ATHLETES AND DOPE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 89, 1 May 1937, Page 14

ATHLETES AND DOPE

OLD QUESTION REVIVED CLOSE WATCH ON RUNNERS. EFFORTS IN VICTORIA. i Do athletes of to-day i'dope" with Itho idea that the stimulation given hy it makes their ehance of success i n important events greater than it would be oth6rwise? asks J. J. Maher' in a Melbourne journal. Experts, bfflcials, and others closely connected /with professional foot-xunnihg, will Iteil you that "dope" is rarely used in ftshese days because of stringent- rules |that exist for dealing with those f ound resorting to the practice. Yet we fre,quently hear talk about it. . While officials of the Victorian Athletie League satisfied themselves ■ that there was nothing wrong in the ;case of a runner who took part in the reeent Easter Gift, steps taken by ■them had the efCect of drawing at]tention once again to the subject. In the course of the meeting very close watch. was kept on this athlete, 'because it was feared that he might have been given something in liquid or other form which would be contrary to the rules, and harmful to the man. Quite apart from this aspeet, there were some remarkable features about the case. ' This athlete had* been kept for months in a State,. other than Victoria, under an assumed name, so that his feal identity would not be reveaied before his handicap was known. The idea was to enable his connections to complete their betting transactxoris. > But the well-thought-out plan went iuniss because the runner failed to wln * ithe world's richest foot ruiuurig event, .although he had done some wonderful trials against a former Stawell victor. He simply could not "saddle up." That was aJh Last year he appeared at Stawell, and caught ihe eye of many keen judges. Several propositions were put up to him, but he refused to leave Victoria, and went to work in the countiiSr. For the time being he for- * got all about foot-running. But persisteney was shown by S former finalist in the Stawell Gift, who wired the return fare to a third pafiy— a League footbailer ln Melbourne— with a view to securing this Stawell prospect. The taoiiey, however, was returned because the footballer felt that.any»part he might play would c&use trouble between the athlete sought and his Victorian trainer. Undaunted. the chief actor in the move came to Melbourne and made a firip to the country. Eventually he seoured'the athlete and took him to another State, where he was whisked tway in a motor-car to a distant country town to train for seven months under an assumed name. The young runner began to run with plefity of dash, and the time came for some trial— with a former winner of the Stawell Gift. The performances were sq astounding that it was decided fo support the Stawell asplrant, whose identity was disdosed only after the handieaps were declared. A weliknown "fieider" made a special 1000.mile journey from Melbourne by ear to do "business" with the "stable," who supported the athlete to win them £^00. He duly came to Stawell. He ran very impressively in his heat on Easter Saturday, but on Monday he failed to materialise. Officiols Vigilant. * Official investigated the reason for ihe athlete using an assumed name, but were subsequently satisfied of his bona fides^ because other meh ' have come to Stawell and booked Up at hotels under assumed nam.es so as to avoid publicity and to escape "scouts" until tiie last moxnent. But on Easter Monday some quiet moves were made. Eagle eyes were directed on the runner and his colleagues as soon as they arrived at Centrstt. Fark. The dressing rooms were well watched; the athlete was never lost sight of by a vigilant V A.L.

omeiai; ior two hours or more "silent ' workers" were doing tixeir job. The runner duly appeared on the track and lost, but the officials were satisfied that he had neither taken nor received "dope" of any descrlption. They were anxious for his well-being, feeling.that he would never be a party to do anything wrong, but might innocently fall mto a trap. Several years ago, because of aliegations made by cerfain people that doping was prevalent the Victorian Athletie League framed special rules dealing with the evil, in which officials of ihe governing body were vested with very wide and drastic powers to bring the culprits to book. Among other things, the rules provided that samples oi an athlete's sajiva could be taken for analysis. Prior to this rule coming Into force samples of a suspected runner's saliva were taken and sent to a Melbourne laboratofy, but their mysterious "disappearance" somewhat intrigued officials. They were never recovered. There are no cases on record'in reeent years of officials submitting athletes to any qUestioning in this direction, because it is felt that strict supervision and heavy penalties imposed by the cohtrolling body have had ihe desired effect.