Athletes at this year's Olympic games in Sydney may have to undergo combined blood and urine tests after the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) medical commission yesterday approved new tests capable of detecting the banned drug erythropoietin (EPO).
If the commission's recommendations are accepted by the IOC's legal team at the end of this month, athletes competing in the games will, for the first time, be subjected to blood tests for the currently undetectable drug.
The decision comes in the aftermath of widespread public cynicism about athletes' performances in top-class endurance events, particularly in swimming, cycling and athletics.
EPO was originally developed as an important drug to help fight kidney disease but has been used by athletes to illegally boost the blood's capacity to carry oxygen around the body.
One of the side effects has been the blood thickens and athletes may suffer heart attacks. There have been a number of cases recorded of young, healthy cyclists inexplicably dying from heart attacks.
This fatal side effect, however, has not stopped the abuse of EPO. The 1998 Tour de France was almost brought to a halt as French police and customs officers successfully swept through team hotels and support vehicles, unearthing large quantities of the drug.
The medical commission yesterday approved the combined test after spending two days poring over research.
The 15-member panel of doping experts and scientists then concluded a urine-based method, developed by a French laboratory together with a blood sampling control devised in Australia, would provide indisputable proof of an athlete using EPO.
The next step is to have the tests approved by the IOC's juridical commission, which will examine the threat of legal challenges.
The IOC executive board will then examine both scientific and legal opinions at meetings on August 28th and 29th and make a final decision on the implementation of the tests for the Sydney Games. The games begin on September 15th.
"The final decision will be taken by the executive board but one of the most difficult stages is now behind us," said Prince Alexandre De Merode, chairman of the IOC's medical commission.
Irish athlete Susan Smith Walsh who was an Olympic 400-metre-hurdle semi-finalist and World Championship finalist, yesterday welcomed the news.
"It is brilliant. I'm delighted they are bringing in a test for EPO. I hope it's a good test but anything that stops people cheating is fantastic," she said. "I wouldn't mind at all if they took my blood to do the test."
