Drugs 'a gamble'

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Athens - Top weightlifters have pointed the finger at dumb athletes and corrupt coaches for causing the latest drug scandal which has put the sport's Olympic future under a cloud.

Nine lifters have tested positive at the Athens Games with Leonidas Sampanis of Greece being stripped of his bronze medal on Sunday after tests revealed he had double the permitted amount of testosterone in his system.

Pyrros Dimas, the Greek superhero who added a bronze medal to his three Olympic weightlifting golds on Saturday night, said that some lifters gambled by taking drugs.

"We are tested frequently by various bodies and therefore there will be some positive tests," said Dimas, who said he had gone through the Passion of Christ just to be ready for Saturday's competition.

"Some athletes take a chance and others just do not think before they use some substances. I am not in a position to analyse why they do this.

"But I still think the people believe in the athletes. There have always been rumours about drug taking.

"When you are at the top you have to hang on tight in order not to fall."

Coaches and big business

Russia's Valentina Popova, who won bronze in the 75kg category, speculated that coaches in cahoots with big business could be part of the problem.

"On occasions a lack of preparation on behalf of the coaches, who cannot deal with an issue properly, could give rise to problems," she said.

"Bearing in mind an anti-doping institute exists that means a phenomenon exists and we can only guess there is a huge business behind all this."

Tamas Ajan, the president of the International Weightlifting Federation and a member of the International Olympic Committee, also hurled veiled accusations at coaches after two Indian women lifters tested positive causing outrage in the country.

Ajan said he had warned the Indian Olympic Committee not to employ certain foreign coaches to train their weightlifters.

"Some of the coaches who are working abroad from a certain country wish to produce perfect top competitors and these coaches have to take the responsibility if a competitor is (tested) positive," Ajan said.

"I have told the Indian Olympic Committee many times not to employ these foreign coaches because time to time India produce positive cases.

"You can follow the logical line that you have to stop this in the future."

In an interview with AFP, Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency said that it was a logical step in the war against drug cheats to widen the net to include coaches and doctors.