Doping reaches crisis levels
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday October 19, 2018 14:58
This has left the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) searching for answers, as the incidents continue to occur despite sustained athlete education.
BNOC chief executive officer, Tuelo Serufho admitted that they have reached a crisis stage.
“For a small country like ours with a fairly small athlete community to have had a total of six doping cases in eight years to date is really concerning,” he said.
Serufho said what is particularly worrisome is the fact that the athletes who return adverse analytical findings are generally those that are well enlightened in matters of Anti-Doping.
“Against our advice, nearly all our athletes that have tested positive to date fell prey to supplements. Our position has always been that while it is not in dispute that some supplements can aid recovery, like muscle building, they are not worth the risk,” Serufho said.
He pointed out that not all the supplements are beneficial and athletes have no means to determine which ones are beneficial and which ones are not. He added that some are, in fact, harmful.
“Of course, the most critical thing is that neither us nor our athletes have the resources to always test supplements to check for banned substances, hence the reason we advise that athletes stay away from them.
This is more so the case given the fact that proper diet and enough rest, sleep and proper hydration can achieve the same if not better results than supplements,” he added.
Serufho said they have held workshops with pharmacists and gym owners in the past, but they can still certainly do more. “However, remember that some of these people have no obligation to honour our invitations to the workshops, as they are not part of us.”
He said the BNOC could attempt to educate all the pharmacists in town, but their efforts would be in futility if athletes would then buy supplements abroad.
“So it is important that we address the real issue, which is the purchase of supplements by athletes,” he said. Serufho said that is the reason why their greatest focus is on athletes, with whom the responsibility of ensuring that banned substances do not end up in their bodies, lies. Beyond the workshops, Serufho said they should be able to test athletes regularly. He said the BNOC should have its own robust Registered Testing Pool as well as Athlete’s Whereabouts System.
The Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) chairperson, Solly Reikeletseng said they will continue with the Anti-Doping Education. He said in some cases, athletes dope due to lack of information.Reikeletseng said it was not possible for local authorities to ban products that contain prohibited substances.“Those items are sold in supermarkets to the public. There is nothing we can do and it is up to the athletes to control what they consume. We cannot approach outlets and tell them not sell such and such product,” he said.