In August, a popular German broadcasting station ARD/WDR revealed a list containing the blood work of over 5,000 Olympic medalists from the years 2001 to 2012.
Among the findings were:
- Over 800 medalist who showed blood values "highly suggestive of doping."
- Ten medalists from London 2012 who were suspected of doping.
- An emergence of Russia as the "blood testing epicenter of the world" with more suspicious athletes than any other nation.
The list was claimed, by the International Association Athletics Federation (IAAF), to have been leaked and obtained without consent.
Shockingly, though maybe not so much to some, this list revealed that almost one in seven athletes showed blood values labeled "abnormal." Abnormal, in this case, means that any number of blood elements, synthetic or not, falls above what is considered to be physiologically normal for humans, as determined by a scientific panel of experts.
After the data leaked, scientists investigating the report claimed they had never seen such astonishing blood values, in such astonishing numbers, as was contained on this list.
Additionally, the scientists made claims against IAAF and their apparently lax attitude toward doping investigation; one making the statement that "...the IAAF appears to have sat idly by and let this happen."
Bold statements to make toward the body that governs the entire realm of international track and field. However, this would not be the first time that the organization has been accused of crimes of idleness. It seems as if IAAF boardmembers,those who hold stake in track and field, who directly profit from the marketability and globalization of the sport, are those reluctant to probe into the practice of doping which could prove to be the downfall of an athletics tradition founded in integrity and a "clean sport" attitude. In the case of a mass doping scandal in track and field, performances would become null, and fans would likely lose interest. Track and field needs what market it can get.
Among the aforementioned list were 5 gold medalists found to have had "abnormal values" in the leaked information. This is particularly disturbing. What this means to fans and athletes alike, is that somewhere, there is a gold medal resting in a felt-lined box that is owned by an athlete who "earned" that medal dishonestly, at the cost of both their loyal admirers and their competition on the podium. Competition who, unless found on the list also, worked through blood, sweat, and tears to have a shot at that same sporting glory.
Not only does one individual doping hurt the market for track and field, but it hurts the integrity of the sport, something that a self-proclaimed "trackie" like me would prefer to a wide audience any day. For an athlete to dope is to put themselves at an unfair advantage to their cohorts who, assuming a clean rest of the field, refrain from using performance enhancing tactics. Plus, dopers only disappoint their fans. Imagine the lost hope that would come from a high profile track and field athlete like Usain Bolt being accused of using perforamance enhancing drugs. Bolt is an athlete who has enthralled the world with his superior talent; setting records in multiple races while bringing many to the question if there are any limits to human speed at all. Bolt is a wonder to watch, and the impressiveness of his accomplishments are only warranted if he has done them "clean."
Fans want to be amazed. However, they want to be amazed at genuine performances earned through a lot of talent mixed with a lot of hard work. This is the dangerous territory that the sport seems to be encroaching upon.
Slowly but surely, track and field is becoming shadowed in scandal ala Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France; a tradition thought to be won through grit and meddle is now seen as a "juiced up" bike race. In track and field, high profile programs such as the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), athletes such as Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin, and even entire countries such as Russia and more recently Kenya, are being investigated on doping after various sources have spoken out about the issue. The radio station ARD (Germany) released a documentary along with the list of blood samples; a one hour film containing many coach/athlete testimonies and serious allegations, many of those concerning the teams and athletes above.
Whether true or not, what the allegations and findings do point to is a sport that is at least "entering" an era of controversy and skepticism should intervention not take place.
An intervention is what Sebastian Coe, the once 1500 meter runner for Britain turned IAAF president, recently announced plans to implement. Coe stated that he has the vision to begin an "independent unit" to help fight doping. This unit would be a separate entity from the IAAF, essentially relieving them of their "policing" duties, and outsourcing all of the athlete blood testing and monitoring. In this way, the IAAF could focus their energies on promoting development of the sport, and not trying to catch the bad guys.
This is all the sport needs. If athletes knew that they would be caught 100% of the time should they be on performance enhancing drugs, few would take the chance. As the current system stands, many ambiguities prevent dopers from being sanctioned, and many of the sports cheaters will never be suspected. Thus, many of the sport's athletes believe they can cheat and get away with it; maybe some receiving a slap on the wrist. Sadly, this is too often the case.
The long arm of the law needs to assert its dominance, and let athletes know that, if they cheat, they will be reprimanded with harsh (lifetime) bans and forfeited wins.
It is nice to see progress in the way the sport of track and field is being managed. Athletes are even stepping up in public ad campaigns pushing for a clean sport. Many of the campaigns call out the IAAF directly and urge the federation to increase their presence among athletes.
Track and field is one of the purist forms of sport we have, and through increased doping control, can hopefully remain that way.
