ARTICLES
ON MERLENE OTTEY |
No
doubt about Merlene’s innocence
Those
of us who support good science and have conducted any research on
steroids and sports in general and Nandrolone in particular are not
surprised at the decision by the International Amateur Athletic
Federation (IAAF) arbitration panel in the case of Jamaica’s track
legend Merlene Ottey. My worry was whether the panel would succumb
to the pressure of the IAAF. Fortunately the panel demonstrated its
integrity by making a decision based on the weight of the evidence
presented, just as the local panel did.
The
whole matter of setting limits and testing for metabolites of
Nandrolone is fraught with uncertainty and disagreement. Searching
questions are being asked about the limits set by the IAAF for this
particular drug by several individuals and organizations, including
FIFA, but in this instance I wish to address the other side of the
issue – that of the analyses.
There
seems to be the impression that Merlene has escaped on a
"technicality". The fact is that sampling, storage and
analytical methods affect results of analyses. Using inorganic
geochemistry as an example, if I am testing rocks for the element
sodium (found in common salt), I would get the sample into the
appropriate solution and then carry out my analyses. But I cannot
store the solution in glass flasks because the sodium in the glasd )
by mys will be leached (absorbe sample solution, giving me results
which are higher than they should be. The significance of the error
so introduced will depend on the level of sodium in my sample.
Other
examples of samples being affected by various conditions could be
quoted; the most familiar to readers would be substances which are
placed in dark bottles because they are sensitive to light. In some
cases the sample could be temperature sensitive, in others it could
be pH, (acidity). Because of such reasons, the exact way of carrying
out analyses and doing calculations for results are established, and
analysts are required to follow them exactly and to do the correct
thing every time.
If
specific gravity (s.g.) is important in the calculation of the
results in this particular test, and the specific gravity of the
sample can change, this change must be kept to a minimum and it must
be clearly stated which value of the s.g. is to be used. This is
where the chain of custody of the sample becomes critical. The
sample has to be kept under very controlled conditions if the
analysis is not being done at the time of sampling. Some person or
persons must take responsibility for ensuring that these conditions
are met exactly until the test is completed. In the case of the
samples of Merlene’s urine taken by the IAAF, this was not done.
Not only was the chain of custody compromised, the conditions under
which the samples were kept were, apparently, inappropriate.
Another
consideration is that at low concentrations, very small errors can
be significant. So going back to my rock sample, if my rock contains
forty percent sodium, then if twenty parts per million leach into
the solution from my container, it will not significantly affect my
result. If however my sample concentration is five parts per million
and one part per million leaches into the solution, I have a
significant error. At the minute concentrations being analysed in
the case of nandrolone metabolites, a small error in the s.g. can be
significant.
Reduction
of error is an integral part of all analytical work, and the amount
of the error associated with each result must be calculated and
stated. If the error introduced is too large, the result must be
rejected. The analyst who does not diligently and carefully follow
correct procedures can place no trust in the results obtained and
should redo the analysis.
Based
on the evidence presented to the arbitration panel, Merlene could
have been exonerated on various grounds. The one stated, however,
allowed the IAAF to save face. Hence, even though the panel of
arbitrators did the right thing in the end, several fundamental
questions remain to be answered about the Federation’s anti-doping
programme.
Special
commendations to those who supported Merlene during this difficult
time, with honorable mention going to the JAAA which showed moral
courage by not rushing to judgment in order to please its parent
organization the IAAF.
Dr
Barbara Carby (Red Hills P O, Kingston, Jamaica) |
|
REUTERS'
report on her first race in Italy |
Athletics-Ottey
fails to impress on reappearance
By
Luke Baker
NUORO,
Sardinia, July 12
Jamaican
sprinter Merlene Ottey rejoined the international athletics fold on
Wednesday, almost a year after failing a drugs test, but her form
failed to impress 10 weeks ahead of the Olympics.
At
a local meeting in the small town of Nuoro, tucked away in the
mountains of central Sardinia, Ottey blew away the unrecognised
opposition, but still ran home in only 11.42 seconds, far outside
what she was hoping to achieve.
``Its
too cold, I was kind of hoping the weather would be better,'' she
said after the race.
Sardinia
is normally warm at this time of year, and Nuoro is at a reasonable
altitude of 500 metres, conditions Ottey said she was hoping would
contribute to a run somewhere around 11.20, but the weather was
unseasonally cold and blustery.
``Mentally,
I didn't want a big meet, and there arent too many races elsewhere,
but I thought conditions would be better,'' she added.
The
time was way outside her personal best of 10.74, a benchmark she is
hoping to better at the Olympics - her last major competition.
``I've
already achieved my goals over the past 20 years. It's going to be
time to give it a rest,'' she said.
Ottey,
now 40, has been around at the top of athletics since the Moscow
Olympics in 1980 when she took a bronze medal in the 200 metres, but
a year ago she tested positive for the controversial anabolic
steriod nandrolone and was banned.
The
winner of 34 medals in major international championships, including
seven Olympics and a record 14 in world championships, she denied
ever knowingly taking the drug.
PANEL
RULING
An
International Amateur Athletic Federation arbitration panel ruled on
July 3 that ``there were not the grounds to maintain her suspension
from competition,'' ending the ban with immediate effect.
The
suspension came after a meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland in July last
year, when Ottey ran 10.97 in the 100 metres and 22.40 in the 200
metres.
With
the enquiry behind her, Ottey is hoping to get her mind completely
focused on the build up to Sydney, but she said the year-long saga
had had a pyschological impact.
``It's
been tough, and mentally it was difficult to focus, but now I have
some time before the Olympics and I'm going to train hard and have a
try,'' she said.
``I'm
keen just to run, just to get back in the race,'' she added.
Coach
Slovenian Srdjan Djordjevic said he was disappointed with
Wednesday's race, but felt there was still time to get it right
before September. He said Ottey was likely to compete in races
either in Stockholm or Zurich during August, following the Jamaican
Olympic trials on July 21-22.
``There's
no doubt she can run faster, but it needs to be warmer. I think if
the conditions are right, she can be fast enough for something under
10.90,'' he said.
NUORO,
Sardinia
Jamaican
sprinter Merlene Ottey rejoined the international athletics fold on
Wednesday, almost a year after failing a drugs test, but her form
failed to impress 10 weeks ahead of the Olympics.
At
a local meeting in the small town of Nuoro, tucked away in the
mountains of central Sardinia, Ottey blew away the unrecognized
opposition, but still ran home in only 11.42 seconds, far outside
what she was hoping to achieve.
"Its
too cold, I was kind of hoping the weather would be better,"
she said after the race.
Sardinia
is normally warm at this time of year, and Nuoro is at a reasonable
altitude of 500 meters, conditions Ottey said she was hoping would
contribute to a run somewhere around 11.20, but the weather was
unseasonably cold and blustery.
"Mentally,
I didn't want a big meet, and there aren't too many races elsewhere,
but I thought conditions would be better," she added.
The
time was way outside her personal best of 10.74, a benchmark she is
hoping to better at the Olympics -- her last major competition.
"I've
already achieved my goals over the past 20 years. It's going to be
time to give it a rest," she said.
Ottey,
now 40, has been around at the top of athletics since the Moscow
Olympics in 1980 when she took a bronze medal in the 200 meters, but
a year ago she tested positive for the controversial anabolic
steroid nandrolone and was banned.
The
winner of 34 medals in major international championships, including
seven Olympics and a record 14 in world championships, she denied
ever knowingly taking the drug.
An
International Amateur Athletic Federation arbitration panel ruled on
July 3 that "there were not the grounds to maintain her
suspension from competition," ending the ban with immediate
effect.
The
suspension came after a meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland in July last
year, when Ottey ran 10.97 in the 100 meters and 22.40 in the 200
meters.
With
the inquiry behind her, Ottey is hoping to get her mind completely
focused on the build up to Sydney, but she said the year-long saga
had had a psychological impact.
"It's
been tough, and mentally it was difficult to focus, but now I have
some time before the Olympics and I'm going to train hard and have a
try," she said.
"I'm
keen just to run, just to get back in the race," she added.
Coach
Slovenian Srdjan Djordjevic said he was disappointed with
Wednesday's race, but felt there was still time to get it right
before September. He said Ottey was likely to compete in races
either in Stockholm or Zurich during August, following the Jamaican
Olympic trials on July 21-22.
"There's
no doubt she can run faster, but it needs to be warmer. I think if
the conditions are right, she can be fast enough for something under
10.90," |
|
AFP's
report on her first race in Italy
|
Merlene
Ottey returns to competition
12 July 2000 - Nuoro,
Sardinia
Jamaican
sprinter Merlene Ottey returned to competition Wednesday by winning
the 100 meters in a regional meet on this Italian island.
''It
felt good to get started again,'' the 40-year-old five-time Olympian
said moments after the race. ''My goal now is to get to Sydney and
reach 20 years of Olympics.''
Ottey,
a double silver medalist at the 1996 Games,had no problem cruising
to the win in Sardinia on Wednesday over a field of regional
runners, winning in a relatively slow time of 11.42 seconds under
chilly conditions.
Ottey
said the past week has been a whirlwind, since learning of her
immediate reinstatement. ''I was so excited, it was one of the best
pieces of news of my life,'' Ottey said. ''Now I have to step up my
training and focus on the mental element.''
Her
next competition will be the Jamaican national championship, July
20-22 where she will run the 100 and 200 meters, seeking to qualify
for her sixth Olympic Games.
Ottey
has won 34 individual medals in major international championships
and is a former world 200-meter champion. |
The
latest by Reuters
LJUBLJANA,
July 11 |
Jamaican
sprinter Merlene Ottey, who was cleared to run a week ago after
failing a drug test, will make her comeback at a meeting in Sardinia
on Wednesday, her coach Srdjan Djordjevic said on Monday.
"She
needs to start competing to regain feeling and increase her form
with competition," Djordjevic told Reuters.
Ottey,
now 40, has been competing at the highest level for two decades and
won two silver medals in the sprints at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The
Sydney Olympics will mark her last major competition.
She
was banned after testing positive for the controversial steroid
nandrolone last July.
She
denied ever knowingly taking the drug and an International Amateur
Athletic Federation (IAAF) arbitration panel ruled a week ago that
"there were not the grounds to maintain her suspension from
competition," ending it with immediate effect.
Ottey
is presently training in Ljubljana and hopes to run below her
personal best of 10.74 seconds at the Olympics.
"At
present she is still well below her best form but she is training
well and we have another 74 days before her Olympic
appearance," said Djordjevic.
After
the Sardinia meeting she will compete in the Jamaican Olympic trials
on July 21-22 where she said she expected to finish in the top three |
Here's
what REUTERS & AP reported from Merlene's Press Conference held in
Ljubljana on July 5. 2000:
Ottey
says she'll be faster than ever
LJUBLJANA
Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey, who was cleared
to run on Monday after failing a drugs test, said on Wednesday she
hoped to run faster than ever at this year's Sydney Olympics.
"I
have not been competing for a year and I do not know what to expect.
But I hope to run faster than ever, below my personal best of 10.74
[seconds]," Ottey told Reuters.
Ottey,
now 40, has been competing at the highest level for two decades and
won two silver medals in the sprints at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Sydney
will mark her last major competition.
Asked
whether she expected to get another Olympic medal, she said:
"It's possible."
Ottey
was banned after testing positive for the controversial steroid
nandrolone last July.
She
denied ever knowingly taking the drug and an International Amateur
Athletic Federation (IAAF) arbitration panel ruled on Monday that
"there were not the grounds to maintain her suspension from
competition," ending it with immediate effect.
"I
was under stress because of the case and was not training a 100
percent ... but I am not worried about the time limit, I have nothing
to lose and everything to gain," she said.
She
said she would let her manager look at the possibility of getting
damages for the suspension, saying her mind was now on training.
"I'm
very relieved it is finally over after one year of total stress. I
need to mentally and physically prepare. I do not think I will be in
such a good shape for my first run but I think I will be ready for the
Olympics," she said.
Ottey
will attend the Jamaican Olympic trials on July 21 and 22 where she
said she expected to finish in the top three.
She
is presently training with her Slovenian coach Srdjan Djordjevic in
Ljubljana.
"I
am very satisfied with training here and with the warm weather,"
she said.
|
Former
world sprint champion's drug ban overturned
MONTE
CARLO, Monaco (AP)
Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey had her
two-year ban for steroid use lifted Monday after an international
track panel said the lab improperly tested her urine sample.
The
decision meant the former world champion and Olympic silver medalist
was immediately eligible to compete.
The
IAAF, track and field's world governing body, said in a statement that
its three-man arbitration panel had decided after a hearing last month
"there were not the grounds to maintain the suspension of Merlene
Ottey from competition."
"Accordingly,
the suspension ... ended with immediate effect," the statement
said.
The
IAAF said the panel found fault with the testing laboratory, which
"had not taken into sufficient account factors regarding the
specific gravity of the sample which as a result did not exceed the
IOC (International Olympic Committee) recommended reporting
threshold."
Monday's
ruling was the second issued by the IAAF in a week in a drug case
involving a prominent athlete. Last week, it upheld the two-year
suspension of Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, the only high jumper to clear
8 feet, for cocaine use. That decision appeared to knock Sotomayor out
of September's Olympics in Sydney.
Ottey,
winner of 34 individual medals in major international championships,
hopes to compete in the Sydney Olympics at 40.
Ottey,
a former world 200-meter champion, runner-up in the 100 and 200 at the
1996 Olympics and one of the most decorated athletes in the sport,
tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at a meet in Switzerland in
July 1999. She denied taking the drug and was cleared by the Jamaican
federation.
The
IAAF refused to accept the Jamaicans' ruling and sent her case to its
arbitration panel, composed of Christoph Vedder of Germany, Monty
Hacker of South Africa and James Murphy of the United States.
Nandrolone
is a steroid that is easily detectable in standard drug tests. But
there has been a spate of positive nandrolone cases around the world
over the past year, prompting speculation that the drug is contained
in nutritional supplements.
In
March, the IAAF said it would conduct a research project to determine
whether food supplements and herbal preparations can trigger positive
tests for nandrolone and other banned substances. The project is being
carried out in cooperation with UK Athletics, Britain's track
governing body.
Nandrolone
produced 343 positive tests in all sports around the world last year,
according to official statistics.
Among
the athletes embroiled in nandrolone cases is Linford Christie, the
1992 100-meter Olympic and world champion from Britain, who was
suspended after testing positive for the steroid.
Earlier
this month, the IAAF postponed Christie's hearing. It had wanted to
hear the case against the 39-year-old between July 6 and July 9, but
it couldn't agree on the dates with UK Athletics. A new date should be
announced shortly.
The
IAAF originally suspended Christie, but UK Athletics overruled the
decision, and the case was sent to arbitration.
Hearings
for two other Britons facing nandrolone charges, European 200-meter
champion Doug Walker and hurdler Gary Cadogan, were postponed for the
same reason.
Christie
has retired from top competition, but Walker and Cadogan hope to
compete in this year's Olympics.
Vedder,
the panel chairman, said the case would be an important test for
sports law regarding nandrolone.
|
News about Ottey's
case at EUROSPORT
|
MONTE
CARLO, July 3
Jamaican sprinter
Merlene Ottey, who was banned after failing a drugs test last year,
has been cleared to run in the Sydney Olympics.
An
International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) arbitration panel
ruled on Monday that "there were not the grounds to maintain her
suspension from competition" and ended it with immediate effect.
The IAAF said in a statement that the aribitraton panel
"considered that the testing laboratory had not taken into
sufficient account factors regarding the specific gravity of the
sample which as a result did not exceed the IOC recommended reporting
threshold".
Ottey,
the winner of 34 medals in major international championships including
seven in the Olympics and a record 14 in world championships, tested
positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone after a meeting in the
Swiss city of Lucerne last July.
But
Ottey has denied ever knowingly taking the drug and set out to clear
her name so that she could compete in her final Olympics at the age of
40. She was cleared by the Jamaican Athletics Federation but the IAAF,
athletics' governing body, was not satisfied with the decision and
decided to refer the case to its arbitration panel.
Ottey
appeared before the panel at the IAAF'S Monaco headquarters last
month. Ottey's was the first of a recent rash of postive tests
involving nandrolone to be dealt with by the IAAF. Former Olympic 100
metres champion Linford Christie will have to wait at least three
weeks to have his positive drugs test considered by the panel. It was
due to meet this week to consider the case of Christie and two other
Britons, European 200 metres champion Doug Walker and 400 metres
hurdler Gary Cadogan.
All
three had tested positive for nandrolone and face two-year bans from
competition if the panel decides they have committed a doping offence.
Christie, who tested positive last year, has effectively retired from
competition. IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said the cases had been
postponed because the arbitration panel had not received all the
necessary documentation in time.
|
A
brief transcription of what was published these days in our daily
paper DELO - Ljubljana:
This
is in brief & partly (most important statements) what Merlene's coach Mr. Srdjan Djordjevic told the
journalist & sports reporter Vito Divac of Delo, Ljubljana:
According
to recently published text in some English papers, Merlene's attorneys
are about to demand some 15 million USD as a satisfaction for the
damage caused to the athlete by the ban.
Mr.
Zimmermann, Ottey's manager was not willing to comment the amount but
added, that the procedure of getting any material satisfaction is
likely to be as hard as had the ban withdrawal been.
Mr.
Djordjevic, Ottey's coach in the past 2 years, however said, that the
damage she had suffered while banned had been more of a psychological
character and had caused "irreparable damage to Merlene's image.
Anybody who knows her, knows how great had her input been to achieve
the image she has in the world of sports. Part of it is most likely to
mark her forever unless she does something really great to change that
image.
Srdjan
Djordjevic (by the way he has a University diploma in biology) among
others explained the procedures they had to take to prove all the
controversy of testing and proving nandrolone presence in human body.
Besides all the controversy in testing the more disputable in Ottey's
case was the procedure of urine analysis itself.
Djordjevic
who played a very important role in one of the most controversial and
suspicious "doping" cases lately, said he is more than happy
now when all is over and he can finally concern of Merlene' training
process solely (the same goes for Gregor Cankar and other athletes
under his control). "It required a lot of my energy to be used to
prove I was right and I'm more than happy I was!"
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