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been developed that elude detection by all the current testing protocols.

Another type of performance-enhancing drug is erythropoietin, the hormone that regulates the red-cell mass in the human body. By increasing red cell mass and therefore the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, more oxygen is delivered to exercising muscles. Benefits of even a short course of the substance can last for weeks, but it can be detected in urine only for a few days after the most recent injection.

Twenty-six young cyclists have died after using erythropoietin since it was introduced into the world of competitive cycling in the late 1980s. Athletes also use narcotic analgesics, allowing them to train even if they are injured and in pain. Beta-blockers are also used to stop an athlete from trembling, reduce their blood pressure, slow their heart rate and have a calming effect.

Diuretics can also be used to increase the amount of urine that athletes pass from their bodies. This is useful for athletes in sports with weight divisions, who have difficulty keeping their weight down to qualify. There are many drug scandals surrounding the Olympic Games. Carl Lewis, five-time Olympic medalist tested positive for banned stimulants in the months leading up to the 1988 Seoul Games. Canadian, Ben Johnson, who beat Carl Lewis in the 100 meter sprint at the Seoul Olympic Games by completing the sprint in a world record-breaking 9.79 seconds, also tested positive for the anabolic steroid, stanozolol.

China won four swimming gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and then took 12 of 16 women's titles at the 1994 world championships. The sudden success of the team fuelled suspicion of drug use, and by the next big competition, those hunches proved true . Eleven athletes tested positive for dihydrotestosterone at the 1994 Asian Games. The big bust decimated the swim squad for the 1996 Olympics (they won just one gold).

The 2004 Summer Olympics oversaw at least 20 offenses, the most for any Olympic Games. Greek baseball players Andrew James Brack and Derek Nicholson tested positive for banned substances; Brack for stanozolol, Nicholson for diuretics during another pre-Olympic drug test. Although they are currently Greek citizens, they are both of Greek-American descent, and were two members of a very large contingent of Greek-Americans recruited by Greece to form part of the Greek baseball team.

Another scandal of the 2004 games was from Russian female weightlifter Albina Khomich. A favorite

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