British sprinter Dwain Chambers and Americans Regina Jacobs (middle-distance runner), Kevin Toth (shot put) and John McEwen (hammer throw) have been widely reported to have tested positive for THG. The International Association of Athletic Federations has ordered samples from the world championships to be retested using the new THG test. The World Anti-Doping Association says athletes who test positive may be banned from competition for up to two years, likely affecting the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
Pro sports
Several prominent pro athletes, including Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, have been summoned to testify before the grand jury on the THG scandal. The NFL has the most extensive drug testing program among the major sports and has instituted retroactive tests for THG, though the players' union has objected to punishment for retroactive positives. Four members of the Raiders, Dana Stubblefield, Barret Robbins, Chris Cooper and Bill Romanowski, widely have been reported to have tested positive. Major League Baseball just instituted random testing and has added THG to its list of banned substances, but it will not retroactively test because the samples were not saved. The NBA tests rookies for steroids in training camp and three times during the season. Veterans who haven't been caught before only get tested in training camp. The league must get union approval to add THG to the banned-substance list. The NHL bans steroids but does not conduct random testing.
College sports
No college athletes have been identified as testing positive for THG, but the NCAA will start testing for it, Frank Uryasz, the man in charge of drug testing for the NCAA, told Sportsline.com. Asked if college football players or track and field athletes were taking THG, Uryasz, head of the National Center for Drug Free Sports, told the site: "There's no evidence that they have, but we always assume the worst . . . that intercollegiate athletes are involved." The NCAA does not have plans for retroactive testing.
High school sports
Few schools test for drugs, but the Florida High School Athletic Association does ban the use of anabolic steroids or other performance-
enhancing drugs. Use of steroids by high school athletes is on the rise, and some believe seeing high profile athletes involved in the THG scandal will make it worse. A University of Michigan study of high school seniors put steroid use at 4 percent in 2002, up from 2.5 percent in 2000. Penn State professor Charles Yesalis, an authority on teen steroid use, said use among teenage girls, now at 1 percent to 2 percent, doubled during the 1990s.
- Information from the Washington Post, USA Today, Reuters, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Scripps-Howard News Service and the FHSAA was used in this report.
