In an embarrassing blow a month before India hosts the Commonwealth Games, eight of its prospective Commonwealth athletes have been suspended after failing drugs tests.

Six wrestlers, a shot putter and another athlete, tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant used as a Nasal decongestant, according to officials in Delhi.

From NZherald.co.nz:

The biggest blow is the loss of the Olympian Rajiv Tomar, considered a gold medal prospect in the men’s 120kg freestyle wrestling. Those who also tested positive included fellow male wrestlers Mausam Khatri and Sumit Kumar, and female Gursharanpreet Kaur.

Banned too is Saurabh Vij, a medal prospect in the men’s shot put.

“It is unfortunate that these failed tests came just before the Games,” said Rahul Bhatnagar, who heads the National Anti-Doping Agency. “But we have a no-tolerance policy towards that.”

Last year, the country’s weightlifting federation was fined $500,000 by its governing body after six of its competitors failed drugs tests. The federation paid $125,000 of the fine and had to borrow the rest. In January, four wrestlers were asked to leave the national training camp after testing positive for steroids.

Five of these athletes were to have competed in the Games; one was considered a gold medal prospect.

Tags: Commonwealth Games, freestyle wrestling, methylhexaneamine, steroids

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Mark William Rainbow, a former bodybuilder, was recently jailed for five years over the illegal importation of anabolic steroids.

The 43-year-old was sentenced in Auckland District Court after earlier admitting breaches of the Medicine Act 1981 including importing, possessing and supplying prescription and other medicines.

From NZherald.co.nz:

Mark William Rainbow, 43, was sentenced in Auckland District Court after earlier admitting breaches of the Medicine Act 1981 including importing, possessing and supplying prescription and other medicines.

Rainbow imported medicines from Thailand in May 2008 that had been concealed in bottles falsely labelled “Gay Lube Oil“.

The contents were then transferred into bottles labelled with the name of Rainbow’s trading company, SSIS Pharmaceuticals. The products he sold were not of a pharmaceutical standard and their lack of quality assurance posed a real risk to those using them.

Medsafe investigators, working with customs and police, found Rainbow supplied these unapproved medicines to at least three people.

The steroid containing imported medicines from Thailand in May 2008 had been concealed in bottles falsely labeled as “Gay Lube Oil”.

Tags: anabolic steroids, bodybuilder, Gay Lube Oil

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Hurdler Duane Ross has been banned for a period of two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after evidence of drug use was uncovered.

The results of Ross since November 2, 2001 will be scratched from the records after new information emerged from the ongoing investigation into the BALCO scandal.

From Espnstar.com:

The North Carolina native, now 37, was one of a number of athletes to testify against disgraced coach Trevor Graham, from whose stable of athletes the likes of Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin received drug bans.

But a USADA statement confirmed Ross, who competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has been banned “for using banned performance-enhancing drugs, including anabolic agents and hormones, in violation of International Association of Athletics Federations Anti-Doping Rules“.

The statement continued: “Mr. Ross’s sanction resulted from information recently received by USADA during separate investigations arising from information obtained during the BALCO conspiracy.

“In addition to his suspension, which began on February 5, 2010, all of Ross’s competitive results will be disqualified, including forfeiture of all medals, points, and prizes since November 2, 2001.”

The ban means that Ross will keep his 1999 World Championship bronze medal, won in a personal best of 13.12 seconds in Seville.

Tags: anabolic agents, BALCO scandal, Duane Ross, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery

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A major survey conducted in secondary schools has found 2.4 per cent of 12 to 17 year olds reported using the muscle enhancing injections. After the survey results were disclosed, Australian schools have been told to broaden their drug education programs.

This was a much higher usage rate than that seen across the population, according to Dr Matthew Dunn, a researcher at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC).

From NZherald.co.nz:

“It’s low when we compare it to groups such as body builders and weightlifters,” Dr Dunn told AAP.

“… but the general population prevalence of steroid use is 0.1 per cent, so it’s quite a lot higher than that.”

Dr Dunn analysed data collected as part of a broader survey on substance abuse, which took in about 22,000 students from 376 secondary schools across the country.

Teens who admitted to past steroid use were also more likely to report experimenting with other illicit substances, such as cannabis.

They tended to report lower scholastic performance, were usually male and not always involved in sporting activities.

Dr Dunn said their reported steroid use was also irregular – often “one or two times in the last year” – meaning it would not have had the intended effect.

Dr Dunn said school sport and athletics programs should also highlight the risks involved in steroid abuse.

Tags: body builders, muscle enhancing injections, steroid abuse, steroid use, substance abuse

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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is keeping a close eye on things as India trains doping control officers (DCOs) to keep the games free from doping.

The Delhi laboratory, accredited by WADA, has worked successfully through several curtain-raisers, including the Commonwealth Shooting Championship, the Hockey World Cup, and the Commonwealth Boxing Championships.

From NZherald.co.nz:

“I have no problem with the lab. It has been meeting regular testing programmes from the samples sent back to us. If there was a slip in scientific standards, we’d be on to it like a robber’s dog.

“The issue is for the lab to retain its accreditation beyond the Games as one of only 35 labs in the world capable of doing [WADA quality] testing.

They have to analyse 3000 samples a year to do that. One starting point is cricket’s Indian Premier League.”

Howman says WADA still feels obliged to guide India in running a full-time programme.

“The Commonwealth Games Federation [CGF] is training its own DCOs but the ideal is that they use Indians. Those people then need to be kept on after the Games.”

Drug Free Sport New Zealand boss Graeme Steel said India is vital experienced and well-trained officials are on the job, much like bringing in top-match officials or referees.

Tags: Commonwealth Games, doping, Indian Premier League, WADA

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Terry Newton, the former Great Britain hooker, had traces of anabolic steroids, cocaine, and amphetamines in his system when he killed himself in September.

The former hooker became the first professional sportsman to test positive for human growth hormone in February and was serving a two-year suspension when he took his life at the age of 31.

From Guardian.co.uk:

“We have a picture where steroid abuse may well have led on to behavioural changes. We can say that is virtually certain. Subsequently they have rendered Mr Newton, on the balance of probabilities, unable to form an appropriate judgment as to the nature and quality of his actions.”

Newton’s wife Stacey attended the hearing at Bolton coroner’s court with other close family members. She was too upset to give evidence. Newton was discovered by police in the loft of his home in Orrell, Wigan, on 26 September, after Stacey had told a friend she was concerned for his safety. He had left notes around the house expressing a desire to end his life.

Toxicology reports showed he had taken the steroid nandrolone within the week of his death and traces of cocaine and amphetamine were in his urine, along with alcohol and anti-depressants. Human growth hormone cannot be tested for in post-mortem samples. None of the banned drugs were a direct factor in the cause of death but all could have lowered a person’s mood, the inquest was told.

It is believed by some experts that death of Newton had delivered a macabre warning to others about the dangers of taking performance enhancing drugs.

Tags: anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, nandrolone, Performance enhancing drugs, steroid, steroid abuse, Terry Newton

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Tiger Woods recently said that he is still working with coach Hank Haney and does not care that a significant minority of his peers is of the view that he makes use of performance enhancing drugs.

The statement was made by Woods in 21-minute news conference ahead of the Players Championship.

From NZherald.co.nz:

Rumours have been swirling for some time that Woods is about to ditch Haney, his swing instructor of nearly eight years.

They intensified after Woods played some of the worst golf of his career to miss the cut by eight strokes in Charlotte last week.

“I’m still working with him,” a subdued Woods said when asked about his relationship with Haney.

As for the drugs issue, a recent unscientific survey of PGA Tour players found that 24 per cent suspect Woods of having used illegal performance-enhancing substances.

“I’ve never taken performance-enhancing drugs, never taken HGH (human growth hormone), never taken any of that stuff, but everyone is entitled to their opinion,” Woods said.

The suspicions started ever since it was revealed that Woods received treatment last year from Canadian doctor Tony Gallea, who is under investigation by American and Canadian authorities for supplying doping products to athletes.

Tags: doping, HGH, human growth hormone, Performance enhancing drugs, Tiger Woods

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Facourou Sissoko from Mali and Ukrainian Liudmyla Osmanova have been excluded from the Paralympic Games following doping violations.

The duo tested positive in pre-Games out-of-competition tests for boldenone metabolite and 19-Norandrosterone (anabolic agents), respectively.

From Espnstar.com:

The results take the number of violations at the Games to four.

Pakistan powerlifter Naveed Ahmed Butt tested positive for methandienone metabolites on Tuesday, while German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Coskun was banned for using a substance he insisted was he took to combat hair loss.

Coskun tested positive for finasteride, which can be used as a masking agent.

The athletes can appeal the decision up to seven days after receiving the notification.

To date, a total of 461 tests have been carried out at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

Both Sissoko and Osmanova have been disqualified from the Beijing Games and banned for two years.

Tags: Beijing Games, boldenone, finasteride, methandienone, Norandrosterone, Paralympic Games

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Former West Coast Eagles premiership player Daniel Chick has been fined $7000 with $1000 costs after he pleaded guilty to importing performance and image enhancing steroids from Thailand.

Chick was caught with nine vials and a number of pills of anabolic steroids concealed in his luggage after landing at Perth Airport.

From Perthnow.com.au:

Mr Tudori said the former Eagle, who retired from football last year after two seasons with Subiaco in the WAFL, could not appear in court because he was working a fly-in fly-out roster as a crane driver and driller at the Pluto LNG site in the state’s north.

Mr Tudori described Chick’s actions as a “foolish act’’, saying that he bought the steroids as part of a “health program’’ to rehabilitate his battered body after 12 years of professional football.

Chick played a particularly brutal, bruising brand of football and suffered numerous injuries over a long career with Hawthorn and West Coast.

He had a finger amputated after it was so severely broken it would not heal.

Before leaving on the holiday to Thailand, Chick decided to start a “health program’’ and two weeks before the end of the trip he bought the steroids, the court heard.

“He commenced a steroid program and it was to continue,’’ he told the court.

The footballer had been prescribed steroidal drugs for asthma and chest infections, according to a statement by friends of Chick to The Sunday Times.

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Grady Jackson of the Atlanta Falcons has sued the manufacturer of a diuretic that led to his suspension of four games from the NFL.

Jackson filed the suit in Superior Court of California against Nikki Harrell’s StarCaps diet pills, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

From Espnstar.com:

“We’ve received notice of a problem with an NFL player,” the statement read. “We have referred the matter to our counsel and are taking all necessary steps to ensure that our customers receive product that is safe and effective. We have temporarily suspended shipping of StarCaps pending the results of our investigation.”

Jackson is among a handful of NFL players who reportedly tested positive for Bumetanide, a diuretic which is on the NFL’s list of banned substances.

Defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams of the Minnesota Vikings and a trio of players with the New Orleans Saints – running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant – have been identified in multiple media reports as testing positive for the drug.

Bumetanide is a diuretic which can mask the presence of other substances, including steroids.

The player is seeking restitution and damages for false advertising and unfair business practices against the retailers and StarCaps.

Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Bumetanide, diuretic, Grady Jackson, StarCaps diet pills, steroids

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