There have been a total of ten official positive doping tests at the Pan American Games this year, according to an Associated Press report that quotes Dr. Eduardo De Rose, the head of the medical commission for the Games.
That list of eight includes three baseball players, three wrestlers, two cyclist, one boxer and one weightlifter.
It was not immediately clear why the official list does not include the one swimmer who reportedly tested positive during the games, Peruvian Mauricio Fiol. His status as the Silver Medal winner in the 200 Butterfly is a bit unsettled at the moment. Several days ago, it appeared that his Medal was no longer listed in the official medal counts, but he was still in second place in the official results. Today, his medal once again appears in Peru’s list of medals from the official website.
Fiol denied knowing how his sample tested positive and recently asked that his “B” sample be tested after his “A” sample tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid that reportedly helps athletes cut fat without sacrificing muscle.
Before the games, The World Anti Doping Agency asked that Canada’s anti-doping agency, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, save all samples collected during these games for future testing, just like in the Olympics. Samples collected during the Olympics can be saved for up to ten years and retested during that time period, if new technology becomes available that would enable detection of substances previously undetectable.
According to the AP report, De Rose estimated that nearly 2,000 tests have been, or will be, conducted, out of approximately 6,000 athletes, over the course of the Pan American Games. He also stated that eight positive tests seems to be just about the right amount thus far, saying, “I would take this number as something acceptable. I would not say we are having too many, or too few. We are exactly in the average range.”
DeRose also applauded the recently revised WADA code, which allows for targeted testing. Athletes in different disciplines will be tested specifically for the substances most likely to be used in their particular sport.
|
