Doping and sports - 2003

2003

The World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), the world-famous anti-doping directive of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in sports, was first approved in 2003 and entered into force on January 1, 2004. The first version was revised on January 1, 2009 and last updated in 2015. Together with a series of so-called international standards that WADC further specifies in specific areas, WADC forms the legal core of the global doping control system.

Doping in the GDR

In April 2003 former swimmer Torsten Karl (1963-2003) died from the consequences of a brain tumor. In the eighties he crowned himself three times to DDR champion 200m butterfly. He was contracted at SC Turbine Erfurt where he was trained together with the Olympic gold medalists Birte Weigang (1968-) and Cornelia Sirch (1966-) by Wolfgang Fricke (photo) and where he, like so many others, unconsciously swallowed doping. Club doctor Ute Gerullis pointed out the dangers of Oral-Turinabol, Karl got hard muscles and reacted very sensitive to muscle tension.

In 1985 Birte Weigang (1968-) became European champion 100m backstroke and she also won the 4 x 100m medley with the GDR quartet. At the 1986 World Cup she won the bronze medal on the 200m butterfly stroke and during the 1987 European Championships she captured the silver medal on both the 100 and 200m butterfly and the gold medal with the GDR quartet 4 x 100m medley. An article from the 'Berliner Zeitung' of April 2003 tells her doping past. After she underwent an X-ray exam for back problems, it appeared that two vertebrae were broken, not only by training too hard but mainly because the use of anabolic steroids made her muscles too strong for her skeleton. The associated discus syndrome marked the beginning of agony in hospitals. She had never deliberately taken doping, but it is common knowledge that the GDR leaders stuffed their unsuspecting athletes and swimmers with Oral-Turanibol. The consequences were even worse. If she exercised her right leg for more than half an hour, it slept and she could no longer control it. Her heart was abnormally large and the right heart muscle severely damaged. Her face and posture were masculinized.

"I have never been asked if I agreed that my body would be ten years older after every year of training."

At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Cornelia Sirch (1966-) won the bronze medal on both the 100 and 200m backstroke and the gold medal with the relay team 4 x 100m medley. In 1982 and 1986 she was crowned world champion 200m backstroke. As a 15-year old she had swum a new world record on the 200m backstroke and her world title of 1986 was the fiftieth gold medal for the GDR. In 1983, 1985 and 1987 during the European Championships she was the best in the 200m backstroke and in 1987 she added the European title 200m medley. After Seoul and 40,000 km training, she stopped swimming because of a whole series of health problems that were clearly due to the doping products that she had been given without her knowledge.

In 2003, former rower Cornelia Jeske-Reichhelm (1963-) received access to her gynecological file from SC Dynamo Berlin, which clearly stated that she was already receiving testosterone at the age of 13. Testosterone was listed as 'T' and the administered dose as '7 mal T pro m', ie seven times testosterone per month. The notes started in 1976, when Cornelia Jeske was 13 years old. The following year, the dose was increased to '24x'. On her 18th, coach Bernd Arendt asked her openly to take anabolic steroids, which she refused:

"He put me under a lot of pressure, but in the presence of about 20 witnesses I refused to take them, among them dozens of officers, including the later head trainer Rita Schmidt."

Due to her distorted spine, Jeske was no longer able to work from 2000 onwards. In 2003 she received 10,439 Euro from the Dopingopfer-Hilfegesetzes budget. She also received 9.250 euros from the German Olympic Committee, the federal government and Jenapharm, the former producer of the anabolic agent Oral-Turinabol. In first instance, her claim was rejected by the Berlin State Office for Public Health and Social Affairs because a report from the University of Münster could not or did not want to make a connection between the intake of anabolic steroids and its health problems.

BALCO scandal

A person who merely identified himself as a high-profile athletic coach pointed the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) and his founder Victor Conte (1950-) as the manufacturer and distributor of a new, undetectable anabolic steroid, used by many famous athletes. Several years later, more than thirty top athletes were summoned as witnesses by the San Francisco Grand Jury.

In October 2003, Olympic medalists Dwain Chaimbers (1978-), Kelly White (1977-), Marion Jones (1975-) and Tim Montgomery (1975-) were named in a large-scale doping scandal together with many other American athletes. That scandal later grew into the BALCO affair, one of the biggest doping scandals ever. The athletes had swallowed the anabolic steroid 'tetrahydrogestrinone (THG)' because they thought it could not be detected.

The BALCO scandal was released by Mark Fainaru-Wada (1965-) and Lance Williams. In their book 'The Game of the Shadows', the two reporters of the 'San Francisco Chronicle' discussed in detail the doping story about the Bay Area Laboratory Company American Co-Operative (BALCO). For their research work, Williams and Fainaru-Wada received the George Polk Award in 2004. On May 5, 2006, both were summoned to explain to a federal grand jury how they had obtained the leaked testimonies. On May 31, they asked Judge Martin Jenkins not to call them as a witness, which was refused on August 15, 2006. On September 21, 2006, journalists were sentenced to 18 months in prison for contempt of court. The two repeatedly stated that they would rather go to jail than to reveal their sources. In 2007 they received the Dick Schaap Award for their excellent journalism.

Through his trainer Greg Anderson (1966-) American baseball player Jason Gilbert Giambi (1971-) was one of the buyers at BALCO. Behind closed doors he confessed in December 2004 that he had used anabolic steroids several times between 2001 and 2003. In that last season he even injected himself with growth hormones. In 2005 Giambi apologized publicly to the media and his fans at a press conference.

The BALCO scandal created a snowball effect, initially mainly in the athletics world.

American Kelli White (1977-) won both the 100 and the 200m at the 2003 WC in Paris. A few days later, however, the IAAF announced that she had tested positive for modafinil, thereby losing her titles. All her achievements from December 15, 2000 onwards were canceled and she was suspended for two years. In 2006 she ended her sports career. Her doping use was linked to the BALCO affair. In 2000 trainer Remi Korchemny (1932-) introduced her to Victor Conte (1950-) the owner of BALCO. White stated that she had taken the products because they had presented them as dietary supplements and vitamins. When she realized that it was steroids, she stopped using it. After confronting her with the BALCO evidence, she admitted that she had also used modafinil in addition to Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) and Erythropoietin (EPO).

American runner Regina Jacobs (1963-) was suspended for four years and she lost her title 1,500m when she tested positive for THG after the American championship. She pulled the case before the Court, but lost it and she immediately stopped  her sport carreer. Her 'situation' was also linked to the BALCO affair. After her sport career, she became a real estate agent in Oakland, California. Initially she used her previous athletic successes as a promotion for her new career and on her website one could read:

"I am considered as one of the best American middle distance racers ever and until the age of 40 I always broke records. Luck or exceptional talent were certainly not the reason for my long remarkable career."

She did not mention her doping history. After protest from the athletics world, Jacobs removed the quote from her website.

After a positive pee on THG and Modafinil, shot putter Kevin Toth (1967-) lost both his American title and his fourth place at the World Championships. He, too, withdrew from the active sport and he also knew the company BALCO well.

Hammer-thrower Melissa Price (1979-) was removed from the final ranking of the American championship and that of the World Championship. In addition, she received a two-year suspension after having detected THG in her urine.

She married British shot putter Carl Myerscough (1979-), who was banned for two years in 1999 because he tested positive for a second time for a cocktail of forbidden substances and was even banned to participate in the Olympics for life. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport canceled this lifelong suspension, so Myerscough could represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics in his own country. There, however, he wasn't very succesfull with a 29th place in the qualifying round. Myerscough has always denied that he deliberately used doping and assured everyone that he had been the victim of sabotage.

After the American championship, hammer-thrower John McEwen (1974-) had to hand in the silver medal, because THG and Modafinil were also found in him.

During the American championship, Calvin Harrison (1974-) finished second in the 400m and with his teammates he won the 4 x 400m. Given that he had already been caught as a junior in 1993, he was suspended for two years after a positive pee at Modafinil, which meant he could not go to the 2004 Olympics.

Alvin Harrison (1974-) Calvin's twin brother accepted a four-year suspension, but also that all his results would be deleted from 2001 onwards. However, he did not test positive, but the USADA had evidence that he had used anabolic steroids, insulin, EPO, growth hormone and Modafinil through BALCO, which he confessed. In 2008, the twins, along with their mates, had to hand in the Olympic gold medal 4 x 400m after Antonio Pettigrew (1967-2010) admitted the use of stimulants. Alvin Harrison moved to the Dominican Republic in 2009 because both his wife and his teammate Félix Sánchez (1977-) came from there. He was naturalized and from then on he started for that country.

In 2010, the body of Antonio Pettigrew (1967-2010) was found in the backseat of his car, an overdose of pills turned out to be the cause of death.

Chryste Gaines (1970-) was also involved in the BALCO affair. At the American championship she finished fifth in the 100m, but after a positive test at Modafinil she only received a warning. WADA did not agree with this at all and suspended her for two years.

After his American 110m hurdles title, Chris Phillips (1972-) was caught using Modafinil. Because he only received a public warning, he was allowed to go to the World Cup, where he finished fifth in that competition.

Eric Thomas (1973-) had to hand in his American title of the 400m hurdles, he also had been on Modafinil.

American 400m hurdled runner Sandra Glover (1968-) had to surrender her third place in the national championship after a positive Modafinil test and was also given a public warning, but not a suspension.

American 200m runner Michelle Collins (1971-) never delivered a positive test, but an arbitration panel concluded that she had doped with EPO, THG and a cream based on testosterone. Which she admitted afterwards. She lost her 200m indoor world title and accepted a four-year suspension instead of the usual eight years.

In October, Briton Dwain Chambers (1978-) tested positive for anabolic steroids and was suspended for two years. His victory over the 100m during the 2002 European Championship in Munich was canceled, as was the European record and the relay race. He was also excluded for life from the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.

Chambers was also trained by former Ukrainian Remi Korchemny (1932-). In 2008 Chambers adimitted the British anti-doping chief John Scott the use of THG, epitestosterone cream, EPO, HGH, insulin lispro, modafinil and liothyronine. In 2006, Korchemy pleaded guilty for the US District Court to  distributing illegal performance-enhancing drugs to athletes between 2000 and 2003. Korchemny was sentenced to one year of probation and was exiled from USA Track & Field for life.

American Football

Dana Stubblefield (1970-) played as defensive tackle in the American National Football League. Together with his teammates Barrett Robbins (1973-), Tyrone Wheatley (1972-) and Chris Cooper (1977-), he was an anabolics buyer at BALCO.

Auto Racing

NASCAR suspended the American autopilot Shane Hmiel (1980-) for six months because he tested positive for heroin. In 2005 he was caught again, this time on marijuana and cocaine, which meant that he received a life ban. As is customary in the States, however, he got a 'second chance'. In his case even a 'third chance', on the ground that he was subjected to a medical and psychological program with regular drug checks. In February 2006, however, again prohibited products were found in his blood and urine and he was permanently suspended for life. In October 2010, his roll cage collapsed when he crashed in the 'Terre Haute Action Track', causing him to become paralyzed and he landed in a wheelchair.

Baseball

In 2001, American baseball player Josh Hamilton (1969-) signed a lucrative contract to play at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a $ 3.96 million annual salary. Because of injuries and drug use, his sporting career went downhill quickly. At the start of the 2003 season he did not show up for six weeks and later he confessed that during that period he had used all possible drugs. He got a twenty-five-day game ban. At the beginning of 2004 however it happened again, this time he received a thirty days suspension. When he was caught a third time a few weeks later, the team management fired him. He went into rehab and made a successful comeback with the Chicago Cubs. In 2008 he was called up for the American League All-Star team and he participated in the Home Run Derby, where he beat the records with 28 home runs.

Bodybuilding

During his preparations for the Night Of Champions, Tom Prince's kidneys (1969-) suddenly failed, the result of the massive amounts of painkillers and typical bodybuilding drugs that he had swallowed for years. The American overcame his critical condition, but did not recover completely. With dialysis treatments, his kidneys healed partially, they functioned at 90% of their ability. Without a transplant, the American faced the future realistically:

"My kidneys will probably go out early, I will never be 85 years old. Probably I will die younger than usual, around 65, but 65 is still better than 35."

Boxing

American professional boxer Shane Mosley (1971-) won three world titles. In June 2000, he defeated Oscar De La Hoya (1973-) after twelve rounds by referee's decision in the camp for world title at the welter weights. In 2003, he was accused of having used anabolics in that contest, which he had obtained through BALCO. In September 2003, the two rivals faced each other again and Mosley won again after referee's decision. Later he stated under oath that before the fight he had injected himself with EPO.

Canoe

At the Gainesville World Championships in the USA, Russian canoeist Sergey Ulegin (1977-) won the gold medal in both the C-4 200m and C-4 500m and the silver medal in the C-2 500m. The subsequent checkup, however, revealed doping use. He had to hand in the medals and was suspended for two years, as a result of which he could not particpaite at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2005 World Cup in Zagreb.

Polish canoe specialist Michal Gajownik (1981-2009) was suspended for two years after a doping control for nadrolon, as a result of which he missed the 2004 Olympics in Athens. In 2009 he died a tragic death in a car accident.

His compatriot Marcin Kobierski (1977-) was also on nandralon and also missed the Athens Olympics. The two-year suspension meant the end of his sporting career.

Cricket

Australian cricket player Shane Warne (1969-) was sent home the day before the World Cup after a positive test on diuretics. In addition, he received a one-year suspension.

Cycling

At the beginning of June after a raid by the Guardia di Finanza i Salò in Brescia, two sports directors were placed under house arrest. Olivano Locatelli (1956-) of Colnago-Landbouwkrediet and William Dazzani (1966-) of the women's team Aurora 2000 RSM were accused of having provided doping to their riders along with 22 other people. The tapping of their telephone provided the necessary proofs. The house searches later yielded an impressive arsenal of prohibited means.

In October 2003, French track cyclist Philippe Boyer (1956-) published his autobiography 'Champion, flic et voyou' (Champion, cop and thug), in which he described his doping use. In 1982 he visited a doctor who for the first time prescribed him anabolics, and his performance suddenly improved dramatically. He could train more and harder, fatigue and exhaustion disappeared thanks to the ever increasing doses of anabolic steroids, which he administered himself. By stopping the doping use in time for important competitions or through the use of hard-to-find products, the chance of positive testing was virtually nil. In this way he became French track champion on the kilometer time trial. The only advice he received from his medical counselors 'do not exaggerate'. A physician from his family prescribed him the products because according to him stimulants were part of top sport. To top it all of, Boyer had become a policeman and that his employer's insurance reimbursed the products without any problems. When the Eastern Bloc announced their boycott for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Boyer saw his chance to get to the podium. He expanded his medicine arsenal with corticoids and visited the infamous sports physician François Bellocq (1956-) in Bordeaux. But overdoses made him completely blocked during the French championships and he was only designated as a reserve for the Olympics. He then placed his fate in the hands of the French sports director Bruno Roussel (1956-) and the French physician Gérard Ochart, who used the recipes of the Italian Professor Francesco Conconi (1935-). Not only his training schedule was adjusted, Boyer also received other medical support. He made great progress and in 1985 became vice world champion in Rome. Cyrille Guimard (1947-) hired him in his team, where he became the loyal lieutenant of Laurent Fignon (1960-2010). In 1989, however, his sport career came to an abrupt end when he got Hepatitis B. He proclaimed himself to be a rider's supervisor, but was arrested when during a house search the police found amphetamines. A little later amphetamines were found in his car at a border control in Arras.

Danish rider Brian Dalgaard Jensen (1972-) confessed in a TV documentary that he had used EPO during his sport career. One year later he received the 'anti-doping prize 2004' as a reward for his honesty.

Belgian cyclo crosser Mario De Clercq (1966-) became three times world champion and twice national champion. As a result of the doping affair surrounding Johan Museeuw (1965-), growth hormones and Aranesp were found during a house search in 2003. In January 2006 he was referred to the correctional court and in December 2008 the court of Kortrijk sentenced him to ten months conditional and a fifteen thousand Euro fine. Every time journalists questioned him about his booklet with notes about that doping use, De Clercq replied that it were notes for the book he was going to write. The Belgian Cycling Federation suspended him for four years, half of which was conditional.

Spanish cyclist Igor González de Galdeano (1973-) was suspended for six months for the use of nandrolone, something that also had happened to him in 2000.

Just before the start of the World Cup a too high hematocrit was found at Canadian Geneviève Jeanson (1981-). Despite the excuse that a preparation in a low-pressure room was the cause, she was not allowed to start. One year later she refused a doping test after the 'Flèche Wallone' and in 2005 they discovered a too high hematocrit value during the Tour de Toona, after which she was suspended for life. In the United States, the punishment was reduced to two years, but in Canada it remained lifelong. Because she worked closely with the law, her sentence was reduced to ten years in April 2009, but both her trainer Andre Aubut (1956-) and sports physician Maurice Duquette were banned from sport for life. Jeanson stated that she got EPO from the age of sixteen.

Sports physician and orthopedic surgeon Duquette came negatively in the news several times with seventeen doping cases, for which he was suspended for life and had to cough up 25,000 dollars.

Scott Moninger (1966-) won no less than 275 matches during his career and is thus American record holder in victories. After the Saturn Cycling Classic, however, he was caught using 19-norandrosterone, the predecessor of nandrolone for which he received a one-year suspension.

After a check cyclist Amber Neben (1975-) showed the use of 19-norandrosterone, the American six months was suspended.

In 2003, the home of Belgian cyclist Chris Peers (1970-) was searched in the context of an investigation into hormones and stimulants, in which veterinarian Jose Landuyt (1949-) was interwoven, as were the cyclists Johan Museeuw (1965-), Jo Planckaert (1970-) and Mario De Clercq (1966-). The Belgian Cycling Federation suspended Peers for two years, which he did not even appeal. Later he became a sports director at Jartazi.

Australian rider Mark Roland (1978-) was caught twice on the possession of growth hormones in 2003 and one year later again. Although he never tested positive, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) suspended him for two years. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) added six more years.

After his doping perils from the 2002 Tour de France, Lithuanian Raimondas Rumšas (1972-) apparently had not learned his lesson. In the Giro d'Italia in 2003 he was caught again using EPO.

In August 2003 American champion time trial Adham Sbeih (1973-) tested positive for EPO for which he was suspended for two years.

In 2003, Oil for Drugs started, the doping affair around Carlo Santuccione (1947) and some accomplices. The Italian sports physician, with the nickname 'Ali the Priceline Chemist', was accused of administering prohibited doping products and of his involvement in an Italian doping network. The cause of the investigation was the suspicious death of an amateur.

The Italian Anti-Narcotic Group (NAS) tapped the phone from the doctor and installed a hidden camera in his practice. In March 2004 Santuccione advised the professional cyclist Danilo Di Luca (1976-) (photo) via telephone to have EPO injected before the start of Milan-San Remo. Di Luca replied that he would come by later that evening with his teammate Alessandro Spezialetti (1975-). Later video images clearly showed how Santuccione filled two disposable syringes with EPO and then left his office to the place where Di Luca and Spezialetti were waiting for him. Danilo Di Luca was suspended for three months, the doctor was suspended for life. In 2007, the Italian Committee suspended Santuccione a second time for life.

Italian rider Matteo Gigli (1978-) was suspended for three years after a test showed the use of EPO.

Spanish rider Francisco Pérez Sánchez (1978-) won two stages in the Tour de Romandie, but he was removed from the result after EPO was found in his urine. He also received a eighteen months suspension and a fine of 2,000 Swiss Francs.

Equestrian sport

British jockey Franny Norton (1970-) was suspended for four months after a positive cocaine test. In 2011 he was suspended again for 40 days, this time because of a too high promille alcohol before the start of a race.

Football

UEFA announced that it would increase the number of controls by 21%, including in women's football and the U19-year-olds.

Following the death of Italian former player Gianluca Signorini (1960-2002), who in November 2002 died very young from the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the French newspaper 'Le Monde' published a staggering article in January 2003.

It emphasized that Signorini's death showed strong similarities with the death of the former Italian players Guido Vincenzi (1932-1997), Giorgio Rognoni (1946-1986) and Bruno Beatrice (1948-1987), all three had died at a young age because of diseases.

Reference was also made to the investigation of judge Raffaele Guariniello (1941-) who had taken on in the file of Andrea Fortunato (1971-1995). The player of Juventus Torino died at the age of 24 of lymph gland cancer. Guariniello called in the help of the company Panini, which had a database of 24,000 names with the photos and lifecycle of famous players. After hearing the stories for four years of many former footballers and widows of former players, the forbidden practices in Italian football surfaced. Guariniello concluded that seventy of the four hundred deaths from the 1960s were very suspicious and according to him, from 1970 onwards, in 47 cases of unintentional manslaughter. Among the 24,000 players in the study, the incidence of cancer was twice as high compared to the average population. He noted thirteen cases of colon cancer, nine of liver cancer and ten of pancreatic cancer. He also discovered 45 ALS cases in footballers, of whom 13 had already died. The result of his research was a strongly growing number of athletes that refused treatments with injections.

British Tony Cascarino (1962-) and Chris Waddle (1960-), from 1994 to 1996 important players in the French team l'Olympique de Marseille, revealed they were regularly injected by unknown products during that period. Big boss Bernard Tapie (1943-) denied it completely.

After the South American Libertadores Cup, field player Jorge Valdez (1972-) and goalie Derlis Gomez (1972-) from Paraguay were caught using cocaine. Their club, however, stated that they had drunk cocatea, in South America a normal recipe to prevent altitude sickness. After all, the game was played in the Equadorian capital, Quito, which is 2,850 meters above sea level. The excuse did not help, both were suspended for six months.

English footballer Rio Gavin Ferdinand (1978-), central defender at Manchester United and 81 caps in the national team, was kicked out of competition for eight months and was fined fifty thousand pounds because he did not show up for a doping test. In September 2003 suddenly inspectors were at the door at Manchester for an unannounced check. The four 'chosen ones' were allowed to take a shower, but Ferdinand didn't show up with the excuse that he had to go shopping urgently.

Spaniard Carlos Gurpegui (1980-), defender at Athletic Bilbao, was suspended in November for two years for to the use of nadrolone. However, independent studies at the University of Extremadura and the Pasteur Institute of Strasbourg showed that his own body continued to produce that substance. He therefore appealed his suspension, but it didn't help.

Chinese football player Zhang Shuai (1981-) played right back at Beijing Guoan, when he was caught on the use of ephedrine in a test out of competition. He was suspended for three months and he was the first Chinese footballer to be caught.

German Alexander Walke (1983-) defended the goal of the Austrian first division FC Red Bull Salzburg. At the World Junior Championships in the Arab Emirates, he delivered a positive doping pool on carboxy-THC, a derivative of cannabis.

Italian footballer Manuele Blasi (1980-) played in the midfield with Parma when he was caught using nandrolone, which gave him six months of suspension.

Gymnastics

At the 2002 World Championships in Hungarian Debrecen Gervasio Deferr Angel (1980-) ended second in the floor exercise, but was later disqualified because of traces of marijuana in his urine. At the Paris Tournament later that year, the Spaniard tested positive for marijuana again, together with the Americans Sean Townsend (1979-), Jason Gatson (1980-) and Brett McClure (1981-). Because cannabis or marijuana was not yet on the list of banned drugs in France, the four received only an admonition.

Ice hockey

Swedish hockey player Patrik Nilsson (1984-) tested positive for Nandrolone, after he bought contaminated dietary supplements on a Florida vacation

Rugby

Frenchman Pieter de Villiers (1972-), born in South Africa, represented his national rugby team at two World Championships. During the Six Nations tournament he was caught on cocaine and ecstasy.

Skiing

Finnish cross country skier Kaisa Varis (1975-) was suspended for two years after a positive EPO test at the World Championships in the Italian Val di Fiemme. The Finnish relay team had to hand in the silver medal and lost due to this doping scandal three hundred thousand Euro sponsoring money. In 2007, Varis returned as a biatlete but after a new positive test one year later she was suspended for life. However, due to procedural errors, this suspension was reversed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Snowboarding

American snowboard star Tara Zwink (1973-) was suspended for two years because she tested positive for marijuana in the US. Snowboard Grand Prix in Breckenridge.

Swimming

Syrian swimmer Mahmoud Jadaan (1971-) and Iranian water polo player Reza Ojagh tested positive on Metenolone and Nandrolone and were suspended for four years.

Dutch swimmer Linda van Herk (1989-) received two years for refusing a doping test. The 'Herck affair' started during the qualifying matches of the Dutch championships in Amersfoort. Afterwards, she had to deliver a pee from the doping inspectors, but at the urging of her father she interrupted the procedure and went home. The suspension imposed by FINA was later halved.

Chinese swimmer Li Ning was suspended for two years after traces of testosterone had been found, his trainer Liu Guangtan was banned for life

Costa Rican swimmer Claudia Poll (1972-) was suspended for four years, after a positive test outside competition on Nandrolone. In appeal, that sentence was halved.

Brazilian swimmer Laura Azevedo (1983-) was caught using anabolics. In 2005 she got a lifetime ban because she refused a doping test the year before.

Australian backstroke swimmer Andrew Burns (1983-) was suspended for three months after a positive test on ecstasy. He also had to return the eight hundred Australian Dollars he had won during the Sydney Grand Prix, as well as a scholarship of a thousand Australian Dollars.

White Russian swimmer Aleksandra Gerasimenya (1985-) was suspended for two years after a positive pee on norandrosterone. Despite that punishment she came back later and won the gold medal at both the European Championships and the World Championships and at the 2012 Olympics in London she won the silver medal in both the 50 and the 100 m freestyle.

Ukrainian breast stroke specialist Yuliya Pidlisna (1987-) was suspended for two years after the European Championships for juniors when the doping control revealed the use of Stanozolol

Tennis

Argentine tennis pro Mariano Ruben Puerta (1978-) was suspended for two years because he reacted positively to Clenbuterol in a doping test in Viña del Ma. After he argued in appeal that he had asthma, the sentence was reduced to nine months and a fine of 5,600 USD. In 2005, after the lost final at the French Open against Rafael Nadal (1986-), he tested positive for etilephrine. In total he was suspended for eight years and he had to hand in the Roland Garros prize pool of 443,000 euros. In 2006, his suspension was reduced to two years.

Track and Field

In December 2003, the American Federation of Athletics decided that if American athletes were caught doping during the WC in Paris, they were suspended for life.

Lithuanian athlete Rasa Drazdauskaite (1981-) finished second at the 1.500m during the European Juniors Championships. The doping control afterwards proved the use of Stanozolol, on which she had to hand in the silver medal and was suspended for two years.

South African Okkert British (1973-) belonged in the 1990s to the world top in the pole vault, when he tested positive for ephedrine in January 2003. Because it was his first offense, he only got an admonition.

During an athletics meeting in Arles in France, Ukrainian heptathlonist Ljudmyla Blonska (1977-) was caught using Stanozolol, which gave her two years of suspension. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing she finished second in the heptathlon. However, four days later it became known that she had tested positive for methyltestosterone, she had to hand in the silver medal and she was sent home. Because it was already her second offense she got a life-long suspension, just like her husband and trainer Serhij Blonskyj.

Italian shot-putter and discuss-thrower Cristiana Checchi (1977-) tested positive for anabolic steroids, thus losing her national title indoor and she was suspended for six months.

In Austria hurdler Elmar Lichtenegger (1974-) (photo) and decathonist Christian Schäflinger (1978-) had used norandrosterone, which gave them a suspension of 15 months. Shot putter Andreas Vlasny (1969-) had to stay on the side after traces of metandienon had been found.

Weightlifting

At the World Junior Championships, India withdrew its entire team when it turned out that 24 weightlifters responded positively to a doping test.

At the World Championships eleven weight-lifters from ten different countries were caught using stimulants. Among them Chinese Shang Shichun (1979-) who improved three world records on her way to the gold in the category up to 75kg.

Reigning world and Olympic champion Galabin Boevski (1974-) was suspended for eight years after banned substances were found in his urine for the second time. On 27 October, the Bulgarian was arrested in Brazil when he tried to smuggle nine kilos of cocaine on board an aircraft.