New designer steroid found in Canada
WebPosted Tue, 01 Feb 2005 11:59:56 EST
CBC Sports
http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/02/01/Sports/wada050201.html
CBC Sports: New designer steroid found in Canada
The World Anti-Doping Agency has discovered a new designer steroid in
the wake of the on-going THG scandal.
World Anti-Doping Agency chairman [censored] Pound has been front and centre
in developing new drug tests for athletes. (CP File Photo)
Christiane Ayotte, director of the WADA-accredited doping laboratory
in Montreal, said that Canadian customs officers seized bottles of
various substances at the Canada-U.S. border in July.
Working with Canada Customs scientists they discovered it was a new
performance-enhancing drug, dubbed Desoxy-Methyl Testosterone or DMT.
It has the ability to increase strength, muscle bulk and stamina.
"In this case, whoever made this drug had access to serious organic
chemists," Ayotte said. "It is at a level of sophistication what we
have not seen before."
Ayotte said re-tests of stored urine samples taken from athletes in
recent months showed no trace of the drug and she believes it was
caught before it went into general circulation.
She said it appears to be a new generation of steroid from
tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), the muscle-building compound discovered in
2003 that sparked a United States federal inquiry into the San
Francisco-based BALCO laboratory.
Several leading track athletes, including double world sprint champion
Kelli White and Britain's European 100m champion Dwain Chambers have
been suspended from competition after THG was discovered in their
system.
Tuesday's announcement by WADA only served to endorse the claims of
BALCO head Victor Conte, who investigators believe manufactured and
distributed THG.
"You think it's over just because they've indicted me," Conte said.
"Please. There's a new version out there right now."
It's not known if Conte was referring to DMT.
Because the DMT case is still under investigation in Canada, Ayotte
would not say where the new drug came from or who was supposed to
receive it.
with files from Canadian Press