cannabisnews.com: Canuck Fails Drug Test at Pan Am Games!





Canuck Fails Drug Test at Pan Am Games!
Posted by FoM on August 01, 1999 at 08:06:27 PT
By CP
Source: Edmonton Sun
WINNIPEG -- A Canadian athlete is the first to fail a drug test at the Pan American Games.
The Canadian Olympic Association confirmed last night that a Canadian athlete had tested positive for a banned substance.The CBC reported that Dave Bowen, general manager of Canada's gold-medal-winning inline hockey team, said one of his players failed the test, but Games officials weren't saying who the athlete was. The Games executive committee has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Mountain time today.The Pan American Sports Organization's medical commission was to meet last night to determine whether the unnamed Canadian had in fact committed a doping infraction.The COA refused to provide any additional details about the athlete, sport or banned substance and said it will make no further comment until a decision is made.The CBC, citing an unnamed senior Games executive, reported that the A-sample, the first sample that is tested, came back positive 2 1/2 days ago and that the B-sample confirmed the first result yesterday.A positive test does not necessarily mean that the banned substance is a performance-enhancing drug.Ross Rebagliati tested positive for marijuana at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and was stripped of his gold medal in the giant slalom. His medal was restored after the Canadian team successfully appealed.Silken Laumann tested positive for banned stimulant at the 1995 Pan Am Games in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, after taking the wrong over-the-counter cold medicine. The positive drug test cost her and her quad-sculls teammates their gold medals, as it did sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Olympics for his steroid use.About 850 of the 5,200 competitors at the Pan Am Games were due to be chosen at random and tested for 150 banned performance-enhancing substances and medications. For team sports such as soccer and baseball, a few team members per squad are tested at random.Athletes' samples are sent to Canada's only IOC-certified testing laboratory in Montreal. Results are supposed to be reported within 36 hours.The test usually takes place within one hour on site at any of the 42 Pan Am competition venues. Banned substances include anabolic steroids, growth promoters, diuretics and marijuana.About half a dozen Pan Am athletes have tested positive at each Games over the past 20 years, except at Caracas in 1983, when 19 tested positive. Sunday, August 1, 1999 Copyright © 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership.All rights reserved. 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #1 posted by G. Handevidt on August 01, 1999 at 12:19:01 PT:
Testing Positive
I find it interesting that the substance is not being identified.There is a legitimate rationale for banning performance enhancing drugs in competition athletics. However, recreational marijuana is not a performance enhancing drug. If this player tested positive for marijuana, there is no justification for any negative action whatsoever.
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: