Olympics: Journey continues as Gerrard goes after drug cheats

The Otago Daily Times continues its countdown to the world's greatest sports event. Today, Alistair McMurran talks to Dr Dave Gerrard, who will be in Beijing as a member of the Medical Commission.

Dave Gerrard is not naive enough to think there will be no cases of illegal drug use at the Beijing Olympics.

"It is odds on that somebody will try to beat the system," he said.

"I have no doubt that there will be positive tests. But they are foolhardy people who are in a minority."

In Beijing, an army of doctors, scientists, technicians and administrators will work around the clock to ensure that athletes who infringe the World Anti-Doping Code and use prohibited substances will be identified and appropriately sanctioned.

"In an Olympic tradition that has grown since the 1968 Games of Mexico City, medallists in every event plus a selection of other finalists will be tested.

"So too will a random selection of athletes in preliminaries and heats," Gerrard said.

In accordance with a strict set of anti-doping rules, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set out clear procedures for the collection of urine (and in some cases blood) from a pool of about 11,000 athletes.

"Believe you me that the Beijing Laboratory is more sensitive and more sophisticated than any laboratory we have ever had at an Olympic Games," Gerrard said.

"The testing programme is far more comprehensive than ever before."

Gerrard is confident athletes who cheat will be picked up. "I have no doubt that athletes who use drugs and compete in the finals will be caught," he said.

"The sensitivity of the testing will pick up even the slightest trace of the metabolites of drugs that have been taken. The chances of getting through that are miniscule."

In Beijing Gerrard will be part of a medical commission associated with the International Swimming Federation (Fina) and will oversee drug testing in all the aquatic events.

That includes five disciplines, with a 10km open-water race included for the first time.

The other disciplines are pool swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming.

He will watch most of the events on television at the doping control waiting area where the swimmers come to produce urine samples. "It is not as glamorous as some would perceive the job to be," he said.

"We work long hours and it is often not until the early hours of the morning that the swimmers have been able to satisfy the requirements of doping control and return to the village.

"My job is to see that the procedures are carried out in accordance with the world's anti-doping code."

Beijing will be the Gerrard's eighth Olympics. He has worn many hats during his lengthy Games journey.

What role has been the most important for him?

"Nothing will ever overshadow competing myself. That was an absolute thrill.

"It makes me realise how poorly prepared we were for international sport compared to how athletes are prepared today with overseas travel and all the other support services.

"We virtually flew out of the middle of a New Zealand winter to Tokyo and competed. We had swum indoors for the previous four months and went straight into an Olympic cauldron."

The opening ceremony at Tokyo in 1964 is still vivid in Gerrard's memory.

"It was mind-blowing," he said.

"The first Olympic Games in Asia heralded the commencement of electronic timing devices and electronic wizardry that took the rest of the world some time to pick up on."

That was the most important Olympics for Gerrard, but close behind was his time as chef de mission in Atlanta in 1996.

It was special to him because Duncan Laing's best swimmer, Danyon Loader, won two gold medals.

Gerrard is an associate professor, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Otago.

He finished sixth in the semifinal of the 200m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

Dave Gerrard

Fact File

Dave Gerrard's Olympic journey: 1964 (swimmer), 1984 (NZ team
doctor), 1988 and 1992 (Director of medical services for NZ team), 1996
(chef de mission), 2000 (Fina medical commission), 2004 and 2008
(medical commissioner for Fina).