GB STARS USED AS GUINEA PIGS

2012 Olympians gagged as secret substance was tested

BRITISH Olympians were used as guinea pigs to test an experimental substance in a secret UK Sport project costing hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money in a bid to enhance their performance at London 2012.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that UK Sport, the Government quango responsible for funding Olympic sport, developed a ‘novel nutritional intervention’ to use in competition — even though they couldn’t guarantee to athletes that it did not breach antido ping regulations.

A major investigation by this newspaper has discovered that 91 British Olympians were enrolled to take an experimental substance that had never been tested in competition.

They all had to sign waivers that meant UK Sport, which is funded by the National Lottery, was free of responsibility if the substance turned out to be illegal. Athletes also had to sign gagging orders.

The substance, a synthetic version of a naturally occurring body acid called ketones, was originally developed by scientists at Oxford University. They received $10million of funding from the American Department of Defence so that US Special Forces could operate at a high level for longer behind enemy lines with fewer rations. Jo Pavey, five-time Olympian and European 5.000m champion in 2014, said: ‘It’s almost like nowadays athletes can’t compete on the world stage unless they are doing all this rubbish.

‘ It’s depressing. There is so much going on, with people doing all sorts to the absolute limit.’

A UK Sport spokesperson said: ‘The project received independent ethical approval. And UK Anti-Doping confirmed in writing, after seeking clarification from the World Anti- Doping Agency (WADA), that WADA had “no reason to consider such substances as banned under the 2011 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods”.’