Most if not all athletes usually walk away from their sport after being suspended to doping charges. Malaysian athlete Joseline Cheah is not one of them. Joseline Cheah, a top ranking pistol shooter, chose to finish her punishment and return to her game. Her two-year suspension due to doping finally ended in April and now, she is back to continue her career.

In 2006, Joseline was a 24-year-old rising star in the field of shooting when she defeated Bibiana Ng and gave her a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. In late December, she was also able to compete in the Doha Asian Games where she nearly missed out on the finals. Cheah also holds the record in the national 10m air pistol category.

Unfortunately, the Asian Games turned out to be the last of her international outings, because it was found out that she, together with Bibiana and Siti Nur Masitah, tested positive for using the banned substacnce propranolol while she was competing in President Ally T.H. Ong competition in March 2007.

According to the athletes, they were not intentionally taking any drugs. They pleaded not guilty against the charge. They claimed that the probable source of the banned substance was from the chocolates that their Ukrainian coach Anatoly Egrishchin gave them. The International Sport Shooting Federation reported that the coach left the country after a month when the shooters were sentenced with suspension for two years.

It was one of the darkest periods for Joseline Cheah. According to her statement, they were hurt more due to the shock of not being able to shoot in competitions for the next two years. She said it was difficult for her to accept that her rising career was abruptly killed by a substance she was not even aware of. However, the doping sentence did not keep her from being hopeful.

She said in an interview that there is nothing that she can do but to face her responsibilities since the banned substance is already in her body. Propranolol is a widely used prescription drug intended for hypertensive patients. Besides lowering blood pressure, it makes a person remain calm. Clinically. the drug is prescribed to be taken an hour or so before a “feared” event. Propranolol is a banned substance under the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) rules. Cheah said she was also glad that all throughout her tough experience; the National Sports Council (NSC) and especially her parents were there to support them all the way.

According to her, her parents believed that it was not her fault. They have been there to support her and even told her to keep on going with sport if it is what she wants. She said it was the reason why she kept on training herself even if she was suspended from competing.

Another thing that kept her going was missing out on the Beijing Olympics last year. Because of that, Cheah said she had the burning determination to go back and finally get an Olympic gold medal. It was a driving force for her to keep on going and do all the best that she can. It inspires her to become a better shooter every day. Currently, Cheah said she is looking forward to international competitions such as SEA Games in Laos, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games as well as the World Championships.

UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced that twenty-four anabolic steroids are going to be banned to control abuse by youngsters who use these substances to improve their physique. This proposal was made from the Government’s official advisers on drugs that steroids are now also being abused by youngsters. According to the Home Office consultation paper, “anabolic steroids have been used by sports people in numerous well publicized cases, but there is also increasing concern over the use of them among the general public, and in particular, concerns around young people.” The paper also revealed that the steroid ban is in line with the policy of the government of preventing the misuse of illegal substances not just by athletes but also by the public, especially in the run-up to the 2010 Olympics.

To date, fifty-four anabolic steroids and five growth promoters are banned. And if the proposal will be approved, an additional 24 more steroids will be included to the list, along with two growth promoters. Anabolic steroids, taken in tablet or injected in liquid form, can be used or taken unless prescribed by a doctor hence it is not illegal to possess them. But possession to supply is illegal and has the maximum 14-year jail term or unlimited fine punishment once proven guilty. Anabolic steroids can be easily purchased via the internet as many sites from all parts of the globe offer this kind of drug.

In a British Crime Survey conducted, it revealed that 179,000 people with the age ranging from 16-59 have used anabolic steroids. However, another expert disclosed that the figure can go as high as 200,000. Early this year, Mike Lindell of the Lifeline drugs charity in Manchaster, UK, told The Times that the needle-exchange projects were reporting that there is an escalating number of men injecting steroids for the purpose of vanity. “What we have seen over the past two years is a growth in people who are not drug users in the traditional sense. They are coming in having used anabolic steroids because they wanted to look good. It is all about image,” he said.

However, people using steroids are not fully aware of the side-effects of this drug including acne, growth of breasts, shrinkage of the testicles and erection problems. Little did they know that these side effects can create devastating effects to young men. The Home Office consultation paper also warns that the misuse of steroid can cause aggression, irritability, high blood pressure and infertility. The Home Office is also looking for a way to outlaw the BZP or otherwise known as the herbal E and GBL, an industrial solvent found in nail polish remover and sold as a “legal high.” The parents of Heather Stewart, who died after taking GBL, wrote to the Home Secretary asking her to alter the law. Maryon, the mother, said that she was “delighted” of the proposal in controlling GBL. “As far as I’m concerned there is no time to lose,” she said. “I’m delighted at the announcement and feel it is a step in the right direction.”

However, a certain Dave from Cambridge, UK said that billions of money was already wasted in trying to ban anabolic steroids. He also added that anabolic steroids are not dangerous. And many thousands of informed men take steroids long term and suffer no ill effects. To conclude his statement, he said that a steroid ban will do nothing to stop their use.

The Chinese Athletic Association (CAA) recently announced that all Chinese Athletes will be required to pass an anti-doping examination. If the athletes fail the exam, they will be banned from the prestigious National Games in October.

In the early 1990s, China was involved in several major doping scandals involving the use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Thus, they are determined to cut down the doping scandals and avoid the embarrassment. During the last year’s Beijing Olympics, they have tightened up their supervision to make sure that the athletes are not using any banned substances.

The Chinese officials are also eager to keep away from any humiliation at the 11th National Games which will coincide with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Communism in China.

The Chinese Athletic Association decided to randomly choose 30 to 50 percent of track and field athletes to take a written exam before or during the National Games in Jinan, Shandong on October 11-23. According to Pu Zhiqiang, a CAA official, athletics is a very risky event for doping violations. He said that the purpose of the written exam is not to make it difficult for the athletes rather to help them and teach them to protect themselves. If over 40 percent of the team fails the exam, the CAA will make them ineligible to compete in tournaments.

In the past National Games, the number of athletes who are accused and charged of doping and age faking scandals has increase to around 12,000 athletes. In general, provincial sports acquire their funding from the central government depending on their success in competitions, thus such games are very important because they are factors in measuring the success of a province.

One athlete that was suspended for two years due to doping is the former 10,000 meter World Championship bronze medalist, Sun Yingjie. During the 2001 Games, there were 11 athletes who failed the doping tests. On the other hand, three other field athletes and a swimmer had “abnormal” results.

The provincial teams are starting to prepare for the exam because they know it will be shame if the athletes fail the exams and would cost them the chance to play in the national games. They will make it sure that their athletes learn the handbooks. Mock exams and exercises will be given to make sure that they will pass the exam.

This year’s National Games will be lock to the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China so they don’t desire doping cases to occur again according to Pu.

They have prepared a 40-minute exam that is composed of multiple choices, true or false and essay questions. The questions will be based from the anti doping handbook that is available in the Chinese Athletics Association. The CAA encourages all the teams to start preparing for the exams.

Since 1995, Shaun Michaeel, an American golfer, has been under medication because he was diagnosed to have low testosterone. It was in the year 1992 when he joined the PGA tour but a decade after, he began losing his energy. According to his doctor, the extremely low level of Micheel’s testosterone is comparable to a 70-year old man. “It’s funny, I lost a total lack of energy,” he said. “That’s really why I went to the doctor. I had lost my drive to play.” “If a doctor says that the normal range is between 300 and 800, I was below 300 without medication. Even on medication, I’m only 400, maybe 425,” he added.

To improve his condition, Micheel needed steroids but the PGA started the random drug test last July. “I remember it coming out on the golf channel that they were going to start testing for steroid,” eh said. Micheel was able to get the therapeutic use exemption from the PGA Tour to use steroids but the process was not easy. He fought his way for PGA’s approval until they finally allowed him to use steroids for a two-year period. He also said that his doctors could not explain his low testosterone level condition. “There is something screwy up here. Everybody knows golfers, we’re screwed up anyway. It was a tough process. I knew in order to continue my job, you know, I had to follow the rules.”

In 2003, Micheel won the PGA championship and this was before he used steroids. He also said the he gets no competitive advantage. Meanwhile, Dr. Henry Prost, an endocrinologist at Baylor Grapevine said that “it certainly would be my impression that if you had a low testosterone level and you were on testosterone replacement and it puts you in the normal range, I certainly don’t think that it would give him at an advantage over the field.” “Nor in my opinion would the field be at a disadvantaged,” he added.

Micheel will be again reevaluated in 2010 because the PGA Tour wants to make sure that he is not playing with an unfair advantage. “I’m thankful to have it,” he said. “I don’t think without that I would be able to continue to compete.”

Also Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, Assodicate Clinical Professor of Urology at Harvard Medical School, said that “testosterone is necessary for development of male genitalia. In adolescence an increase in testosterone produces facial and body hair, enlargement of the larynx and an increase in muscle tissue. It’s a normal process. The athletes we hear and read about are trying to increase their muscle development with massive doses of anabolic steroids often not even meant for human use.” Morgentaler has been studying the health effects of low testosterone in men. In his book entitle Testosterone for Life, he estimates that low T levels may affect about 20% of men with the age of 50. Some of low testosterone level symptoms include general irritability, lack of sex drive and low energy. This kind of condition is usually treated with a testosterone gel that is applied to the arms or shoulder to normalize the levels. Micheel is using transdermal gel.

Jim Rice is now talking about baseball as he readies himself for the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. An ex-Boston Red Sox slugger who had 382 home runs declared that the use of anabolic steroids is “dumb.” During the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he said that steroids are not worth it. “I don’t understand why guys think they need steroids,” he said when asked by a reporter whether the 50-game suspension of Manny Ramirez due to banned substances will tarnish the legacy of Boston’s left fielders. It can be recalled that before the Red Sox traded him to Los Angeles Dodgers in July, Ramirez played left field for Boston in 2001-2008.

Rice said that Ramirez, who has 533 career homers, isn’t really part of the Boston’s left-fielder legacy because he spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Cleveland Indians. “When you talk about me, (Carl) Yastrzemski and Ted Williams, we have three things in common,” he said.”We all played left field, we all played our entire career with the Red Sox and we’re all in the Hall of Fame. I can’t speak for Manny because he’s not an original Red Sox (player).”

The Major League Baseball has finally decided to suspend Ramirez after testing positive for human chronic gonadotrin (HCG). This is actually a female fertility drug that can minimize the side effects of decreased sperm count and testicle shrinkage that may happen at the end of steroid cycles. Rice also said that some of the best baseball players don’t need steroids,”Babe Ruth didn’t need it, Lou Gehrig didn’t need it, and now Manny is going to lose about $8 million dollars,” Rice said. “It’s just dumb.”

And when asked if a batter today would need a steroid, Rice said that “the average weight of a bat is 33 ounces—you don’t need it. Steroids are supposed to make you get stronger. So what if you hit the ball maybe 15 rows in instead of 10 rows? What’s the big deal? Why do you need it?”

Meanwhile, Rice is honored to be chosen to be included in the elite group of men that played baseball. “I think I’m ahead of the game. I never thought that one day I’d play in the big leagues. If it was the other way around, if I wasn’t sitting here today, I wouldn’t be angry or anything like that because I’m ahead of the game.” Rice retired in 1989 after his entire career was spent with the Red Sox. Rice was elected to Cooperstown last January and after 14 years, he received 412 votes to earn induction together with stolen bases leader Rickey Henderson.

Accompanied by his wife, Corine, Rice smiled often during his first visit to the museum. “All of a sudden you’re able to touch some of the memorabilia of player that made the game what it is today, some that I enjoyed playing against,” he said. During his career, Rice hit .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs. He also earned eight All-Star selections and finished in the top five in American League MVP voting six times. Apart from these, Rice also won the award in 1978 when he batted .315 with 213 hits, 46 home runs and 139 RBIs.

The steroid testing paranoia in baseball and even in other sports has also reached Belgium. The entire field of twenty bodybuilders for the 2009 NABBA Belgium Nationals Bodybuilding Championships all fled after three representatives showed up to test the competitors for illegal substances. The officials had been sent to test bodybuilders for the presence of steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. Bodybuilding in The Netherlands already have a history of drug use, with over 75 percent of last year’s competition testing positive either for the drug being present, or for refusing to be tested. When these testers arrived and announced that a drug test will happen during the training session before the competition, the testers were shocked to find each bodybuilder standing up, grabbing their equipment and running to the door as fast as they can.

Since the bodybuilders refused to undergo the drug test, the competition has been canceled. Each bodybuilder is said to be brought before the disciplinary committee to face a possible punishment. The said competition was to be held at the Arsenal Theater in Vlissingen, Netherlands. Organizers of the said annual competition of the brawn staged the event just across the border in the Netherlands, allegedly a ruse to prevent the jurisdiction of domestic drug checkers. The cancellation of the event brought dismay to over 300 spectators .

“I have never seen anything like it and hope never to see anything like it again,” said anti-doping official Hans Cooman. “In the bodybuilding world doping control is necessary because we know that there is a lot of doping going on. The results prove this again and again.” Cooman also said that he had no choice but to draw to a conclusion that all competitors were taking steroids based on their sudden departure from the venue and their refusal to take the drug test. “Sometimes sports federations take the initiative and invite us to come by, like the cycling union does. But we have never had an invitation like this from bodybuilders,” he added.

Cooman was also surprised that none of the contestants were prepared for a urine sample. Even a refusal to take the test can be subject for punishment. “Our code states that avoiding a doping control is also a doping practice,” said Cooman. “So we have made a report for the disciplinary commission and they can judge whether this was avoidance.” Renee Sleecks, head of NABBA in Belgium, on the other hand, does not want to comment on why his organization called off the annual contest but he said that they would try to revive the contest next year.

Meanwhile, Cooman also accused the NABBA-Belgium organizers of moving the competition across the border into The Netherlands in order to avoid anti-doping officials. Cooman said that this attempt is useless as officials are willing to travel to nearby countries just to catch athletes who are using banned substances. The use of steroid in any athletic competition has been ignored by law and anti-doping officials. But the recent suspension and positive tests of athletes in the United States have alarmed officials and now undergo unannounced steroid testing.