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By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 29, 2004; Page D01
COLORADO SPRINGS, July 28 -- Just one scientist or scientific group
likely masterminded the creation of the two barely known steroids at the
center of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) scandal, the lab
director who identified the two drugs said Wednesday.
"The more I think about this and put it all together, I become more and
more convinced that whoever was behind this knew quite well what they
were doing," said Don Catlin of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory
in Los Angeles. "This was sophisticated work. . . . I don't know whether
it was one person alone or a consortium . . . [but] I see no reason to
suspect there are two independent groups" who made the steroids.
Catlin's remarks came via telephone during a session with reporters at
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency headquarters after bans were handed out to
several athletes -- Regina Jacobs, Kevin Toth, John McEwen and Melissa
Price -- who last summer tested positive for THG, one of the two
steroids Catlin identified.
In its February indictment of four men connected to BALCO on federal
steroid distribution charges, the government alleged that the two
steroids, norbolethone and THG, were provided to athletes under the code
name "clear." The government did not speculate on the source of the
drugs, which had previously been undetectable in standard urine screens.
In May, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Victor Conte, the owner
of BALCO, told federal investigators that famed supplement-maker Patrick
Arnold supplied THG, whose chemical name is tetrahydragestrinone and
which Catlin identified last summer. Two years ago in an interview with
The Post, Arnold, who created the recently banned over-the-counter
steroid andro, denied a connection to any athletes but said he might at
one time have made norbolethone, discovered by Catlin in 2002.
After Catlin unearthed the drugs, one cyclist tested positive for
norbolethone and five track and field athletes tested positive for THG.
All received bans of varying lengths from their sports' governing
bodies. It is unclear, however, how widespread the use of the drugs was
before officials had the means to detect them. Catlin speculated that
norbolethone was used as far back as 2000.
Federal officials have not charged anyone in connection with the
production of the drugs, which are not technically illegal since they
are not among the anabolic steroids specifically banned by Congress in
1990.
Catlin speculated that a knowledgeable scientist manufactured
norbolethone after reading about its properties in old steroid
literature. Wyeth Laboratories in Philadelphia studied norbolethone
during the 1960s but it eventually abandoned the research and never
marketed the drug. Catlin said he believed the producer obtained
gestrinone -- a banned anabolic steroid that can be purchased online
from overseas sources -- and bubbled hydrogen gas through it to create
norbolethone and then, by shortening the process, THG.
"People out there somewhere were bound and determined to make steroids
we wouldn't know about," said Catlin, who spoke to reporters by
telephone. " . . . The story is not over."
In other news, USADA officials revealed that they received three
telephone calls from the anonymous coach who on June 5, 2003, mailed
them a syringe that contained THG and led to its discovery. USADA
spokesman Rich Wanninger said the coach provided several pieces of
information:
. The coach claimed that four U.S. athletes and one international
athlete were receiving an undetectable steroid similar to Genabol --
another name for norbolethone -- from Conte and had no fear of testing
positive. The coach also said track coach Remi Korchemny was involved.
Korchemny was among the four men, including Conte, indicted in February.
All have pled not guilty.
. The coach claimed the drug was sometimes mixed with flaxseed oil and
ingested by placing a few drops on the tongue.
. The coach also claimed that Conte showed up to the U.S. track and
field championships in June 2003 and distributed substances to athletes
from a black bag.
The Mercury News reported in July that Trevor Graham, the former coach
of Marion Jones, provided the syringe to USADA. Graham has repeatedly
declined to comment. His name, meantime, has surfaced in connection with
other drug charges. Sprinter Tim Montgomery told the BALCO grand jury
that Graham himself was involved in the distribution of banned drugs,
according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Graham's attorney has stated that his client has no connection to such
activities. Graham has coached three of the four athletes -- Montgomery,
Michelle Collins and Alvin Harrison -- facing lifetime bans from USADA
for alleged drug violations connected to BALCO.
USADA CEO Terry Madden said Wednesday the agency might pursue action
against coaches or others believed to have assisted in giving banned
drugs to athletes, but offered no timetable.
"We may be proceeding in more directions after all the BALCO information
comes out," he said. "It might not just be athletes. We have a duty, in
fact, to pursue coaches that may have been involved."
USADA officials also on Wednesday described a previously unknown level
of cooperation between anti-doping officials and federal investigators,
as well as between USADA officials and international sport officials,
citing a number of secret meetings throughout last summer as THG was
being identified.
Catlin said Jeff Novitsky, the lead investigator in the BALCO case,
contacted him in the fall of 2002 for assistance in identifying drugs
discovered in connection with a lab in Northern California.
In August of last year, USADA officials alerted the Department of
Justice about THG and their suspicions about Conte and BALCO. Days
later, on Aug. 11, 2003, Madden said, government officials informed
USADA that its investigation and the government's in Northern California
centered on the same lab: BALCO.
On Aug. 19, Novitsky and a San Mateo narcotics official flew to Colorado
Springs to interview USADA officials, Madden said. After that, the
agency developed a relationship with Jeff Nedrow, the assistant U.S.
attorney in the Northern District of California assigned to the case,
Madden said.
USADA officials also alerted the world governing body of track and field
(IAAF) to the existence of THG in July of last summer, requesting
increased out-of-competition testing before the world championships and
targeted testing on nine international athletes it suspected of possible
involvement.
"I've never seen such a good, coordinated effort among so many people,"
Bowers said.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 29, 2004; Page D01
COLORADO SPRINGS, July 28 -- Just one scientist or scientific group
likely masterminded the creation of the two barely known steroids at the
center of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) scandal, the lab
director who identified the two drugs said Wednesday.
"The more I think about this and put it all together, I become more and
more convinced that whoever was behind this knew quite well what they
were doing," said Don Catlin of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory
in Los Angeles. "This was sophisticated work. . . . I don't know whether
it was one person alone or a consortium . . . [but] I see no reason to
suspect there are two independent groups" who made the steroids.
Catlin's remarks came via telephone during a session with reporters at
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency headquarters after bans were handed out to
several athletes -- Regina Jacobs, Kevin Toth, John McEwen and Melissa
Price -- who last summer tested positive for THG, one of the two
steroids Catlin identified.
In its February indictment of four men connected to BALCO on federal
steroid distribution charges, the government alleged that the two
steroids, norbolethone and THG, were provided to athletes under the code
name "clear." The government did not speculate on the source of the
drugs, which had previously been undetectable in standard urine screens.
In May, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Victor Conte, the owner
of BALCO, told federal investigators that famed supplement-maker Patrick
Arnold supplied THG, whose chemical name is tetrahydragestrinone and
which Catlin identified last summer. Two years ago in an interview with
The Post, Arnold, who created the recently banned over-the-counter
steroid andro, denied a connection to any athletes but said he might at
one time have made norbolethone, discovered by Catlin in 2002.
After Catlin unearthed the drugs, one cyclist tested positive for
norbolethone and five track and field athletes tested positive for THG.
All received bans of varying lengths from their sports' governing
bodies. It is unclear, however, how widespread the use of the drugs was
before officials had the means to detect them. Catlin speculated that
norbolethone was used as far back as 2000.
Federal officials have not charged anyone in connection with the
production of the drugs, which are not technically illegal since they
are not among the anabolic steroids specifically banned by Congress in
1990.
Catlin speculated that a knowledgeable scientist manufactured
norbolethone after reading about its properties in old steroid
literature. Wyeth Laboratories in Philadelphia studied norbolethone
during the 1960s but it eventually abandoned the research and never
marketed the drug. Catlin said he believed the producer obtained
gestrinone -- a banned anabolic steroid that can be purchased online
from overseas sources -- and bubbled hydrogen gas through it to create
norbolethone and then, by shortening the process, THG.
"People out there somewhere were bound and determined to make steroids
we wouldn't know about," said Catlin, who spoke to reporters by
telephone. " . . . The story is not over."
In other news, USADA officials revealed that they received three
telephone calls from the anonymous coach who on June 5, 2003, mailed
them a syringe that contained THG and led to its discovery. USADA
spokesman Rich Wanninger said the coach provided several pieces of
information:
. The coach claimed that four U.S. athletes and one international
athlete were receiving an undetectable steroid similar to Genabol --
another name for norbolethone -- from Conte and had no fear of testing
positive. The coach also said track coach Remi Korchemny was involved.
Korchemny was among the four men, including Conte, indicted in February.
All have pled not guilty.
. The coach claimed the drug was sometimes mixed with flaxseed oil and
ingested by placing a few drops on the tongue.
. The coach also claimed that Conte showed up to the U.S. track and
field championships in June 2003 and distributed substances to athletes
from a black bag.
The Mercury News reported in July that Trevor Graham, the former coach
of Marion Jones, provided the syringe to USADA. Graham has repeatedly
declined to comment. His name, meantime, has surfaced in connection with
other drug charges. Sprinter Tim Montgomery told the BALCO grand jury
that Graham himself was involved in the distribution of banned drugs,
according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Graham's attorney has stated that his client has no connection to such
activities. Graham has coached three of the four athletes -- Montgomery,
Michelle Collins and Alvin Harrison -- facing lifetime bans from USADA
for alleged drug violations connected to BALCO.
USADA CEO Terry Madden said Wednesday the agency might pursue action
against coaches or others believed to have assisted in giving banned
drugs to athletes, but offered no timetable.
"We may be proceeding in more directions after all the BALCO information
comes out," he said. "It might not just be athletes. We have a duty, in
fact, to pursue coaches that may have been involved."
USADA officials also on Wednesday described a previously unknown level
of cooperation between anti-doping officials and federal investigators,
as well as between USADA officials and international sport officials,
citing a number of secret meetings throughout last summer as THG was
being identified.
Catlin said Jeff Novitsky, the lead investigator in the BALCO case,
contacted him in the fall of 2002 for assistance in identifying drugs
discovered in connection with a lab in Northern California.
In August of last year, USADA officials alerted the Department of
Justice about THG and their suspicions about Conte and BALCO. Days
later, on Aug. 11, 2003, Madden said, government officials informed
USADA that its investigation and the government's in Northern California
centered on the same lab: BALCO.
On Aug. 19, Novitsky and a San Mateo narcotics official flew to Colorado
Springs to interview USADA officials, Madden said. After that, the
agency developed a relationship with Jeff Nedrow, the assistant U.S.
attorney in the Northern District of California assigned to the case,
Madden said.
USADA officials also alerted the world governing body of track and field
(IAAF) to the existence of THG in July of last summer, requesting
increased out-of-competition testing before the world championships and
targeted testing on nine international athletes it suspected of possible
involvement.
"I've never seen such a good, coordinated effort among so many people,"
Bowers said.
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