DRUGS IN SPORT

HOW THE MIGHTY FELL!

EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WHO WERE CAUGHT FOR DRUGS MISUSE.

ATHLETE                       DRUG ABUSED           CONSEQUENCE

Ben Johnson                             steroid abuse                  stripped of gold medal (sprinter)                                                                at 1988 Seoul                                                                                Olympics            

David Jenkins                  selling drugs to other sent to jail for              (runner)                           athletes                            seven years in 1988

Ricky Chaplin                  steroid abuse                  stripped of gold (weightlifter)                                                 medal at 1990

                     Commonwealth

                                                                             Games in New

DOPING IN SPORT

DOPING DEFINED AS: “The presence of any prohibited substance which could affect the performance of an athlete or, in horse racing, the horse at the time of racing, even that which is given legitimately to treat an illness or an injury.” (exceptions often made for athletes being treated for colds, flu, diabetes and asthma.)   

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) BANNED SUBSTANCES: why athletes use them and their adverse side effects.

Narcotics (morphine,          pain relievers                 addictive                   heroin)*      

b -Blockers                      reduce tremor

Anabolic steroids                 increase muscle          baldness, acne, lives tumour, (testosterone)                  mass, strength &          enlargement of breasts and                               endurance             infertility in men,                                                                                 masculising effects in,

                                                                   women

Testing for these drugs is now an accepted and costly part of all international athletics meetings.

Testing in horses is mainly aimed at protecting the breed for future 'industry'. The Jockey Club in Great Britain has the authority for the dope testing of horses and the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket is responsible for doing the testing and analysis.

THE ANALYSIS

1.     Urine samples are collected

2.     The sample is divided into two (labelled A and B) and then forwarded to the respective laboratory

3.     Urine samples are logged in (B is locked away in a refrigerator and will only be analysed if banned substances are found in sample A.

4.     The pH is measured

5.     The pH is then adjusted to a known value for the analysis.

THE GENERAL SCREEN

·        Very small portions of the sample are placed in individual tubes and a range of different 'internal markers' is added to each , this acts as a check/control for each sample during the next stage.

·        A solid phase extraction or a liquid-liquid extraction is now done to remove any drug present in the sample. Here the chemist has to concentrate and purify any unknown drug so that it is in a suitable form for analysis.

·        The residue is then made into a solution and subjected first to a separation process and then to mass spectrometry (identifies chemical by mass.)

·        These results i.e. chromatogram and mass spectra are matched against the data of known drugs.

·        'Immunological tests' or 'immunoassays' can be done which can often show how much drug is present, they also improve overall accuracy.

There are very few drugs that can pass undetected but some need special attention i.e. some have legal thresholds e.g. salicyclic acid (found in animal feedstuff) and caffeine.

CONSEQUENCES: Positive results can lead to heavy fines, the ruination of careers and loss of credibility.    

By Roisin Boyle: Chemistry Department, Loreto College, Coleraine.