Sports go quiet on banned athletes

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Boxing and weightlifting officials have thrown up a wall of silence after revelations of positive drug tests.

Neither sport will reveal the names of athletes who copped two-year bans over positive tests for the banned anabolic agent testosterone.

Rod Kennedy, the secretary-treasurer of Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand, confirmed that the suspended lifter - a national champion in a "heavier rather than lighter weight" - was a Commonwealth Games contender.

The two boxers were not, says their sport, "contenders for anything", despite being considered elite enough to be tested.

The latest New Zealand Sports Drug Agency summary from their testing programme reveals 15 infractions, of which eight were returned by bodybuilders, including six for failing to provide a sample.

There were also cases against two powerlifters (each handed two-year suspensions), one rugby league player (no penalty after testing positive for pseudoephedrine), one cyclist (Lee Vertongen, who was disqualified but later reinstated), the two boxers and the weightlifter.

Kennedy confirmed that the weightlifter had been stripped of his gold medal, his title and trophies after the positive test, apparently returned at last year's national championships in Inglewood.

"He admitted he was at fault and wrote the association a letter of apology," Kennedy said. "He was sorry he had let the sport down.

"The weightlifting fraternity know who he is, but we have not made his name public to save his family any embarrassment."

Boxing, too, felt a degree of unease over their infractions.

"They happened a long time ago - one in 1999 and one last year - and the boxers concerned were not in any way regarded as high profile," said Deidre Rogers, New Zealand Boxing Association executive officer.

"God knows why it has taken so long to come out. One has gone from the sport, the other is now overseas. It was a really awful situation and very personal. The drug agency told us they were unfortunate cases.

"They were good, honest kids and certainly not drug cheats.

"If our sport felt they were in any way involved in the use of drugs we would have been in boots and all. That certainly wasn't the case."

Rogers said boxing, like other sports, was unfortunately caught up in cases like this, especially when it came to naming names.

"We feel it will be better when these things [such announcements] are taken out of our hands and handed over to the tribunal they are planning to set up."

Drug agency chief Graeme Steel said he understood both sports would do all they could to keep the matter "in house".

He said he had issues with both sports in the way in which the matter was handled but acknowledged that legislation stopped the agency naming names.

"The agency view is that we have an onus to clear the waters when a positive is returned," Steel said.

"But for us to make public the circumstances surrounding the tests we would need a change of legislation.

"In the United States, they can make such issues public.

"For that to happen we would need to look at the legislation and other privacy issues."

Steel said the position might become clearer later in the year when the World Anti-Doping Agency came up with a new code of practice.