August 24, 2008
Posted: 1026 GMT

BEIJING, China - With just a handful of positive doping cases so far in the Games, professor Arne Ljungqvist, the IOC's Chief Medical Officer is a contented man. Content that the IOC's anti-doping program is catching drugs cheats and that the fight to rid sport of illegal performance enhancing substances is being won.

Arne Ljungqvist: Helping change the attitudes about drug doping in international sports.
Arne Ljungqvist: Helping change the attitudes about drug doping in international sports.

"It will take a generation to change attitudes," he says from the IOC's main encampment in Beijing - three floors of an enormous hotel complex that has also been home to the IOC's "Olympic families" for the past 17 days.

"People involved in sport from countries where doping used to be routine, like in Russia and Eastern Bloc countries are still around and still working in sport as coaches and working closely with athletes.  It will take a generation to create doping-free environments for athletes."

As we talk, Jacques Rogge strides past, toward his office and a member of the CCTV crew waiting nearby leaps out of his seat to hail him: "Mister President!"

"Mister President" Rogge had said before the Games he expected there to be about 30-40 positive drugs incidents during the Beijing Olympics. Ljungqvist believes their anti-doping methods are working and acting as a good deterrent, which is why the number of positive results so far is so much lower than Rogge's prediction.

Between 4,500 and 5,000 tests will have been conducted on athletes by the end of the Games - twice as many as Sydney in 2000 - and despite the contrary opinion of many within sport, Ljungqvist believes that they are effective enough to catch athletes who use human growth hormones that are harder to trace than other substances.

Ljungqvist is also charged with making sure the Games are conducted in good health all round - from the city's air quality to encouraging a healthier lifestyle in Beijing even after the Games have ended

As for McDonalds as a sponsor, he has no problem with them as an Olympic partner, believing they still have an image problem rather than anything else. 

He's also hopeful that the work done to make the air cleaner and city's streets more pleasant will continue.

The factories that have been shut down since the end of July to help reduce city smog are supposed to stay closed until after the Paralympics. Whether they will or not after most world's media leave Beijing remains to be seen.

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Filed under: China • Olympics • Sports


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Diane, Ontario, Canada   August 24th, 2008 2159 GMT

I questioned when they were awarded the Olympics and still wonder now, what designer drugs have been used that have gone undetected. Marion Jones is a good example - numerous testings and undetected for years. For these Olympics, for me China & Jamaica are first to jump off the page. Jamaica as all look alike in their blow-out running methods - both men and women. China has always been a question in my mind and now with the billions spent by them on their athletes makes me question whether the kids of China are being educated or are they placed in these athlete factories for sport training only. I also question undetected designer drug use because of pressure applied as they have spent the mega bucks to build the Olympics, to train the athletes and therefore could easily have invested in designer drugs too. The Chinese have been caught before and therefore why believe they are drug free now. These tests I suspect are done on all the drugs previously used by athletes. If it's not familiar and not been detected before, why would a drug test pick it up now.

Why does everyone believe the general public are stupid and they make every attempt to and believe they have succeeded in pulling the wool over the eyes of the general public world. The fact that it came to light that some fireworks in the opening were taped and the insertion of the "cuter" little girl supposedly singing, shows from the onset that they covered up and lied. The age of the gymnastics girls is still an issue. They best prepare them to be stripped of their medals as it will happen. It's now been said that government documents for at least 3 years have had the wrong age. Give me a break.

As to the air quality that is now said to be "never was a problem". Of course it wasn't a problem. The government controlled such a wide area of the city to which no cars were allowed and many businesses where not allowed to carry on due to what would have been major pollution output so that it looked like everything was peachy. China must think the rest of the world is stupid - NOT. Of course the streets looked clean. Imagine how much time in jail you get for littering there. Would you like to put it to the test?? I wouldn't.

Political China still controlled the whole event - who are the kidding. Free speech - non-existent. Demonstrations in 'protest zones' - there never was a protest zone. That was just rhetoric. If anyone believed it, then there's some real estate I wish to sell them! The media tried to sell the rhetoric, but when are they going to learn, people are smarter than they give them credit for. We never bought it from the onset.

I suspect media won't be able to cover the Paralympics but then again, the media is not interested in that. Not a big enough audience in their view so they won't bother. Give China a week until the tourists leave and life will go back as it was. The athletes from the Paralympics will be able to tell their stories upon their return - if the media is willing to give it airtime or print space. It's like the Special Olympics - they're lucky to get a soundbyte.

Mick Silva   August 25th, 2008 246 GMT

What is his take on the flotating suits used in swimming? It took 40 years for Spitz times to be lowered by 1.5 to 2 seconds, then in 3 years the flotating suits helped these mutants lower, in average, .60 seconds on the 50 free and over 2 seconds average on the 100 meters. It is an absurd that athletes like Popov and Biondi see their times lowered 2 seconds by dozens of people when it is clear that of the 8 finalists only maybe one or two have reached Biondi's level. The flotating swim suit is doping and doctors cannot do anything because it is not a drug. I am totally dismayed by how economic interests basically created mutants in the water in Beijing. The times were unreal, world records fell by the dozen and nobody did anything to forbid the flotating suits. A pity.

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