DRUG TESTING HITS WORLD OF BRIDGE

'We have to do it to get into the Olympics'

Random drug testing has hit the world of competitive bridge, and elite
players are worried they may be disqualified from international tournaments
for downing too many espressos, or using the wrong cold medication.

"I can't imagine how any drug could enhance your play in bridge, but we have
to do it in order to get into the Olympics," said Dave Willis of Orleans,
who has competed in international tournaments.

Competitive players face the spectre of having their international
tournament victories taken away after testing positive for one of the many
over-the-counter drugs banned by the International Olympic Committee, such
as caffeine and pseudoephedrine, which is found in many cold medications.

"A lot of the people that compete are older, so I think a lot of the
medications they might use are on the list right now," said Doug Heron of
Ottawa, an international-calibre player and president of the Canadian Bridge
Federation.

Canadian rower Silken Laumann lost her team's women's quadruple sculls gold
medal after testing positive for pseudoephedrine at the 1995 Pan American
Games.

She had taken Benadryl-D for her cold, because she knew Benadryl was not
banned by the IOC. Unfortunately, Benadryl-D, the decongestant version of
Benadryl, contained the banned pseudoephedrine substance.

The idea of caffeine providing an unfair advantage in bridge seems
ridiculous to those who think drug testing is meant to discourage athletes
from gobbling down steroids to give them an athletic edge.

"Believe me, most bridge players want a clear mind, and I don't know any
drug that could help you with that," said Mr. Willis.

But Mr. Heron said players might get a mental edge from caffeine during
marathon card games.

"In bridge you may be playing 14 hours a day, and the tournaments sometimes
go on for weeks, so it becomes a stamina thing," said Mr. Heron. "Most
players use caffeine to stay alert, so I don't know how much that would
change the sport if they had to stop drinking coffee."

A 70-80-kilogram man would have to drink about three cups of espresso in an
hour to risk having too much caffeine in his blood..

"You'd really have to drink a lot of coffee to run the risk of running afoul
of the established threshold," said Mr. Lachance.

The World Bridge Federation, which governs international bridge
competitions, accepted random drug testing this year as one of the IOC
requirements it must fulfill in its bid to have bridge considered for
inclusion in the Winter Olympics. WBF organizers hope bridge will make an
appearance in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Winter Olympics as a "special
attraction sport," on its way to being recognized by the IOC as a
full-fledged Olympic sport.

"This testing is normal in any sport," said Jose Damiani, president of the
Paris-based WBF. "It's normal to protect the health of the players and I
think it's absolutely normal that we proceed in this way."

The first bridge player drug tests were held this January, when urine
samples were taken from all semifinalists in the 1999 bridge world
championships in Bermuda and sent to a lab in Montreal.

Twenty bridge players, including four teams of two from the men's world
championship Bermuda Bowl and a similar number from its women's counterpart,
the Venice Cup, passed the drug tests.

David Silber, chief executive officer of the American Contract Bridge
League, which governs American members of the WBF, isn't certain the IOC's
drug list is a good match for a game like bridge, but he accepts the testing
as part of the process if bridge is to gain Olympic status.

"I'm not certain how much sense it really makes for bridge, but if that's
what it takes to get into the Olympics, we're certainly willing to do that."

Mr. Heron said the IOC's drug list is geared toward physical sports, and is
inappropriate for bridge, which he calls a "mind sport."

"The list of drugs doesn't seem as though it's been given much thought as to
the kinds of drugs that would be taken by people in mind sports versus those
that would help you in muscle sports."