Athletes 'may still evade drug detection' at the Olympics

Athletes may still be able to evade drug detection at the Olympics, despite this year's Games undergoing the strictest anti-doping campaign to date.

Even though the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has cast a wide net to catch drug cheats at the London Olympics, experts believe the latest methods used in doping may evade detection, the Times of India has reported.

Don Catlin, a blood doping expert at the University of California, told ScienceMag that there is a lot of clandestine clinical research occurring. She said: "My main concern involves attempts to thwart the current tests by using mini-doses of EPO and EPO-like drugs and HGH.

"There are people who search for ways to use doping agents and not get caught. They are performing clandestine clinical research. The "subjects" provide details to each other that describe their doses, the dates of the tests, and the test outcomes. We do not know how many people are involved, but there is some evidence that mini-doses of EPO may be avoiding positive test results. Eventually a low dose will not provide efficacy for the participants."

Victor Conte, who was behind the Balco scandal but is now fighting to keep drugs out of sports, believes there are still drug cheats around today, although the face of Olympic doping has certainly changed. He said instead of using the designer steroids, athletes are now taking advantage of fast-acting testosterone, which is more difficult to trace.

He also noted that there is a loophole in the drug testing laws, which means you can micro-dose, and you can use fast-acting creams and gels and patches. There are also lighter versions of PEDs, which are less effective, but less detectable.

Mr Conte told the San Francisco Chronicle: "You build your explosive strength and speed and power base is October-November-December. Eight months later, they're winning gold medals based on the drugs they used nine months ago. So you don't need to be testing at the Games."

Posted by Ben Evans