<span class="textheader">Balco founder voices drug concern to WADA over Jamaica sprinters</span></p><table style="height: 200px" cellpadding="5" width="200" align="right" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; width: 310px; padding-top: 5px; background-color: #acada0; border: #acada0 1px solid" align="center"></div></td></tr><tr><td><div class=".imgsportplus"></div><div class="sportplusblog" style="width: 310px"><table bordercolor="#65adba" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="310" border="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Wednesday at the Olympics: Fifth doping case, China sailing win, double Russian gold</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Heptathlon silver medallist Blonska fails doping test</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Olympics-Basketball: Gasol inspires Spain, Lithuania sweep past China</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Olympics-Sailing: Yin gets China's first gold, joy for Ashley</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Used Olympic ticket market thrives in China</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Olympics-Swimming: Michael Phelps would have a rough ride in open water</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">China's opening ceremony 'impossible' in the West says director</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Olympics: Ilchenko pulls ahead of field in open-water swimming</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Beijing basks in sunshine on day 12</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Tibet demonstrators detained in Beijing</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Olympics-Football: Pele to lobby for Rio as host of 2016 Games</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">For some, just getting to the Olympics is a victory</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Argentina celebrates Olympic football victory over Brazil</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">New name at the top: Nadal gets number one US Open seeding</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="menuhighlights_inside"></td><td class="menuhighlights_inside">Olympics Athletics: Ohuruogu wins, Jones mishap gifts Harper, Ramzi delight</td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><font size="2"> By John Bagratuni, dpa Hamburg (dpa) - Balco founder Victor Conte approached the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) last December to express his concern over athletics success of Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. The report on the paper's website said that Conte urged WADA "to investigate drug testing and supervision of athletes in Caribbean nations that lack an independent, state-run anti-doping body." The LA Times quoted Conte as saying this week: "To see the fastest people in the world coming from one island (Jamaica), I'm highly suspicious. I believe there's rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Caribbean." "Conte said he met in December with then-WADA director Dick Pound and detailed allegations of illicit behavior. He declined to elaborate," the paper said. Pound left the job two weeks later and the LA Times said that WADA general director David Howman declined to say how Conte's information was used. Pound was quoted as saying on Friday that Conte's information "was good, and that we should follow up." Usain Bolt recently bettered the 100m world record to 9.72 seconds and is also the fastest active 200m runner. Fellow-Jamaican Asafa Powell was the former 100m record holder with 9.74 seconds. The sprinters have never failed a doping test and are tested regularly at the big races they compete in - including the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Jamaican legend Merlene Ottey, who now competes for Slovenia, tested positive for nandrolone in 1999 but was later cleared to run again. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that it appeared to be the nature of the game that good results often lead to suspicion these days, although mostly from other athletes. "There is this very unfair situation that is created by the athletes themselves. Sometimes with hindsight in history you see that was true. But in general it isn't fair for many athletes to say that so and so is by definition doped because he or she has won a match," Rogge said. Conte's Balco lab supplied athletes such as Marion Jones (who never failed a test) and Dwain Chambers with performance-enhancing drugs. He served a prison term over the issue and in a recent letter requested by Chambers outlined in detail doping practises. While Conte did not elaborate about the meeting with Pound, he did outline "duck and dodge" tactics to avoid drug testers in the letter and also urged anti-doping authorities to increase the level of out-of-competition tests in the fourth quarter of a year, the LA Times said in another report Saturday. The paper said that the world governing body IAAF and national anti-doping authorities like the US cut in half their testing during that period which is the off-season for athletes. Last month, the BBC website quoted Adrian Lorde, head of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO), as voicing concerns as well about the amount of testing done in Jamaica, which is not a member of the organization. "I would like to think they do that testing there but I really don't know. I am concerned they don't have the programme in place they should have based on the amount of success they have," the BBC quoted Lorde as saying. But Jamaican officials insist that they have nothing to hide despite the lack of an operating anti-doping agency and had carried out around 100 tests in and out of competition this year. The nation's Olympic supremo Mike Fennell told Friday's edition of the Jamaica Observer that his body is responsible for drug tests in the country and that "anybody who wants to make comments about our attention to testing, our anti-doping measures are doing that with malicious attempt and are just being bad-minded because we are good. "All our top athletes who are continuously performing abroad are tested every time they compete in these big meets abroad."</p></font>
Ahhh, Victor Conte The drug pusher. One of the scummiest bstards on the planet as far as I'm concerned. I hope you don't mind if I don't listen to a word that lovely person has to say.
According to someone on Radio 5 this afternoon Somebody connected with Jamaican athletics. Jamaicans would previously go to American colleges and compete/train through the US collegiate system, however they would then end up competing for the US....now they are going through the Us system but returning to compete for Jamaica.
