SPORTS AND DRUGS: JUST SAY 'PAYBACK TIME'

Canada Should Take A Harder Line On Athletes Cheating With Chemicals

The rich rewards of Olympic stardom are not about to go away, so
neither will the temptation for athletes to use performance-enhancing
drugs. To many, the potential rewards of improved performance far
outweigh the risk of getting caught.

Ben Johnson was on his way to being one of Canada's richest athletes
when he tested positive for stanozolol, a banned anabolic steroid,
after winning the 100 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Linford
Christie of Britain and Merlene Ottey of Jamaica recently tested
positive for today's steroid of choice, nandrolone, and they have long
enjoyed the trappings of being among the biggest names in world track
and field.

Robin Lyons, a young hammer thrower from Edmonton, was kicked off
Canada's Olympic team this week because the urine test she gave after
last month's Canadian track championships was "above the limits" for
norandrosterone, a byproduct of one of three forms of nandrolone.

"I'm no Ben Johnson," Ms. Lyons said in protest, and, indeed, she is
not. She is a somewhat anonymous athlete in a somewhat anonymous sport
that has none of the glamour of the 100 metres.

A tough line is needed, nonetheless. North America is well behind other
parts of the world when it comes to public attitude to drugs in sport.
Sure, Canada's Olympic sports bodies take drug cheats very seriously,
and the antidoping lab where Ms. Lyons's sample was tested is one of
the best in the world.

But North America's sports culture is dominated by hockey, basketball,
football and baseball, and chemical performance enhancement barely
registers among fans of those sports. In fact, the professional athlete
who plays through pain, pumped full of pain killers, is a celebrated
figure. Baseball players and fans laughed in 1998 when a few newspapers
dared to suggest that Mark McGwire's eclipse of a sainted home-run
record was tainted by the fact he was using a drug, androstenedione,
that is banned in most international sports.

Then there is horse racing. Pumping horses full of performance-
enhancing drugs would be considered a disgrace in most countries where
horse racing takes place. But the practice is embraced in Canadian and
U.S. horse racing.

Against this backdrop, Canadian sports authorities must stand firm.
Certainly, a ban from competition and the subsequent front-page
humiliation is a blow to any athlete who has a positive test. But why
stop there. Canada's Olympic athletes are funded by the government, and
any athlete testing positive during an Olympic cycle should be forced
to pay back any money received during that four-year period.

Abuse of performance-enhancing drugs in Olympic sports shows no signs
of slowing down. So it's time to raise the bar. Make the penalty for
getting caught greater than the potential reward.