Olympic Briefs -- Caribbean Games Planning for Success; Swede Stripped of Record

Steve Stoute said he still expects the inaugural Caribbean Games to be successful—even without recognition from PASO. Despite failing to gain recognition for the Caribbean Games from the Pan American Sports Organization, the head of the Barbados Olympic Association tells Around the Rings the games will still be successful.

Calling the decision from the Pan American Sports Organization a “major disappointment," Barbados NOC chief Steve Stoute says, “I think we will see a good inaugural games.”

Stoute is president of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees, the group organizing the Caribbean Games. The games are scheduled to take place in Port au Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, July 12-19.

A request from CANOC for recognition from PASO was rejected last week during a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico of the ruling PASO executive committee.

The committee said PASO rules do not permit the organization to recognize the Caribbean Games

Stoute says he is “still trying to understand fully” the decision, noting that other events in the PASO region such as the South American Games and Bolivarian Games seem to have PASO endorsement.

The PASO executive also had some concerns that endorsement might lead to obligations to fund the games.

Stoute says he told PASO financial support was not being sought. But he says the endorsement would have been good “from a marketing perspective."

Stoute says he also has been told that a forthcoming study for the IOC and Association of National Olympic Committees will note the proliferation of regional games and the pressure this places on NOCs.

PASO President Mario Vazquez Rana says PASO “applauds” the efforts of CANOC to organize the Caribbean Games.

“I’m not sure what that means…maybe it means blessing,” says Stoute.

He said he would meet with Caribbean Olympic leaders to determine what is next for the games.

“I just can’t understand why Central America can have their games, the Bolivarians can have their games, the South Americans can have their games, but we in the Caribbean, as our some 26 countries, a large bloc of the PASO family, [can not] have our own games.”

Talks of staging a Caribbean Games began in 1999. Plans took shape for the inaugural games after CANOC was officially formed in 2003.

Swedish Swimmer Stripped of World Record

Swedish swimmer Therese Alshammar was stripped of the world record she set in the 50-meter butterfly for wearing two swimsuits at the Australian world championship trials in Sydney on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Alshammar posted a time of 25.44 seconds to take 0.02 of a second off of the world record she set in June, 2007.

However, the mark was disallowed after officials discovered she wore a Swedish swimmer Therese Alshammar’s world-record time in the 50-meter butterfly was disallowed for wearing two swimsuits. (Getty Images)one-piece swimsuit under her regular suit in violation of Swimming Australia bylaws that were passed late last year.

The one-suit regulation was introduced after the Beijing Olympics, when a number of swimmers wore two suits to increase buoyancy and reduce friction.

WADA, Anti-Doping Officials Reject Ethnic Criticism of Drug Test

Doping officials worldwide are rejecting the criticism of a drug test that claims certain ethnicities can’t be found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. Scientists from the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses issued a report earlier this week that found tests for testosterone don’t account for gene variations which could hide the substance.

The researchers examined 57 African, 32 Asian, 50 Caucasian and 32 Hispanic male soccer players for UGT2B17, a variant which controls how much testosterone can be expelled in urine. The normal ratio for testosterone to epitestosterone in healthy males is 1:1, but WADA has a standard of 4:1. If the ratio is greater than that, then it could be indicative of possible doping.

However, the Swiss study says that ratio may not take into consideration the genetic makeup of different ethnicities. These scientists show that Hispanic males have a ratio of 5.8:1, Caucasian 5.7:1 and 5.6:1 for Africans. The group with the lowest testosterone to epitestosterone levels is Asians, who show a level of 3.8:1. Based on these results, the Asian ethnic group would be the only one under the current WADA guidelines.

"These results demonstrate that a unique and non-specific threshold to evidence testosterone misuse is not fit for purpose," the study's authors said.

However, Travis Tygart was quoted as saying in an online ESPN the Magazine article that the test’s findings were insignificant.

"What¹s new is that they found the gene," said Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "But this phenomenon has been fully discussed for years. I was at a conference in 2003 when scientists from Tokyo were talking about it."

Frederic Donze, WADA’s spokesman echoed Tygart’s sentiments.

"WADA is well aware of this phenomenon. We have been working for several years with the WADA-accredited laboratories to ensure that [they are using tests] not affected by genetic factors."

The scientists who wrote the report said the tests testosterone should be tailor made to the athletes being tested. Even better would be to create a biological passport to monitor the change of an athlete’s physiology.

"The athlete is his own reference," said Christophe Saudan, a researcher with the lab that did the test. We have to look at the athlete's reference rather than a population reference."

The International Cycling Union already has such a program in place, and the lead scientist who developed it called the passport program a “success.”

Neil Robinson told AFP UCI’s passport profile was "the biggest success of this year."

"What's interesting is that we're able to see certain individuals' statistics change according to the sporting calendar," he said.

"We can therefore predict when they're going to dope, and that allows us to provide information to the federation so that they can better adapt their anti-doping tests.

Biathlete Beats Life Ban

Finnish biathlete Kaisa Varis won her appeal to overturn a lifetime ban for a doping offense. She won based on a technicality.

In an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport of a 2008 drug test where her “A” and “B” samples showed the presence of EPO, the court sided with her. The International Biathlon Union banned her for life for failing Kaisa Varis convinced the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a lifetime ban for her second doping offense on a technicality. (Getty Images)her second drug test.

CAS said in a statement that failing to "reasonably accommodate,” Varis’ request to have her “B” sample tested in the presence of her representative, “the IBU had failed to adhere to both the IBU Anti-Doping Rules.” Because of that, the evidence obtained from the “B” sample could not be used against her.

Varis has been dogged by doping her whole career. She was initially a cross-country skier and was disqualified from two world championships for doping violations. She was cleared of one in 2001 and not allowed to compete in 2003 for a high hemoglobin count. She was also barred from competition in the Turin Winter Olympics when the Finish Olympic Committee excluded her from the team.

Written by Ed Hula III.