While cruising the ‘net for information on the ‘criminalized’ athlete whose doping activity has either harmed or advanced their careers, I came across Canadian bobsleigh athlete tests positive for steroids (CBC, Feb, 2008). Although Bobsled pilot Serge Despres contests he never knowingly ingested any performance-enhancing drugs or banned substances, he  was banned from competing- or training for 20 months due to the consumption of a single contaminated supplement.

Unfortunately, this case is not an anomaly. In 2001, the IOC lab tested 634 supplements from around the world and found that some were incomplete or inaccurately labelled. For instance, more than 25 per cent of the supplements collected in The Netherlands yielded positive tests for banned substances undisclosed on the packaging. An yet, in light of these findings, Despres’ ban for an infinitely small positive – less than a single nanogram of steroids – was not revoked.

What can an athlete do to ensure that the supplements they require to support an intensely active, rigorous and demanding training program are contaminate-free?

Currently, a company called NSF International provides a Safe for Sport Certification analysis program, whereby manufacturers submit nutritional supplements to be tested up to 130 banned substances on the World Anti-Doping Association’s drug list before they are consumed by athletes.

NSF Certified for Sport Product list available here, and includes such Canadian-made products as:

• COLD-FX® Daily Defense
• Myoplex® Advanced Protein Ready to Drink (Vanilla)
• Activ-X Multivitamin for Active Men and Women by Platinum Naturals

Even though Despres’ 2010 Winter Olympic podium dreams have been publicly and humiliatingly crushed, he has used the situation to become part of the solution.  In April he helped launch the Clean Sport Initiative sponsored by Platinum Naturals, to campaign for increased knowledge and information on supplements approved by the NSF. Help support Despres’ cause and join the Facebook group: Clean Sport Initiative.

At the start of this year, I couldn’t believe my luck when I learned I got into the University of British Columbia Master’s of Human Kinetics (MHK) program, and that I’m going to be in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Games. What an amazing opportunity!

My love of the Olympic Games started with an old black & white television, rescued from the garbage dump when I was about seven years old, which my dad fixed up. We got three channels out on our farm. The 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, Alberta on CBC Channel 5 was one of the very first televised program I ever watched. I was glued to the screen for that week, totally enthralled by the athletic feats and passionate commentators of this uniting of the world.

Homeless in Vancouver

My Olympic idealism had already taken a few solid knocks with the Beijing controversies, lost its stronghold atop the pedestal when I landed amidst controversy in my new ‘hood – the strip where Gastown meets Yaletown. You can’t deny the impact of headlines such as: Homeless in 2010 security zones to be removed (CTV, March 27, 2009) when you walk through the evidence every day.

Ignoring it isn’t an option, even if I wanted to, for my Grad program includes an Organizational Theory of Sport and Leisure weekly seminar in which we are challenged to think critically about currently events in our field. Not surprisingly, the Olympics provides relevant issues close to home.

While I still am awashed in national pride every time I see an Winter Games commercial on TV and I’m still quite keen to be involved with the Olympics in any way possible, I do so a little more sombre, a little wiser and with an eye towards the consequences.