Track officials urged to attend anti-doping conference

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Attorney General Ransford Braham yesterday urged Jamaicans interested in helping the country develop a robust sports industry, especially in the area of track and field, to attend the upcoming second annual University of the West Indies (UWI) Anti-Doping in Sports Conference.

The conference will see a number of international and local experts making presentations, including Professor Asker Jeukendrup of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, and Dr Caroline Hatton of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lab. It will be held on November 26 at UWI's Main Lecture Theatre.

"I encourage all Jamaican stakeholders interested helping to build the sporting industry to come out and support the conference, which at the end should put Jamaica on a better path to understanding the culture relating to anti-doping and how we can eradicate it from society," said Braham.

"As a government, we are committed to anti-doping efforts and are pleased that the UWI is heading in the right direction," he added.

Braham was speaking at yesterday's official launch of the conference, which took place at the Wyndham hotel, during which he presented on the theme, 'Anti-Doping in Sports: Protecting the Integrity of the Sport without Sacrificing the Interests of Athletes'.

Other presenters

Also making presentations at the launch were director of sports medicine at UWI, Dr Akshai Mansingh, and chairman of the conference's organising committee, Dr Rachael Irving.

"The conference is very important as we plan to touch on a number of anti-doping issues, including the laws behind it, the philosophy behind it, the nutrition behind it, and the processes behind," said Mansingh.

"It is also very important in that we hope to be in a position to help eliminate educational breaches at both a doctor and an athlete level," he declared.

"One of the goals of the conference will be to sensitise and make the public aware so that Jamaica can maintain and strengthen its integrity as it relates to anti-doping on the global stage," said Irving.

"We have come too far to merely participate as a nation and not understand what we need to do to prevent addiction, arbitration and adjudication," she said.

The conference, which is slated to get under way at 8:30 a.m., will also see presentations from Sports Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, Dr Paul Wright of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission, Kent Gammon of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee, and Dr Warren Blake of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association medical committee.