IOC MAY REASSESS PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS

The last few months might have done more for the issue of
performance-enhancing drugs than any event since Ben Johnson's positive test
at the 1988 Olympics.

The Tour de France reveals that blood boosting and human growth hormone are
as standard as bananas and water bottles.

Two prominent U.S. track and field stars, shot putter Randy Barnes and
sprinter Dennis Mitchell, have been suspended, pending a hearing, for using
testosterone-related substances.

Rugby players and swimmers have been implicated with using everything from
marijuana to steroids.

''This is not a surprise to us who follow these things,'' says Don Catlin,
chief of the Olympic testing lab at UCLA. ''What's surprising is the degree
to which it is being revealed.''

Now the International Olympic Committee wants to talk about it. It announced
Monday that it is calling all sports to a drug symposium in January.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch produced double takes last weekend with
comments on what is being called the Tour de Farce in Europe.

The man who often says ''doping is death'' now is essentially saying some
drugs are not a big deal.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Samaranch called for
the banned list to be ''reduced drastically'' and for doping to be redefined:

''Doping (now) is everything that, firstly, is harmful to an athlete's
health, and, secondly, artificially augments his performance.

''If it's just the second case, for me that's not doping. If it's the first
case, it is.''

On Tuesday, however, amid strong criticism of remarks by Samaranch, the IOC
insisted it has not softened its stance against performance-enhancing drugs.

The IOC president was rebuked by athletes, sports administrators and medical
experts in Britain, Germany and Australia for his statements quoted in El
Mundo on Sunday. He suggested that only those drugs harmful to an athlete's
health should be prohibited.

Many interpreted his comments as condoning the use of performance-enhancing
drugs if they aren't harmful.

IOC officials did not deny the accuracy of Samaranch's reported comments but
said they were misinterpreted and did not represent a change in policy.

''Absolutely not,'' IOC director general Francois Carrard said by telephone
from IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. ''He never meant to give up
the fight against doping or to launch himself a change of policy. There is
no change in policy.''

Carrard said Samaranch is not a medical expert and may not have made himself
clear on the subject, even in his native Spanish.

''He's not very precise in his scientific approach,'' Carrard said.
''Sometimes on technical issues he expresses himself maybe in an abrupt way.''

On Monday, the IOC released a statement saying its determination to fight
drugs was ''greater than ever'' and announcing the IOC would hold a
worldwide conference in January to formulate a ''clear definition of doping.''

Carrard said Samaranch's remarks were in keeping with the IOC's initiative
to streamline and simplify drug rules and documents. He said current
literature is too complicated for most people to understand.

''You have a feeling there are two worlds: a world of experts who know what
they are talking about, and the rest of the world for whom these things are
as mysterious as religious prophecies,'' Carrard said.

Carrard said Samaranch referred specifically to codeine, a product that was
previously included on the banned list but was recently removed because it
has no performance-enhancing qualities.

''He said surely there must be other products like codeine which need to be
reviewed and maybe eliminated,'' Carrard said.

He reiterated that Samaranch is especially intent on protecting athletes
from the dangers of drugs. Abuse of some banned products can cause serious
health problems, even death.

''He wanted to emphasize the health aspect,'' Carrard said.

The IOC official said Samaranch did not mean that some banned
performance-enhancers are harmless.

''I think he meant to say any substance which you are taking when you want
to enhance performance somehow damages your health sooner or later,'' he said.

Olympic administrators from several countries, including the United States,
Britain and Australia, telephoned Samaranch to seek clarification.

U.S. Olympic Committee executive director Dick Schultz said Samaranch
assured him he supports the IOC and USOC banned list completely.

''There is no doubt in my mind after speaking with him that we share the
view that athletes must not be allowed to gain an unfair advantage through
the use of drugs, and that the health and safety of the athletes is a top
priority,'' Schultz said in a statement.

In a separate telephone interview, Schultz said Samaranch stressed that any
performance-enhancing drug should be prohibited.

''He emphasized very clearly that any drug that impacts the health of an
athlete or enhances performance should be banned,'' Schultz said.

As for Samaranch's remarks in the Spanish interview, Schultz said, ''I just
don't think he understood at the time what he was saying.''

Michael Knight, head of the organizing committee for the 2000 Sydney Games,
also came away satisfied after speaking by phone with Samaranch.

''Mr. Samaranch assured me the IOC's campaign against drugs in sport would
continue with full determination and vigor,'' Knight said.

What is harmful leaves much room for debate. How come androstenedione, the
substance Barnes is suspended for, can be bought over the counter but is
illegal?

Yet creatine, another naturally occurring substance available in stores and
popular among athletes, is acceptable.

''Steroids are not major killer drugs if taken in medical doses, despite
what you see in some media,'' says Chuck Yesalis, a Penn State professor and
drug testing expert.

''Most track guys use the same doses as used in male contraceptives or
hormone therapy. Field guys use the same doses in conjunction with human
growth hormone.

''This adds further credence to my theory the IOC is thinking very seriously
of altering its stance on drugs.''

The Johnson affair sparked out-of-competition testing. Could the latest
revelations result in a dismantling of the banned list?

''I think (the IOC) would get killed if they said some drugs are
performance-enhancing but aren't dangerous, so it's no different than
food,'' says John MacAloon, a University of Chicago professor who studies
the Olympic movement. ''Whether they understand that or not, I'd be worried.''

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett