The nonsense of testing our youths at champs

[Sir X]

1st we cant afford it , lets get that out the way , 2nd arent they tested at carifta and every other junior trails they participate in out of Jamaica ? this over reach by some is ridiculous , what we can afford is education and this we have done well and will continue doing well given our paranoia with drugs.Leave our champs alone.

Its nothing more than another attempt to placate the master , going over board to asses funds we dont have to promote nonsense.Every youth caught with cold medicine or whatever prescribed aid will be labeled, tainted for life.... a champs cheat.

[Jangle]

...and you continue to live in hope that the bigger heads will learn. The patients are running the Asylum.

[Sir X]

Whats your reason for the paranoia ? you didnt expect a target to be on our backs ? , you didnt see the precedence with the americans and east germans ? ...you expect us to carry on with bizniz as usual in this multi million dollar international market without PR machines in respective camps to advance and defend our interest ? ..without the JAAA using one or our own media being naunced to international media PR hype ? is it something new to the power houses ? .....NO !

What is new , is we have to grasp the occasion to deal with it.Nothing can stop us but ourselves , and that is our problem, forgive me in believing we will rise to the occasion, we dont have any choice !...the production line keeps churning them out.

[Willi]

Go hacks yuh PM...that is her answer to the current situation.

[Sir X]

GOOD ...Where is the PR from the JAAA, ISSSA , MVP and Racers to push back ?

Yuh see Babylon a test dem pickney ?...implementing that will be the end of champs as we know it , the innocence will be lost , catching one youth on cough syrup , will taint him/her for life.

[Islandman]

Education - Our Athletes' Key To Passing Drug Tests

Akshai Mansingh, Contributor

I HAVE been closely following the reactions to the recent positive drug tests that have been predictably emotive and embarrassing. It is clear that news like this evokes strong emotions and comments, but I feel we should remain cognizant of the issues and facts before proposing unachievable and impractical solutions. Testing high-school athletes, for example, is not the solution for reducing positive tests in athletes, most of whom are nearing the end of their careers and may have indulged in one supplement too many to get an extra year or two. The idea is not only very expensive, arguably, unnecessary, but also unsubstantiated.

Is there a problem of doping among high school athletes in Jamaica? Is there any proof anywhere that testing high-school athletes will prevent them from doping later in life? How often does one test them, one-off or intermittently? Who will fund this? There needs to be a more tempered approach.

For the number of world-class athletes that Jamaica has produced over a very long period, I do not believe that we have a doping problem. The positive tests that we have had have been due to three main causes 1) Blatant abuse of banned substances, 2) Medications given inadvertently by doctors or coaches and 3) Supplement use with banned contaminants. Collectively, these represent a small number, but of them, the last group has been the main reason for an adverse test.

Doping in Jamaican athletes

The blatant abuse of banned substances was evident in only a few cases with Jamaican athletes who trained overseas and had little interaction with local coaches and support staff. They acquired their drugs and practices off shore and were caught and paid the penalty; being suspended and banned. Those with banned medications given by either their coach or doctors not involved in sports medicine, also took their suspensions without suspicion of them being cheats.

The main problem among the home-grown and trained athletes is that of inappropriate use of supplements. The positive test results have not been of drugs that would have an anabolic effect (i.e. make them stronger or faster), but rather of contaminants that were either mislabeled (as before the Beijing Olympics) or slipped in by trainers, if we believe the current controversy.

There is no structured, persistent, subverted, drug-culture-producing designer drugs, that remain undetectable for years, being given periodically so as to miss the likely times of testing, as has been practised for years in other countries, which is only becoming apparent now. We must therefore address our own problems and use our own solutions, and not those of other countries with different issues.

The only long-term approach in my view is comprehensive education. It is incomprehensible, for example, why an athlete should be taking 17 supplements, as is being rumoured. There must be education about the role of supplements and their dangers. Its role is arguable. A good Jamaican diet should be able to give all of what is needed. Supplements are just that - they supplement deficiencies in diet or dietary products. Those that are used for this purpose (dietary supplements) are usually multivitamins and are usually given at safe doses and have little side effects. Those that are used for ergogenic effects (to bulk up or perceivably run faster or longer) usually far exceed recommended doses and are likely to be contaminated. Unlike pharmaceutical medications, the manufacturing of supplements is not well regulated, and up to 25 per cent of ingredients are not stated or are contaminants; many of them banned substances.

Athletes, and yes high school athletes, need to, therefore, be educated about the use and abuse of supplements and their likelihood of being contaminated.

labs available locally

Instead of lamenting the lack of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited lab in Jamaica, athletes need to be educated about what is available. Having a WADA accredited lab is unfeasible as the volume of samples tested and the cost to maintain such a lab is impractical. That is why there are a handful of labs in the world that do the final WADA testing. But what we can educate the athletes about is that there are labs available locally that can accurately test whether their supplements have contaminants. The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, has high-quality testing capabilities at Carigens, for example, that are ironically utilised by local authorities for checking on drugs and contaminants. Any athlete who wishes to have their supplement tested can do so. But we need to further educate them that just because one bottle of a supplement is contaminant free, there is no guarantee that the next one (even of the same brand) is not.

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Agency (JADCO) has done an admirable job in educating athletes about detection of drugs, methods of cheating and how one will be caught, and all aspects about cheating in sports. They are educating athletes about the tail end of the spectrum - what happens if you take banned substances, which is their mandate. There needs to be education at the other end; how to enhance your athletic prowess and maximise your potential without resorting to banned drugs and methods.

capable professionals

Such information is available. The UWI Sports Medicine Division has produced a cadre of sports medicine physicians and sports physiotherapists who are capable of spreading the word nationwide. Many of these persons are involved with sports bodies and associations. If any intervention is to be done with high-school athletes, it is an investment in educational workshops and seminars that is likely to yield more lasting effects. Show the opportunity to improve without taking drugs and supplements rather than strike fear with willy nilly testing. Include the coaches and trainers. Have continuous updates for athletes throughout their careers, with special emphasis on those nearing the end of their careers, who seem to be the more vulnerable group in Jamaica.

The approach for Jamaica has to be based on local problems and not on solutions imported from elsewhere for problems that are different than ours.

Dr Akshai Mansingh is head of the Division of Sports Medicine at the University of the West Indies

The comments on this page should be sent to "Letters of the Edfeedba

[Karl]

Wise pronouncements!
Islandman: Thanks for this necessary post.