Think positive, test negative

"Zero Tolerance for Doping" was adopted as an official slogan for the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, China. This year, the anti-doping program will be tougher than it has ever been. Chief Sebastian Coe warned the athletes by saying ‘You come to London and you try that, we will get you’.
In Harlow, thirty kilometers away from the Olympic accommodation in London, the doping lab is inaugurated for the Summer Games in 2012. During the Games more than 5.000 tests, upon 10.500 athletes, will be analyzed. That is a record in the history of the Olympic Games. The blood samples will be analyzed by a team of 150 scientists. The laboratory, which covers an area of seven tennis fields, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the Olympics. According to the organizers, all medal winners and nearly one in two athletes in total will be checked for doping.

Hopefully the athletes get the message of chief Coe. Nevertheless, there are always some people who do not get it. Or they just attempt to circumvent the rules. In the end, these athletes were caught and tested positive on using drugs.

For example Marion Jones who won five medals at the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. However, all medals and prizes dating back after her admission that she took drugs to enhance her performances.

For this year’s Olympics in London, the first suspension is known, the 23-year-old American sprinter LaShawn Merritt. On April 22th, 2010, it was announced that he had twice tested positive for doping. His punishment for this is a suspension of six months and exclusion from participation in the next Olympics. Afterwards, it turned out that the doping test appeared positive because he used a medicine for penis enlargement. Embarrassing!


This was just the top of the ice berg; more athletes crossed the boundaries who think they can win by using drugs, but in the end they go home without any glory. Are you getting curious? Do you want to read more about this topic? Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.