TIME EUROPE
May 22, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 20
Olympic Monitor
By ELIZABETH FEIZKHAH
DRUG CONTROL
A Testing Breakthrough: But Has It Come in Time?
For endurance athletes unwilling to rely on talent and training alone, the booster of choice is the hormone erythropoietin (EPO), which multiplies the red blood cells that carry vital oxygen to tiring muscles. The temptation to use EPO before "any race longer than about four minutes" is powerful, says Dr. Ken Fitch, an Australian member of the International Olympic Committee medical commission. Not only can EPO improve performances by 5-10%, but no test can reliably distinguish between people who've injected the hormone and those whose EPO levels are naturally high. For athletes inclined to cheat, says Fitch, that leaves "one huge loophole."
Scientists at the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory believe they have a test that could close that loophole in time for the Olympics. Developed with the help of researchers in France, Canada and Norway, the test focuses on five changes in the blood that occur when EPO levels are artificially boosted. Says project head Peter Davis: "We can tell if someone is on EPO or if they have stopped using it in the last three to four weeks." Though final trials won't be complete until June 9, Davis says he is "highly confident" the test will meet the International Olympic Committee's stringent accuracy requirements. But it can't be used in Olympic competition until the commission's legal and scientific experts feel the same way. Will they be able to reach a decision by September? Fitch doubts it. "If the Olympics were a year away, I'd feel very confident," he says. As it is, "I'd say the chances are 20-30%."
Davis and his team are staying upbeat. "If the test is not accepted," he says, "it won't be because we didn't complete the scientific work." And in double-quick time: the epo2000 projectÑfunded by matching $1 million-plus grants from the Australian government and the I.O.C.Ñwas launched only 15 months ago. Nor have event officials been cooling their heels: in anticipation of a green light, the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games has finalized blood sampling procedures (at present, athletes only face urine tests) and is assembling the equipment and staff needed to implement them. "We're in pretty good shape," says S.O.C.O.G. doping control manager Nicki Vance. "I don't believe we'll have any problem carrying out the test if the I.O.C. approves it."
Olympic athletes who are using EPO should be nervous, says I.O.C. executive board member Dick Pound: "The moment we're sure [the test works]Ñand it may be a month before the Games, it might be the day beforeÑas soon as we're sure, we're going to start imposing the sanctions for positive tests." But where careers and reputations are at stake, sure is a weighty word. If the test is not watertight, says I.O.C. medical commission chief Prince Alexandre de Mérode, any athlete could mount a legal appeal against an I.O.C. sanction, "rendering our work completely pointless." Naturally, the commission would rather be slow and sure than swift and sued. And in the view of I.O.C. medical commission member Arne Ljungqvist, "It will take a year at least if the test is to meet all the criteria to meet the legal demands."
But if the aim is to close a cheating loophole, six months late is better than never, argues Fitch: "While everybody would love the test to be up by September, we all accept the fact that you can't get it up until it's perfect. If we don't have it in time for Sydney, it will be disappointing, but provided the test is up in the near future, all of us will be pretty satisfied." And if the test isn't in place at the 2000 Games, athletes who gamble by continuing to take EPO may enjoy their own, medal-shaped, forms of satisfaction.
TORCH RELAY
Island Lights
The torch for 2000 has been lit. After traveling around Greece, it will head for Sydney in the longest relay in Olympic history, passing through 11 Pacific states, including Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand, before landing at Ayers Rock (Uluru), central Australia, on June 8.
ONLINE
Let the Web Games Begin
As the only Internet outlet to post real-time official results for all events, the official Olympics website could receive up to a billion page views in the 17 days of competition. To keep visitors coming back, IBM, which manages the site for the Sydney Games organizing committee, is trying to make www.olympics.com "the most far-reaching Website ever created for a sports event."
There will be no audio or video broadcasts (those rights belong to NBC), but fans will be able to download a scoreboard console that sits on their computer screen and provides instant, play-by-play results for 11 sports, including athletics, swimming and gymnastics. Between events, they can review athlete profiles and performance statistics, receive animated instruction in Olympic sports, or contact their favorite competitors through www.ibm.com/fanmail. For those who prefer to watch the watchers, a "traffic meter" (www.ibm.com/olympics) will display a daily tally of e-visits.
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May 22, 2000
COVER
The Amazing Vikings
They earned their brutal reputationÑbut the Norse were also craftsmen, explorers and believers in democracy
EUROPE
Ulster's Choice
The Unionists must decide if the I.R.A.'s arms offer is enough for a new try at self-government
I'm Melting, I'm Melting!
The biggest danger of a weak euro is that the current export-led growth spurt will persuade Euroland governments that they can keep postponing much-needed structural reforms
Promises, Promises
After four months of de facto rule and much talk of a new Russia, Vladimir Putin must now deliver
Warming Things Up
Austria's government hopes to end the E.U.'s ostracism of its officials
Human Rights Leave Chopper Deal in a Spin
A $4 billion sale to Turkey is at stake, but protesters insist the U.S. Administration keeps a promise
Last Words on the Left Bank
Paris' old bohemian quarter is under siege by boutiques and tourists
AFRICA
The Somalia Syndrome
A new book by a veteran journalist explores how earlier rescue missions to Africa went wrong
The Mantle of Mandela
With a hard act to follow, Thabo Mbeki has little room for error
BUSINESS
Initial Opportunities
Europe's small investors will be able to participate via the Web in the upsideÑand downsideÑof IPOs
Westwardly Mobile
Japan's NTT DoCoMo joins forces with Dutch telecom company KPN to expand across Europe
Tracking Down a Better Deal
Exchange traded funds will give Europeans more choices and lower fees
THE ARTS
English is the Lingua Franca in Cannes
The world's most famous film festival may keep Hollywood at bay, but French still comes second
DEPARTMENTS
Olympic Monitor
Techwatch
World Watch
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