlete's system up to 84 days before the Olympics.

Pound, the former vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, said identifying drug cheats at the Athens Games would have a positive rather than negative effect on the sporting event.

"A positive test isn't the sign of failure," the Canadian said.

'It's a sign of a successful and vigorous programme that identifies cheaters and takes them out of play.

"The publicity created from the disqualification of an Olympic athlete has a remarkable effect on the athletes and the countries involved at the Games - it focuses their attention on the anti-doping effort."