Cheating at the Paralympic Games

Cheating at the Paralympic Games has caused scandals that have significantly changed the way in which the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) manages the events. Testing for performance-enhancing drugs has become increasingly strict and more widespread throughout the Games, with powerlifting seeing the most positive results. Competitors without disabilities have also competed in some Paralympic Games, with the Spanish entry in the intellectually disabled basketball tournament at the 2000 Summer Paralympics being the most controversial.

Doping

“	The coming of age of athletes at the Paralympic Games must now be matched with appropriate anti-doping strategies	”
—Nicki Vance, World Anti-Doping Agency, [1]

Some professional and amateur sporting competitions randomly sample athletes to eliminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and the Paralympic Games are no different. The first positive results came in the 1992 Barcelona Games with five athletes found to have used banned substances.^[2] The 2000 Sydney Games saw fourteen athletes return a positive test, ten of which were in the powerlifting competition.^[1]

The Sydney 2000 Doping Control Program had the responsibility of ensuring that the games met the International Paralympic Medical and Anti-Doping Code and, for the first time in the sport, out-of-competition (OOC) testing was introduced. This meant that the testing window was much wider, with any competitor being called for a test at any point throughout the Games.

Nine powerlifters returned positive results before the competition and were promptly ejected. One further powerlifter, and an athlete gave positive results after winning medals.^[1]

In the Salt Lake City Winter Paralympics in 2002 German cross country skier Thomas Oelsner gave a positive result after winning two gold medals. He was suspended for two years from all IPC events.^[3]

Intellectual disability

In the 1996 Atlanta Games athletes with intellectual disabilities were allowed to participate for the first time.

Basketball controversy

The 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, which had already seen controversy with numerous positive drug tests, would be the venue for one of the most scandalous events in the sport's history. Spain was stripped of their intellectual disability basketball gold medals shortly after the Games closed^[4] after Carlos Ribagorda, a member of the victorious team and an undercover journalist, revealed to the Spanish business magazine Capital that most of his colleagues had not undergone medical tests to ensure that they had a disability. The IPC investigated the claims and found that the required mental tests, which should show that the competitors have an IQ of no more than 70,^[5] were not conducted by the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE). Ribagorda alleged that some Spanish participants in the table tennis, track and field, and swimming events were also not disabled, meaning that five medals had been won fraudulently.^[5][6]

He went on to say that the Spanish Federation for Mentally Handicapped Sports (FEDDI) deliberately chose to sign up athletes who were not intellectually disabled in order to "win medals and gain more sponsorship".^[7] Fernando Martin Vicente, president of the FEDDI and vice-president of CPE, initially denied the allegations.^[7] After it was confirmed that 10 of the 12 competitors in the winning team were not disabled,^[4] Martin Vicente publicly apologised for the error and accepted total responsibility, resigning just before the findings were officially released.^[6]

Two weeks later the team was officially disqualified and was ordered to return the gold medals.^[4] The controversy has been cited as one of the "most outrageous sporting moments" in history.^[8]

IPC reaction

The IPC announced that, due to serious difficulties in determining the eligibility of athletes, it was suspending all official sporting activities involving an intellectual disability.^[9] The IPC attempted to develop a revised system for testing for intellectual disabilities but announced on 1 February 2003 that all events involving learning difficulties would be abandoned for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.^[8][10]

Following an anti-corruption drive, the International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) lobbied to have these athletes reinstated. Beginning in 2004, athletes with an intellectual disability began to be re-integrated into Paralympic sport competitions, although they remain excluded from the Paralympic Games. [1] The IPC has stated that it will re-evaluate their participation following the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Vance, Nicki. European Paralympic Committee. "Doping control at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. Accessed 15 August 2007.
2. ^ Korte, Tim. 7 March 2002. "Cheating Plagues Paralympic Athletes". Accessed 15 August 2007.
3. ^ Maffly, Bryan. The Salt Lake Tribune. 13 March 2002. "Skier Fails Drug Test". Accessed 15 August 2007.
4. ^ ^{a b c} BBC News. 14 December 2000. "Spain ordered to return golds". Accessed 14 August 2007
5. ^ ^{a b} Reilly, Rick. CNN Sports Illustrated. 5 December 2000. "Paralympic Paradox". Accessed 14 August 2007.
6. ^ ^{a b} CBC Sports. 30 November 2000. "Spanish Paralympic exec resigns amid scandal". Accessed 14 August 2007.
7. ^ ^{a b} BBC News. 24 November 2000. "Spain in Paralympics scandal". Accessed 14 August 2007.
8. ^ ^{a b} Observer Sport Monthly. 31 October 2004. "The 30 most outrageous sporting moments, part 2". Accessed 14 August 2007.
9. ^ The New York Times. 30 January 2001. "PLUS: PARALYMPICS; Paralympic Group Orders Suspensions". Accessed 14 August 2007.
10. ^ IPC. 2 February 2003. "INAS-FID Eligibility System Unsatisfactory: Athletes with Intellectual Disability Cannot Participate". Accessed 14 August 2007.