My drugs test confirms IOC must bulk up to win fight against cheats

It took Matthew Pinsent only £180 and an internet search to get hands on growth hormone

Matthew Pinsent

When I was an athlete competing at the Olympics, I was always of the belief that we were operating under a protective umbrella that the drugs testers were holding over our heads. I looked around the Olympic Village sure that if there were cheats then they stood a really good chance of being caught and that they had to really work to get around a system that was so good. Recent press coverage about Dwain Chambers and Marion Jones bolsters the view. They were cheating - they eventually got caught. But in reality the cheats are often slipping past the testers and my old attitudes seem hopelessly naive.

Human growth hormone (HGH) is naturally produced in the brain to help with muscle, cartilage and bone development, particularly when we are young. The original need for a laboratory product was for patients who had a deficiency, but as is so often the case, the body-building fraternity began in the early 1980s to experiment with it. At the beginning, the sports testers were way behind and those who wanted to could use HGH without fear of being caught. The drug worked well, with users reporting extra strength and lower body fat soon after starting a course.