Suspicions surround Czech decathletes at IAAF World Championships

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The Medical Committee of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics is examining whether two Czech Republic decathletes - Roman Sebrle, 30, and Tomas Dvorak, 31 - may have been guilty of a doping offence during Wednesday's competitions, or whether they have merely acted in contravention of the rules governing the sport.
      Sebrle, the reigning Olympic Champion, took the silver medal in Helsinki behind Bryan Clay of the United States, while Dvorak, himself a former Olympic bronze medallist from Atlanta in 1996, finished in 8th place.
     
The two Czechs were reportedly given an intravenous infusion before the start of the 1500 metres, the final discipline in the gruelling two-day event. The action was carried out by the Czech Republic's team doctor in the Olympic Stadium, and was witnessed by around a dozen people.
      Tapio Kallio, Project Coordinator for Medical Services on the games organising staff, declined to comment on Thursday, but acknowledged that the matter was under investigation.
      Naturally one of the questions to be resolved is the precise nature of what was given to the athletes. It may well have been a glucose and salts solution, or then again something else.
      In any event, the competition rules categorically prohibit giving this form of assistance to athletes in the middle of a competition, and the technical manipulation of their performance. Equally, any medical attention that is required and given to an athlete must be performed by physicians belonging to the games organisation, and not by the team doctor.
      In the example of the decathlon, the competition is still in progress until all the events have been completed or until such time as a competitor withdraws.
     
Kallio noted that putting an athlete on an IV drip is usually employed for recovery purposes. In most cases it is used with endurance athletes, after they have completed their race. If a designated competition physician orders an athlete to be put on an intravenous drip - for example after a marathon race - the medical grounds for doing so have to be extremely strong.
      It remains to be seen how the games organisers and the IAAF will proceed in the matter. "If the case is interpreted as a doping matter, both would be disqualified and could be sanctioned", commented Lauri Tarasti, Chairman of the IAAF's Juridical Commission.
      According to a Reuters report, the Czech Athletics Federation is expected to hold a news conference in Helsinki later today, Friday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  IAAF promises strictest ever doping tests for 2005 Athletics World Championships in Helsinki (3.12.2004)

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  IAAF World Championships
  IAAF

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