What is THG, and why does it matter?
Tetrahydrogestrinone is a banned steroid which had been tweaked by chemists to make it undetectable by normal dope tests. What will happen after the indictments? The four involved will see their cases come to court – and more names could follow, although no charges were expected to be brought against actual athletes for now. The IAAF has announced plans to re-test all the samples given at the 2003 World Championships while the International Olympic Committee may do the same with samples from the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Why is this such a big story? The THG scandal could be as big as the Ben Johnson case Athletics was the first sport to be hit by the controversy but now the net is widening. If found guilty of doping, any sportsman or woman who won medals at either the 2003 World Athletics Championships or the 2002 Winter Olympics could have them taken away and their performances scratched from the record books. Add to this the fact that THG is designed to evade existing dru
