SYDNEY, 28 May 2004 — Athletes risk sanction years after the Athens Olympics if they choose to compete at the Games with the aid of drugs, Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) chief executive John Mendoza said yesterday.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has already warned potential Olympians that HGH, a naturally occurring substance in the body that can be used for performance-enhancing purposes, could be included in the tests conducted in Athens in August.

Mendoza said it was great news for sport that the World Anti-Doping Agency and International Olympic Committee were confident a test for the banned performance-enhancing drug would be operational before the Olympics.

“Athletes should be aware that an HGH test could be implemented at any time — and this implementation may not be publicly announced by anti-doping authorities until it is too late for athletes illegally using growth hormone,” Mendoza said in a statement.

The risk for athletes using banned substances is made even greater by the fact samples from the Athens games will be kept for two years after the event.

Any new tests developed in that period would be used with place-getters who tested positive stripped of their medals.

Mendoza said ASDA would use the new testing method as soon as it became available.

“This development in relation to HGH, like the THG (tetrahydrogestrinonesteroid) case last year, is a wake-up call to athletes who think they can use supposedly undetectable substances with impunity — this is simply no longer the case,” he said.

“The gap between the anti-doping agencies and well-organized cheats has closed dramatically over the past few years thanks largely to coordinated global investment into finding better substance-detection methods.”

Mendoza also announced the results of the agency’s drug-testing program for the quarter ending May 31, one of ASDA’s busiest periods.

The agency carried out 2,062 drug tests, 79 percent conducted with no advanced notice, and recorded just two adverse test findings from Australian athletes.

Two baseballers tested positive to anabolic steroids and a New Zealand ten-pin bowler tested positive to cannabis while competing in Australia.