Sports Anti Doping Bill Finally Here

[Historian]

Bahamian Athletes

Members of Parliament began debate on a new Sports Anti Doping Bill for The Bahamas on Wednesday, and a number leaders from various sporting bodies were at the opening session to listen to the start of the debate with remarks by The Minister of Youth Sports and Culture Desmond Bannister.
Meanwhile, at the height of the most recent doping scandals Bahamian athletes have not been caught up in the embarrassing acts but The Bahamas itself has been pegged as one of those countries where athletes can come to do their doping before going to compete on the world circuit.

I can recall two Bahamian athletes returning positive tests for illegal substances in their system about a decade ago (slightly more than a decade, I think, in the case of the woman). The athletes I’m referring to are 100-meter sprinter Sevatheda Fynes, the former lead-off runner for that country’s famous Golden Girls relay team, and triple jumper Leevan Sands.

They each served a sentence, a suspension I believe (my mind is a bit foggy on minor details such as this now).

In an interview with the BBC a couple of years ago, Victor Conte made allegations against unnamed Caribbean athletes, and in that interview he specifically called three countries by name: Jamaica, the Bahamas and St Kitts.

[Jangle]

July 23rd, 2009

Gerrino Saunders
Members of Parliament began debate on a new Sports Anti Doping Bill for The Bahamas on Wednesday, and a number leaders from various sporting bodies were at the opening session to listen to the start of the debate with remarks by The Minister of Youth Sports and Culture Desmond Bannister.
By Gerrino Saunders
Journal Sports Writer

Members of Parliament began debate on a new Sports Anti Doping Bill for The Bahamas on Wednesday, and a number leaders from various sporting bodies were at the opening session to listen to the start of the debate with remarks by The Minister of Youth Sports and Culture Desmond Bannister.
Meanwhile, at the height of the most recent doping scandals Bahamian athletes have not been caught up in the embarrassing acts but The Bahamas itself has been pegged as one of those countries where athletes can come to do their doping before going to compete on the world circuit.
To eliminate that happening in the future Bannister revealed plans for an Anti Doping Commission that would be responsible for testing local and foreign athletes to ensure they are not using performance enhancing drugs.
According to Bannister, "It has been said in some world sporting circles that

some athletes would come to The Bahamas and other countries which do not have proper anti doping regimes in the off season to avoid drug testing in their own country."
The new commission will also be charged with keeping athletes in the know about which drugs are legal and safe to take as it relates to fair play in sports. The list of banned substances by the World Anti Doping Agency is updated each year.
Bannister used diuretics as an example where some athletes use the dietary pill to give the appearance of losing weight as in the case of boxers and bodybuilders. He noted that diuretics can also be used as a "masking agent" to hide the use of some drugs, so the use of diuretics, ephedrine and diet pills that can be bought over the counter are prohibited
Following the 2008 Olympic Games when the Jamaican team did so well, 100 and 200 metres Olympic Champion Usain Bolt was asked what he ate that made him so fast. He said it was a dish made from yams that helped him to grow strong and fast; and even if he had been joking when he said it, there were reports that some scientists studied the yams grown in Jamaica to see if there were any chemical properties in them that may give an athlete an unfair advantage. The results are still unknown.
Similarly, Bannister noted that some of The Bahamas' local bush medicines and bush tea may be subject to the banned list.
"Bahamians have long experienced the health benefits sour-tea, strong back, love vine, camalame, five fingers, along with things like Vicks inhalers and vapor rubs that may possess properties which may find their way on the list of banned substances," he explained.
He said athletes with medical conditions that may need to use a drug that is on the banned list will have to be tested by a team of doctors approved by the commission before they are given a "theraputic use exemption that would allow them to take a banned medication only where there is no reasonable alternative."
Bannister also issued a warning to coaches, trainers and officials, that the Bill also provides for sanctions for them if they are caught breaking anti-doping rules. The Bill also provides for a disciplinary panel and appeals tribunal.
Among the country's top sporting leaders present was Wellington Miller, President of The Bahamas Olympic Association who said the new legislation would bring The Bahamas on par with other countries in the region.
"This Bill is very significant for The Bahamas and its athletes, and the BOA supports the Bill 100% because now we are level with other countries around the world. We have our very own Anti Doping Bill and it has been somewhat of a set back for us in recent years because we did not have one."
"What we have to do know is properly educate all of the athletes, and coaches in all of the sports particularly the Olympic Sports, to be sure they know which substances are safe. We will work closely with the Minister of Sports in that aspect," said Miller.
Curt Hollingsworth acting president of the local track and field federation also said the Bill is "long over due." He said, "I am quite pleased with the Minister of Sports and his contribution regarding the Bill and I think it would go along way to benefit athletes, coaches and all persons involved with sports in the country."
Hollingsworth agreed that doping internationally has indirectly affected The Bahamas greatly in the past decade. He said,"We are happy in The Bahamas that we find ourselves on the clean end of the stick at this point, and it is my hope and prayer that we as a people recognize that if you play the game clean and fair you will be able to earn your rewards. I just want to encourage all Bahamian athletes to stay clean and don't fall to the pressures of having to win at all cost."
Former Olympian Pauline Davis-Thompson is one of The Bahamas' athletes that has been directly affected by athletes from other countries cheating. She won silver in the 200m at the 2000 Olympics behind American Marion Jones who admitted that she used steroids.
"I believe its is a great Bill because The Bahamas has been greatly affected by athletes doping. When you think about how many medals we lost because of doping, and the impact on our nation that depends on tourism, that exposure when a Bahamian stands on that podium and receives the gold medal and the rest of the world hears our National Anthem people would be interested in The Bahamas and want to come here," explained Davis-Thompson.
"The Bill is also good because our young people and future leaders will learn not to be pressured into taking drugs and to believe that it doesn't matter how long it takes, they have the ability to do it naturally with hard work, their God given ability and talent like Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, myself and the men's 4x400m relay team; but if you use drugs, in the end you will pay the price," she said.
"It's not about the gold medal all the time, but it's about the moment the athlete and the country experiences when they win the gold medal at the Olympics or the World Championships, and that is what I miss more than anything else by not getting the gold in 2000, it’s the moment and memory, to be able to stand there and here my National anthem play and to see my flag raised," said the former Olympian.
Danny Sumner President of The Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation said, "My impression about the Anti Doping Bill is that it should have been something that was in place a long time ago, because I have been preaching for years against doping because I hate to see any athlete get involved with drugs that would deteriorate the body and hurt the sport, so I hope this Bill goes through with flying colours."