The ins and outs of doping tests

IT is common knowledge that athletes preparing for major competitions not only have to work 10 times harder in their training but they also have to be 10 times more careful with what they eat or drink because of the fear of failing the doping test.

One may think the latter shouldn’t be a problem because if the athletes don’t take drugs or prohibited supplements, they would be all right. The sad truth is they sometimes get into trouble unwittingly. This is what happened to our weightlifter Hafifi Mansor, diver Wendy Ng Yan Yee and national hockey goalkeeper S. Kumar.

Hafifi, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid oxymetholone in October last year, stressed that he had never consumed any substance banned by the World AntiDoping Agency (Wada).

In Ng’s case, she was tested posi- tive for sibutramine, a stimulant commonly found in slimming products but is on the list of substances banned by Wada. She has vehemently denied taking the substance knowingly and said she took her diet very seriously.

National hockey goalkeeper S. Kumar failed his doping test last October after testing positive for sibutramine, the same substance indicated in Ng’s tests.

It wasn’t only Kumar who was shocked by the result but the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) as well. MHF released a statement saying the organisation had no idea how the substance entered Kumar’s system and that the player, who has represented the country 295 times in the last 18 years, had undergone more than 10 doping tests with negative results.

Kumar is now serving a two-year ban, which means he could not participate in the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, Australia this year.

Before they got the positive results for their tests, Hafifi and Ng had also been looking forward to competing in the Commonwealth Games. In fact, the result affected Ng so badly she suffered depression.

These athletes claimed that they had taken supplements approved in the country and were also very cautious about what they consume as they took their participation in international competitions very seriously. They are now banned from participating in their sport for some time, and this could adversely affect their careers in the long run.

FARAH QISTINA ZABIDI Ampang, Selangor