Chat Transcript
CBS SportsLine.com
Nov. 8, 2000

At the 2000 Games, eight athletes were disqualified after it was found they had banned substances in their systems. (Allsport)

What does testing positive for drugs and banned substances mean for an athlete? The consequences are tough.

Athletes caught can suffer the fate of Romanian hammer thrower Mihaela Melinte, who was escorted from the track as she was about to compete at the 2000 Sydney Games, after it was discovered she had tested positive or Armenian weightlifter Ashot Danielyan, stripped of his bronze medal after testing positive for nandrolone.

Each doping case is individual, but every athlete caught with banned substances risks losing his accomplishments, medals, scholarship and the respect he has earned. Find out what can happen when you read the transcript of our chat with Andrea Wickerham of the National Center for Drug Free Sport and a collegiate athlete who tested positive for a banned substance.

Wickerham recently joined the NCDFS; she received her law degree in 1999 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, graduating in the top 15 percent of her class. Before coming to The Center, she was an associate with the law firm of Husch and Eppenberger in Kansas City, specializing in labor and employment law.

Wickerham has over 14 years of experience in collegiate athletics. Prior to pursuing her law degree, she was an assistant field hockey coach (University of Iowa, University of Michigan), an assistant basketball coach (University of Michigan), an assistant director of athletics (Central Connecticut State University, Harvard University), and a director of athletics (Luther College). As an athletics administrator, she has developed and implemented NCAA rules education and compliance programs, drug and alcohol education programs, student-athlete assistance programs, and coordinated drug-testing events.

Andrea Wickerham: Welcome! I'm Andrea Wickerham of the National Center for Drug Free Sport. Welcome to our final chat in a series of online chats about drug and supplement use in sport. Over the course of the last five weeks, we have discussed a number of factors related to drug and supplement use to enhance athletic performance. Although the sanctions for a positive drug test differ from organization to organization, the penalties can be significant to an athlete. Tonight, we will chat with an athlete who used supplements and tested positive and will answer questions about the risks involved about using banned drugs and supplements.

Question: Looking back on it, did you know that eventually you were going to get caught by a test, or did you pretty much figure that you would be able to slip by undetected indefinitely? In other words, how much of a deterrent do you think random testing is versus mandatory testing of everyone?

Athlete: Well, basically I think mandatory testing is the best way. In my situation, I was unaware that the substance I was taking was illegal. I was paying attention to the hype of Mark McGwire and didn't know. Mandatory testing would be better, that way all athletes get tested instead of a select few.

Andrea Wickerham: Mandatory testing can be cost prohibitive. There is also potentially some legal issues as well. I think there is also some thought about if we need to test every sport and every athlete in that sport, such as golf or tennis as an example versus other sports that may be more problematic. In some ways, the NCAA drug testing program I would call quasi-mandatory in Div I and II; the sport of football would be tested but not every athlete on every team.

Athlete: The reason I say mandatory was that there were a few other guys on my team taking the same substance and they didn't have to take the test.

Question: For our athlete guest: Did your getting caught affect the behavior of any of your teammates or other athletes that you know were using drugs? Did it give them any pause, or did they generally continue with the "It won't happen to me" attitude?

Athlete: In my case I had a couple of friends and they smartened up and quit taking it. After I got off the stuff and I looked back on it, I don't think it helped me athletically much. It didn't even improve my strength in the weight room. In my case, even the substance I was taking was illegal, but I didn't know it at the time. I was taking norandrostenedione but tested positive for something else due to a supplement. It is definitely safer to check and know what is on the banned list than to go through what I went through.

Andrea Wickerham: With substance abuse and drug testing programs, one of their purposes is to serve as a deterrent. There is hope that, with the student athlete that does test positive, it will create a peer pressure situation where people realize it can happen to them. Many times, it is the student athlete that has success educating their peer than the coaches or trainers.

Athlete: In my case, I have had friends, since then, taking andro; and they stopped taking it, got tested, and passed because of what I said to them.

Question: Are there any future side effects from the drugs you were using? Were you concerned about that at the time?

Athlete: At the time I wasn't concerned; I wanted to get stronger. I only took it for a month or two before I got caught. I am hoping there are no side effects, but I don't know if they have done enough research on it to determine if there are any side effects.

Andrea Wickerham: The use of supplements is still fairly new, and there is no solid research to support any long term side effect, if we are talking physical side effects. A side effect of testing positive at the college level is loss of eligibility.

Athlete: Definitely. They will surely take a season away from you!

Andrea Wickerham: If we are talking about steroids, the research is done, and the side effects are known about what that can do to you.

Athlete: I think everyone knows about steroids, but it is the over-the-counter stuff that gets you. I continue to take creatine and hope there are no side effects. I know I had a bad hamstring pull this year, and that is one of the suspected side effects. I will probably stop taking that since I have never had a pull like this before. The best supplement for the human body is good food and rest – and milk.

Question: Since you weren't thinking about the legality of the substance and were looking at the performance of people like Mark McGwire, is it going to take something bad happening to someone like McGwire to stop the desire to use supplements?

Athlete: Hmm...I don't know, possibly. I know it would open a lot of people's eyes since he is famous and a lot have heard of him. I would not wish that on him, but if they are going to have it legal in one sport and not others, then that is not right. It is misleading in some ways.

Question: A lot of times we hear arguments about rights to privacy or illegal searches. Isn't testing for drug use in athletics really a different type of situation? Hasn't the athlete entered into a sort of moral contract to uphold the integrity of the competition they are engaged in?

Athlete: I think it is a fair way to keep everyone on the same level naturally. Some substances like steroids can increase your athletic ability and could make it unfair for athletes trying to be natural. They wouldn't have that advantage. Overall, it is a good thing.

Andrea Wickerham: I think one of the dilemmas student athletes have – and perhaps it is an excuse – is we, as universities and colleges, say we want to offer a level playing field for the players. And that is ideal. On the other side of the argument is the media hype, and finances that many many colleges (not all) can benefit from the student athletes.

Question: How did you deal with the aftermath of testing positive? What was the hardest part of that?

Athlete: Not being able to dress out on Saturdays, when I saw my teammates going out to play a game of football. It was very rough; I do not recommend it to anyone. So be smart! Know what you are taking and whether it is legal or not, especially with the cheaper brands of supplements. You don't know what is in there.

Andrea: I think it is important that all student athletes are aware that the labels on many of these over-the-counter supplements are not all inclusive.

Athlete: They can be misleading.

Andrea Wickerham: What we have found is that when a student athlete tests positive and tells us they have taken a supplement, many times the drug that was found in the athlete is not identified on the label.

Andrea Wickerham: Thank you for your questions. We would like to thank CBS Sportsline, the National Center for Drug Free Sport, the Dietary Supplement Resource Exchange Center and the Hastings Center for these series of chats.