Shortfalls may push Kiwi athletes to steroids—doctor

Press, 29 September 1988, Page 1

Shortfalls may push Kiwi athletes to steroids —doctor

By

SARAH SANDS

AND PA New Zealand athletes may feel pressured to use anabolic steroids to match athletes from other countries, says a Christchurch sports medicine specialist. Dr Charlie Baycroft said yesterday that New Zealand lagged behind the - scientifically based training methods used by other countries. “New Zealand athletes in comparison with the rest of the world have not got access to any proper scientific input into their training yet they are going away to compete with people who are far better prepared, with the best monitoring and advice.” New Zealand athletes could not be blamed if they used drugs to put them on the same footing as other competitors, Dr Baycroft said. “Even black Third World countries are ahead of New Zealand in their input into the training of their athletes — it is worth spending money on the athletes to support their training via legal means.” An Auckland sports medicine specialist, Dr Lloyd Drake, claimed yesterday that two New Zealand athletes now in Seoul had positive drug tests before leaving for the Games. “I know for certain that two New Zealand Olympians returned positive drug tests before they left for Korea,” he said. “They were not my athletes. Olympic team doctors knew

about this yet it was all swept under the carpet.” Dr Drake's remarks contradicted statements by Dr Dave Gerrard, an Olympic team doctor who practises in Dunedin, on the eve of the opening of the Games. Dr Gerrard said he was not naive enough to think drug-taking was not happening in New Zealand .sport, and some international athletes had even pressured him, unsuccessfully, to prescribe banned drugs. "But I can rest in my bed comforted by the fact that I know none of our current Olympic athletes are taking drugs.” Each New Zealand Olympian signed a declaration saying he or she would not willingly use substances that were banned, said Dr Gerrard. A Christchurch general practitioner and prominent triathlete, Dr John Hellemans, said yesterday that some New Zealand field athletes and weightlifters were using steroids. "They are given to athletes either through medical channels by sympathetic doctors or on the black market, where they can buy them in gyms or places like that” Anabolic steroids, which build muscle and bulk and improve strength, gave athletes unfair advantages over others who did not use the drugs, said Dr Hellemans. Used in large amounts, they were a health risk, he said. “Testosterone and drugs like that are used for certain medical conditions where the patient is deficient in these hormones.

They are not meant to be used by healthy individuals like athletes.” Side-effects included extra hair growth, deeper voices and possible sterility in women, and liver damage and impotence in men, said Dr Hellemans. The only;, way to counteract the use of drugs was by randomtesting all athletes during training, he said. Dr Baycroft said yesterday that everybody pretended that nobody took drugs but many athletes did.

■h ’ Most athletes who used the drugs treated themselves via nonmedical , sources and had no understanding of dosage or monitoring/ he said. “Athletes! are victims of the thought that if some is good then more is better — they do this with’ their training, their food and when they use drugs, with them totf.” /Dr Baycroft said he was op-

posed to the use of steroids because people should not have to take drugs to be competitive. “But we have to be sceptical and ask how many gold medals have been won by people who have not used drugs,” said Dr Baycroft. “I think we have to look at what the Olympic Games are about now — is it about amateurism and people competing for fun and camaraderie or is it now about people being pressured to perform and explore the outer limits of human performance? “Where does 'unfair competition end and legal means of achieving performance begin? What do you do about hightechnology cycles and other equipment?” ; • Reports from Seoul yesterday indicated that another track gold medallist ■ had returned a positive first drug test. The athlete is believed to be a male American. ; A Hungarian weightlifting silver medallist also returned a positive first test yesterday fitter a urine sample was taken. Results from a further test were being sought. Since Ben Johnson’s exit from Seoul after being stripped of his 100 m gold medal ,on Tuesday, officials are rumoured to have turned up several 'other positive tests. ' ; , The identity of athletes returning positive tests was being kept secret yesterday.;

Olympic' reports ; pages; 43 to 46