Athens made a point of catching the cheaters. But who got away? The issue of performance-enhancing drugs has never been more omnipresent at the Olympics than it has these past two weeks in Athens. A record number of athletes were banned for drug offenses -- 15 in all. Eleven more were banned during the Games for testing positive before they started. Those results have added to a growing credibility gap in the elite sporting world. "This is a coming home," said Donna de Varona, a gold-medal winning swimmer from Santa Clara, Calif. She believes that a lack of attention to the matter, starting at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, helped foster the current environment. "It has been embarrassing for everyone: the Greeks, track and field, and the United States." Olympic drug testers have tried to make a statement in Athens. They've taken away two gold medals and two bronzes. Six weightlifters, a Kenyan boxer, a Russian shot- putter, a Belarusian high jumper and a Hungarian discus thrower were among those caught and thrown out. The International Olympic Committee even took a chance by insulting the host nation after challenging Greek sprint stars Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou for missing two drug tests. The Sydney Olympic medalists withdrew before the Games to avoid being banned. "Today the general public knows we mean business," said Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, who mentioned drugs in his opening ceremony speech. The IOC had vowed to crack down on doping during the Athens Games. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued a "zero-tolerance" policy for athletes using illegal performance enhancers during the Olympics. "I think we are at the beginning of a new era that will even the playing field," WADA President Dick Pound announced prior to the opening ceremony. Despite the IOC chest pounding, officials have a long way to go to stop the use of performance-enhancing drugs. That became clear last week with revelations that the international track and field federation, the IAAF, conceded in a memo that its campaign against drug use had failed. According to the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the document said officials have evidence that some of the sport's national governing bodies have sought to undermine their drug-testing programme. Some federations have provided inaccurate information, failed to investigate cases or, in a few instances, conspired to hide guilty parties or cover up infractions. Those who follow sports closely say drug use has been pervasive for more than three decades. Critics suggest IOC officials have not gotten serious about combating the problem until recently. In Sydney there were 11 positive drug tests, one shy of the record of 12 set in Los Angeles 20 years ago. De Varona points to the LA Games as the genesis of today's problems. Widely credited with saving the Olympic movement because of its financial success, the 1984 Olympics also had a darker side. Nine positive drug tests -- in addition to the 12 that were reported -- allegedly were covered up, and their documentation subsequently destroyed. Don Catlin, the 1984 Olympic drug tester, said the IOC never pursued cases against those nine athletes. They remain unknown. "Nobody wanted to tarnish the rings," said de Varona, a well-known sports broadcaster who competed in the 1960 and 1964 Games. "When you start getting into the greater good and sacrifice your principles, you wind up with what you have here." The Athens Games have illustrated that any major upset or improvement on the field is now suspicious -- especially in track and field. For example, Greece's Fania Halkia dropped four seconds off her best time to win the 400-metre hurdles. The news conference that followed became testy as Halkia scolded reporters for accusatory questions. Joanna Hayes heard similar suggestions after her big improvement to win the 100 hurdles last week. Hayes did not balk when addressing the suspicions. "You don't want people wondering if you are on drugs just because of the scandal going on," she said. "I'm not fast all of sudden. It was going to happen. It has taken a little while." At the Olympics, the top four athletes in each event were tested for drugs; two others were tested randomly. It's often impossible to know whom to believe. Even when athletes say they have never failed a drug test, it doesn't necessarily mean they have never taken drugs. That was made clear a year ago, when agents raided Balco Laboratories, a Burlingame, Calif, nutrition company. The raid netted thousands of documents detailing athlete drug programmes as well as a small cache of banned substances such as human growth hormone, EPO and anabolic steroids. Officials realised then that some elite athletes had been circumventing the drug-testing system for years. So far, four San Francisco Bay Area men have been indicted in the Balco case and about 30 athletes have testified before a federal grand jury. The case generated headlines in Athens, too, because some Greek athletes allegedly were connected to Balco. The affair has saddened Kathy Freeman of Australia, the Sydney 400-metre champion: "It was one of shock and let-down and disillusionment," she said. But Freeman, who retired, also welcomes the scrutiny. "It is wonderful how this issue is being put in our faces and how we are feeling uncomfortable with it," she said. "Because that's what helps get results."
