OBSTACLE COURSE: Athens saw an Olympic record in anti-doping violations, but the International Olympic Committee put the increase down to a greatly expanded testing regime. Greek sprinters and medal hopefuls Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou caused controversy when they missed a drugs test and in so doing did not take part in their events.

Having spent weeks glued to our televisions in awe as the crème de la crème of the world’s athletes competed for Olympic glory in Athens, we must spare a thought for the competitors.
For these highly ambitious and dedicated individuals, competing in the Olympics is the pinnacle of their careers. All the years of sustained effort, gruelling training regimes and personal sacrifice culminate in this one event. For many it is literally make or break.

For some athletes, part and parcel of protecting this immense personal investment is to take no risks whatever with their health and eligibility to compete, by acting on their own initiative to become properly informed and sticking religiously to the available guidelines. For others, the temptation to improve their health or performance with the use of supplements or performance-enhancing drugs is simply too much.
Such pressure is probably inconceivable to most of us armchair athletes and yet, much as the Romans condemned the fallen gladiators, we are very quick to judge competitors when the chips are down. Although there is no excuse for out and out cheating, historically it has often been the system, rather than the individual, which has been at fault.

However, internationally reforms have been introduced in the past few years which hope to change all that. The change is being led by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and much headway has already been made in bringing about global consensus in the fight against drugs in sport.

On a UK level, UK Sport is the agency responsible for implementing the WADA anti-doping code. It was the job of UK Sport to ensure that the UK was fully code-compliant in time for the first day of the Olympics.
UK Sport performs a dual role in sport, as it not only funds and advises athletes, but also oversees and publishes the results of the tests themselves. It has come under criticism for this dual role in the past, with some quarters arguing that the integrity and effectiveness of the organisation would be greater if the role of testing was devolved to a different agency. However, a report by independent consultants PMP, published in March this year, concluded that UK Sport should continue with its dual role as the organisation has proven it can separate its powers successfully.

Indeed, the recent culture, media and sport select committee report on doping in sport recently stated: “We were presented with absolutely no evidence in support of the fundamental case for a new agency”.
Where UK Sport can make changes in the fight against drugs in sport, is in providing more, and better directed, education programmes to ensure that all athletes and coaches are well informed of the issues surrounding supplement use and the rules on doping tests. Despite the fact that UK Sport is reputed to run one of the best online drug information databases in the world, a lack of resources has meant that traditionally education has been a much neglected area. Happily, more money from government has meant that UK Sport has been able to step up its education drive with programmes such as Start Clean (aimed at young athletes) and Stay Clean (aimed at older and elite athletes).
This approach is surely the starting point for a fairer and cleaner system.