THE SCIENCE OF DOPING

HT takes a look at the prevalent drugs used by the athletes to cheat the system.

Performance-enhancing drugs can be broadly classified as follows:

STIMULANTS: They make athletes alert and mask fatigue

ANABOLIC AGENTS: They are steroids. They help athletes train harder and build muscle

DIURETICS: To remove fluid from the body, and to reduce weight. Also used to hide other drugs.

NARCOTIC ANALGESICS: Mask pain caused by injury or fatigue

PEPTIDES AND HORMONES: EPO (Erythropoietin) red blood cells and HGH (Human Growth Hormone)

THE METHOD

The most commonly used of these are anabolic agents, EPO and HGH. Both Inderjeet Singh and Narsingh Yadav tested positive for anabolic agents. Yadav tested positive for metandienone. The oldest mode of taking anabolic agents, i.e. steroids, is through capsules. However, anti-doping methods used these days can easily detect these. In the WADA report published by Richard H McLaren after investigating the doping at the Sochi Winter Games, a new method Russian athletes were using to take steroids was revealed.

MCLAREN WROTE, “Dr. (Grigory) Rodchenkov developed a steroid cocktail optimised to avoid detection. Initially, the cocktail consisted of Oral Turinabol (Dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone), Oxandrolone and Methasterone. The steroids were dissolved in alcohol (Chivas for the men 50 and Vermouth for the women). The solution was then swished in the mouth in order to be absorbed by the bucal membrane and then spit out. The research indicated that, with the laboratory technology available at the time, the detection window for the steroids in the cocktail would not exceed 3-5 days.”