By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY
Exactly what is the Olympic-style drug testing that has brought negotiations between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather to a halt?
Unlike the sole urine tests issued by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Olympic testing includes blood.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, based in Colorado Springs, was contacted by Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Mayweather for the proposed March 13 bout in Las Vegas, about performing the tests.
"There's a number of potent performance-enhancing drugs you can only find in blood," says Travis T. Tygart, CEO of USADA. Those PEDs including Human Growth Hormone, certain forms of EPO and synthetic hemoglobin. "If you want the most effective program, it's the world program. … The world's experts know you have to collect blood and urine."
Unlike urine, blood can reveal if there's evidence of drug use by analyzing the bodily functions that may have been altered even though the particular drug used is no longer present.
Pacquiao has agreed to additional testing — beyond the NSAC's requirements — in January when the fight was expected to be made official, 30 days before the bout (Feb. 13) and immediately after the fight.
Tygart insists that setting blackout dates for testing is inadequate, and educating athletes on why that can't be done is important. "If you give a blackout date, there's plenty of things you can do to cheat and get away with it," he says of the potential to use masking agents. "That's why it's not allowed."
Cyclists at the Tour de France, for instance, are tested the morning of their events under the code establish by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which sets the rules for banned substances that are followed by USADA and other international testing groups. Speedskaters, skiers and cricket and rugby players also are tested in similar fashion.
The blood is taken from the arm and it's less than one teaspoon of about 380 teaspoons in the body.
Said Tygart: "We don't do anything that can potentially impact an athlete's performance. … It's a matter of learning about the process. There's just a lack of the knowledge about these issues."
Source: usatoday.com
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