Related News
UK player makes history with HGH ban
Source: Agencies |
February 24, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
In a major breakthrough in the fight against doping, a British rugby league player has become the first athlete in the world to be suspended for using human growth hormone (HGH).
Former international hooker Terry Newton admitted taking the substance in a statement released by his solicitors on Friday. The United Kingdom Anti-Doping authority announced a two-year ban on Monday after he was fired by his club, Wakefield.
"It's the first time and very significant," WADA director general David Howman said. "It shows the people who say that HGH cannot be detected that it can. The sports people who said it can't be detected are fooling themselves."
UK Anti-Doping chief executive Andy Parkinson said it was a landmark case. "It is the world-first analytical positive for HGH, a substance that has previously gone undetected because it leaves the system fairly quickly after administration," Parkinson said.
Parkinson said this case, like the tests for the banned blood-boosting hormone EPO, sent out a message that scientists are catching up with cheats.
"There has been a feeling that you can take growth hormone with impunity, but this shows this is no longer the case," he said. "Now there is a test, so our message to athletes is to think twice about using it. In the 1990s, athletes thought they could get away with using EPO and now there is a test for it. And the same is now the case with human growth hormone."
UK Anti-Doping said that, together with its drug control center at King's College London, it worked closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency throughout the analysis process.
Howman said the test has been around since the 2004 Athens Olympics, but it hasn't been available to every laboratory in the world. The testing kits weren't widely available and the process was only fully introduced at the 2008 Beijing Games, he added.
"There's been a lot of cynicism that it's not going to work and couldn't be detected," Howman said. "Now that we have a case, I hope it delivers a message to others that are using it that it's a risk."
By acting on the liver and other tissues, HGH increases bone growth and plays a key role in muscle and organ growth. That makes it a prohibited substance under WADA's 2009 list of prohibited substances. The 31-year-old Newton's suspension will end on November 23, 2011. He had recently signed a two-year deal with the Wildcats, having previously played for Leeds, Wigan and Bradford.
Former international hooker Terry Newton admitted taking the substance in a statement released by his solicitors on Friday. The United Kingdom Anti-Doping authority announced a two-year ban on Monday after he was fired by his club, Wakefield.
"It's the first time and very significant," WADA director general David Howman said. "It shows the people who say that HGH cannot be detected that it can. The sports people who said it can't be detected are fooling themselves."
UK Anti-Doping chief executive Andy Parkinson said it was a landmark case. "It is the world-first analytical positive for HGH, a substance that has previously gone undetected because it leaves the system fairly quickly after administration," Parkinson said.
Parkinson said this case, like the tests for the banned blood-boosting hormone EPO, sent out a message that scientists are catching up with cheats.
"There has been a feeling that you can take growth hormone with impunity, but this shows this is no longer the case," he said. "Now there is a test, so our message to athletes is to think twice about using it. In the 1990s, athletes thought they could get away with using EPO and now there is a test for it. And the same is now the case with human growth hormone."
UK Anti-Doping said that, together with its drug control center at King's College London, it worked closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency throughout the analysis process.
Howman said the test has been around since the 2004 Athens Olympics, but it hasn't been available to every laboratory in the world. The testing kits weren't widely available and the process was only fully introduced at the 2008 Beijing Games, he added.
"There's been a lot of cynicism that it's not going to work and couldn't be detected," Howman said. "Now that we have a case, I hope it delivers a message to others that are using it that it's a risk."
By acting on the liver and other tissues, HGH increases bone growth and plays a key role in muscle and organ growth. That makes it a prohibited substance under WADA's 2009 list of prohibited substances. The 31-year-old Newton's suspension will end on November 23, 2011. He had recently signed a two-year deal with the Wildcats, having previously played for Leeds, Wigan and Bradford.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
