To ensure fair competition in the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, athletes have to go through stringent drug tests to ensure that they do not use drugs to enhance their performance.

Five officers from Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) were in town recently to coach 50 volunteer doping control officers on how to conduct doping sample collection procedures on athletes in accordance with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) standards.

Ever curious as we are, Youth.SG stalked 15-year-old Singapore Sports School sailor Darren Choy as he went about getting ‘tested’ by a DCO on Tuesday. We found out that the experience was simply addictive.

Feb 17, Singapore Sports School

10:40am    Briefing by Mr Shin Asakawa, CEO of Japan Anti Doping Agency (JADA), on what constitutes a complete dope test process.

Trivia: basically, a complete dope test process consists of a carefully-executed urine and blood test. The steps are extremely precise, down to details as small as hand washing!

10:46am    Briefing for those who have volunteered themselves as Doping Control Officers (DCO).

10:58am    Preparations for simulation of doping testing process.

This is a mock test for the DCO volunteers, according to one of the JADA officers, Miss Chika.

11:02am    Adrian Raj Angappan, 47, the DCO we are following sets off to look for the student he is paired with to conduct this simulation.

11:05am    We meet Darren Choy, 15, a sailor from the Singapore Sports School, who is scheduled for this test.


Here is how the complete process of a doping control test really goes:
(You will never see this in action unless you are a DCO yourself)

11: 08am    Raj informs Darren that he is going for the test and, gets him to sign the notification form and gives him a coping control pass.


11:18am    They are done with the short briefing and heads back to the doping control station together

11:20am    Raj waits with Darren at the control station where Darren is allowed to drink water to induce urination pee.

11:25am    Darren is ready to pee. He picks out a collecting vessel from the various collecting vessels (which are all the same anyway).


Five minutes is a very short time for any athlete to be ready (to pee) really. Speaking from experience, Dr Teoh Chin Sim, Consultant Sports Physician with the Singapore Sports Council says that depending on the event and sport, some athletes may even take up to three hours afterwards to provide sufficient urine samples. Some sports, especially cardio intensive sports tend to make you sweat and lose more bodily fluids. This is why some sportsmen may take a long time to provide the required amount of urine samples, sometimes even providing partial samples (partial samples are samples that fall short of the required amount).

11:27am    Mr Raj and Darren proceeds to the toilet where Darren is required to urinate pee in the presence and sight of his DCO. According to Mr Shin, they will have to collect 90ml of urine or more.

You might think it is gross to let someone else look at you pee but this is to prevent athletes from tampering with the urine, or cheat by using someone else’s urine samples. As Dr Teoh put it, “Sometimes even when you are looking, they can pee someone else’s urine.” Yes, desperate athletes can resort to desperate measures.
       
11:30am    … …

11.32am    … …

11.33am    Both emerge from the toilet victorious holding what seems like tea in Darren’s collection vessel.


11:34am    The athlete now chooses a control kit from several similar others to store his urine in.


11:35am    Now, Darren pours the sample into the two bottles in the control kit and seals them afterwards.

I heard that these specially designed bottles cost about $40 to make each! Once the bottle is sealed, there is no way of opening it unless you use some special lab equipment. The whole process up to this point is done solely by the athlete him/herself. There have been cases of athletes who accuse that there is contamination on the testing side; therefore, DCOs cannot touch the samples throughout the whole process to avoid any discrepancies. The only time the DCO can touch the bottle is after they are sealed.

11:40am    Raj now checks the bottle to confirm that the sample is not too diluted. He also checks with Darren on what medication he has taken over the past two weeks.

We discover that Darren has taken cough syrup over the weekends!!! (He was sick I presume.)

11:45am    After the procedure, Darren confirms that the information he has provided is correct and signs the form. He receives a copy of the official form to keep as a record.

11:47am    End of the doping control mock test. We had fun! JS

jorge[a]youth.sg

Jorge is an advocate of healthy, happy living, and taking pleasure in laughing at those who land in awkward situations.

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF FEB 16-FEB 22 :: The Totally Dope!!! Issue