MONTREAL, Canada, CMC:
THE World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has discovered a new designer drug Desoxy-Methyl Testosterone (DMT), months after the tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) scandal.
The Canada Border Services Agency seized a bottle of the drug at the Canada-U.S. border 2003 and Christiane Ayotte, the director of the WADA-accredited lab in Montreal, developed a test for DMT, which is similar to banned methyl-testosterone.
This new discovery follows hot on the heels of the BALCO scandal, which indicted numerous sports superstars including British sprinter Dwain Chambers and American Kelli White.
WHISTLE-BLOWER
As with THG, the DMT discovery involved a whistle-blower. Last June, WADA received an anonymous e-mail that Canadian customs had seized a batch of the material during an attempt to transport it from the USA across the Canadian border.
Though its creator apparently thought DMT could not be detected, Ayotte said it would have likely shown up in drug tests because it contained markers of detectable steroids.
Ayotte said there was no need to retest samples from the Athens Olympics or other events for DMT.
She also said she was confident the new steroid had not yet been used by athletes in competition after tests on thousands of stored samples drew a blank.
Athens too, had its own drug scandal involving two of that country's sporting heroes Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterina Thanou.
Kenteris, the 2000 Sydney Olympic 200 metres champion, and Thanou, silver medallists in the 100 metres, both missed mandatory drugs tests prior to the start of the games and were subsequently prevented from participating.
The International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) later banned both athletes who are still under investigation by Greek legal authorities, over an alleged car accident.
