Olympics: Viagra abuse could taint Games--scientist
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 13:49:00 07/25/2008
SYDNEY -- Next month's Beijing Olympics may be remembered more for the abuse of Viagra and other legal drugs among athletes, a leading Australian sports scientist said Friday.
Robin Parisotto, principal scientist involved in the development of a test for the banned blood booster EPO (erythroipoietin), said legal drugs including Viagra and psychological medicines also enhance athletic performance.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is considering including Viagra on its list of banned substances, but a decision will not be made until after this year's Olympics.
"Beijing will probably be remembered for the abuse of legal drugs like Viagra," Parisotto told ABC Radio.
"Any physical activity that goes for longer than two minutes would be a beneficiary of something like Viagra, just like the normal blood-doping drugs."
Parisotto, a former senior scientist with the Australian Institute of Sport, said Viagra had the same benefits as blood doping because it opens up arteries and veins -- "and not only in the private parts".
But the erectile dysfunction drug, first approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1998 and since used by 35 million men around the globe, isn't the only legal medicine that can boost an athlete's performance.
Drugs used for psychological purposes can help competitors gain a mental edge, Parisotto said.
"With sport quite often it comes down to a battle of wills and as you become fatigued you become confused and your judgment is not so good," he said.
"So to take a drug which will keep your mind clear and focused certainly is another area of drug-taking that would be of benefit to athletes."
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