 |
| US track star Marion Jones admitted Friday to lying to investigators about steroid use. Craig Ruttle/AP |
Marion Jones caught by a wider antidoping net
'Clean sports' watchdogs are drawing on invoices, shipment records, and other evidence not related to testing regimens.
from the October 10, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
Her tearful admission of wrongdoing and apology to family and friends leave many questions unanswered. But her loss of medals and possible loss of earnings is a heavy blow, note antidoping officials. "[Her] punishment is in line with the rules but also with the offenses," says Travis Tygart, senior managing director and general counsel of the US Anti-Doping Agency.
And the fact that she was caught by law enforcement should be a warning, add sport officials. For the last two years, the World Anti-Doping Agency has been working with police and other government agencies to crack down on doping, notes the organization's director general.
Since WADA is a nongovernmental organization, countries cannot use its antidoping code to prosecute individuals involved in doping, explains Mr. Howman. But 67 countries have now ratified a UNESCO convention drawn up in 2005 that serves as a tool for governments seeking to curb doping in sport. Also, WADA is exploring cooperation with Interpol, which would allow police in any country with laws against trafficking in steroids to share information with each other.
Similar cooperation has led to the sanction of athletes based on evidence gathered outside urine and blood tests.
In Australia, for example, five athletes have been prosecuted for possession of human growth hormone (HGH) after being snared by a customs agency. With evidence collected by Italian police during a raid at the 2006 Turin Olympic Games, four Austrian cross-country skiers and two biathletes were issued lifetime bans early this year.
The cross-country skiers have appealed their cases. That incident marked the first time the International Olympic Committee had disqualified athletes for doping violations with positive tests.
Now, WADA is involved in Spain's Operation Puerto case, which uncovered an apparent blood-doping operation that was linked with Numerous cyclists, including German star Jan Ullrich.
No athletes have been prosecuted under Operation Puerto, and the cases are still under appeal.
The challenge in such cases, notes Howman, is that in many cases, "prosecutors are not really that interested in the end users [athletes]. They're more interested in traffickers and doctors."
Wire services were used in this report.
Other recent cases
December 2003: Baseball player Barry Bonds testified before a grand jury about his relationship with Greg Anderson, his trainer and the
owner of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative. Also known as BALCO, the lab has been at the center of the steroids scandal
in professional sports. Bonds testified that he did not know that certain products he was using were steroids. Bonds is still
under investigation for potentially lying to federal investigators.
December 2005: Tim Montgomery, an Olympic sprinter and father of Marion Jones's son, Monty, was given a two-year ban and stripped of his world record in the 100 meters for use of steroids and human growth hormone.
August 2006: After testing positive for testosterone and other steroids earlier in 2006, sprinter Justin Gatlin, who had won gold at the 2004 Games, faced a suspension of up to eight years from track and field competition. He has appealed the case.
May 2007: The International Olympic Committee fined the Austrian Olympic Committee $1 million over a doping scandal involving that nation'sc ross-country ski and biathlon teams. At the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, police had raided Austrians' living quarters and had seized doping evidence.
September 2007: Floyd Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France cycling title after tests showed testosterone use. He is also subject to a two-year ban.
Sources: Associated Press, BBC, ESPN, Reuters, and USA Today
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
