Drugs in Sydney: Is it time to act?

There is confusion over drug testing at the Olympics, particularly for nandrolone. Should the international authorities let athletes and fans know exactly where they stand before the games? Or is it too much of a risk when competitors' careers are on the line?

The UK authorities are happy with research that suggests there are flaws in the testing process for nandrolone.

But the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) have yet to accept the findings.

The recent decisions of UK Athletics and UK Sport effectively cleared British pair Mark Richardson and Dougie Walker, who both tested positive for nandrolone.

They have been allowed to compete in Britain's Olympic trials next month but it is feared the world governing body will attempt to overturn the UK decision.

Yet Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey has already been cleared after her positive test and selected for Sydney.

A meeting is planned next week to examine the nandrolone controversy, and the IAAF will possibly announce they are allowing all the suspended athletes to take part in Olympic trials.

Athletes have been told that they could be tested for the stamina-improving drug EPO at Sydney.

But drug allegations can ruin an athletes' career, and in the light of the nandrolone affair was it too risky to approve an untried test for EPO at such short notice?

Is it fair to allow guilty athletes back in as well as the innocent? Or is it time for decision to clarify both matters and get rid of the confusion?

What do you think?

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It is time for the athletics world, track and field as we call it in the U.S., to get past the drug dancing. The current testing program is no match for the cheaters. But until the IAAF and IOC put real dollars (pounds, francs, or deutsch marks) into research for better testing nothing will get better. As for the athletes who have already tested positive, I say "No blood, no reinstatement." If they want to clear their names they have to show more than a claim that the test was bad. As a former athlete, lawyer, and the chair of the U.S. panel that found in favor of former 400m record holder Butch Reynolds in 1992, I find it interesting that so many federations are now saying the test for nandrolone should be disregarded. Maybe it is because their athletes are the ones being banned. When it was a U.S. athlete fighting the system few in Europe said the testing was questionable. It is time that the world work together for a better test that uses blood instead of urine.
Clifford A. Wiley, USA

The majority of top sportsmen and women put so much of themselves into their sport, the risk of wrongly accusing/punishing the innocent far outweighs the benefit of catching the guilty (cheats lose whatever the result). Cheating at anything is totally unacceptable and cheats should be found out, but the public and the press should always treat the athletes as innocent until proven unquestionably guilty. We all owe it to the innocent.
Nick, UK

An athlete who takes drugs is not a true sportsman. What about the old Olympic sportsmanship!

  Shoaib Akram, Pakistan

If athlete's are going to be suspended for alleged doping offences then they should at least have the right to arbitration within a specified time scale. Doug Walker has been unable to compete for nearly 2 years which equates to a mandatory ban had he been found guilty. If he is innocent, as would seem the case, then he should receive significant compensation. The chances are he will now never make it to an Olympic games as a competitive force.
Graham Brown, England

The countries with the greatest technological lead in everything, never mind drugs, are the countries with the greatest ability to mask their drug use. Europeans, Australians, Americans and Russians are hypocritical and always forget that.
Frank Yeo, UK

If athletes, their coaches and countries acted honestly in the first instance there wouldn't be the need for drug testing. It's the honest athletes who suffer the most, because they can be so easily accused for having natural talent. Plus the frustration of the honest when FINA and other sporting bodies don't act, is when sport of any type becomes a joke.
Malcolm Long, Australia

Drugs will damage sports and all we'll be left with is superstar icons dying at an early age because of the abuse

  Thyge, Denmark

Like in the Tour de France, drugs are part of Athletics, Swimming etc. Anywhere where the performance is based on individuals, it is likely that somewhere along the line drugs (illegal) are involved. Even in the game of football, players have been accused using drugs. It is a pity that things have to be this way but the people giving the athletes the performance enhancing drugs are simply cleverer than the ones trying to control the (miss)use of it. Drugs will damage sports and all we'll be left with is superstar icons dying at an early age because of the abuse.
Thyge, Denmark

I think that it has gone completely mad, at the rate the IAAF is banning things we will have athletes dropping dead as they can't eat because it's on the list. Has any one noticed how athletes from countries outside Britain are cleared quickly by the IAAF, but if you're British it takes a very long time.
William Dryden, UK

Drug testing has become ridiculous. There are now non-drug programmes for the rich and wealthy countries that can out-perform the drugs that are available illegally. Don't we take drugs every single day anyway? Are athletes actually any worse than the rest of us. Remember that Linford Christie tested positive when taking a simple cup of tea in China. People will always take drugs, as often without knowing, as knowing!
Mark Holley, UK

These tests can ruin peoples lives and deprive them of their livelihood

  Richard Bradley, Hong Kong

These tests can ruin peoples lives and deprive them of their livelihood. Any test should therefore be foolproof. Much more research is needed, especially before new tests are introduced.
Richard Bradley, Hong Kong

There is no greater hypocrites in the world than the hypocritical sports bodies in Europe, America, Australia. When Green, Ottey, Christie, Richardson and their countrymen test positive, they are immediately declared "innocent". Why bother testing them? Just test the Chinese and forget the rest. Hypocrites!
Frank Yeo, UK

Dougie walker, Mark Richardson et al were all marginal in their tests and look at the furore caused and the loss of career and opportunities that have resulted just because they are famous

  Anne, Scotland

I think drugs control has gone haywire. It is very obvious which substances can occur naturally and which substances are standard medicines. All those should be removed from prohibited list and leave only true drugs like synthetic steroids that are easy to test and beyond any doubt enhance the performance. Rest of the drug control is simply ridiculous and comparable to religious witch-hunt. Of course, excessive intelligence has never been part of the sports leadership but at least the various organisation's leaders could make an attempt not to be politicians but sportsmen.
Mikko Toivonen, Finland

A good friend of mine received a letter from UK Athletics informing him he had tested above the allowed level for testosterone. Given he is a good club athlete and no more, he wrote in his defence, gave a blood sample and heard very little else about it. He has now been put on a list which recognises he naturally produces a higher level of the hormone than an average person. Would this have been swept to the side so easily if he was a high profile athlete? I think not. Dougie walker, Mark Richardson et al were all marginal in their tests and look at the furore caused and the loss of career and opportunities that have resulted just because they are famous.
Anne, Scotland