'It's a minefield out there'

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Glen Mills, coach of the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, said local anti-doping authorities need to do a lot more to educate local athletes about the use and type of supplements they put inside their bodies.

"More needs to be done to assist the athletes in getting supplements tested so that they can know if the supplements are safe or not," said Mills, who is also the coach of rising star Yohan Blake.

"It is a minefield out there against them in terms of getting contaminated from taking supplements," Mills said, during a one-day seminar put on by the department of Basic Medical Sciences at the Physiology Lecture Theatre, University of the West Indies, Mona, in collaboration with Leeds Metropolitan University.

He added: "Athletes will have to definitely take heed, and probably look at the kind of supplements and the amount of supplements that they take."

Mills further stated that he, along with the other coaches at the Racers Track Club, would be working on trying to educate their athletes about these issues.

"The jury is still out on the value of supplements because there are some doctors who say no and there are some doctors and nutritionists who recommend some supplements," Mills noted.

Dr Susan Backhouse, chairperson of the education committee for United Kingdom (UK) Athletics' anti-doping policy and principal investigator of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission, who was one of the guest speakers at the seminar, told the gathering that most of the supplements athletes take often do not work.

Useless supplements

"The majority of the supplements we find that athletes are taking have got no evidence that they work or do what they say in the very strong claims," said Backhouse.

"I always advise athletes to consider if they need supplements because there is a chance that supplements may be contaminated with prohibited substances that could lead to a positive test," said Backhouse.

Dr Herb Elliot, member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) anti-doping committee, Dr Warren Blake, national team physician; Dr David McArdle, deputy head, Faculty of Law, Sterling University, UK; Louise Stutton, performance nutritionist and Dr Lloyd Barnett, also made presentations at the seminar.