Posted: October 14, 2005

Triathlon: Canadian wants testing to show her sport is clean

Decorated triathlete says it should happen on a regular basis

By Joe O'Connor , National Post

Heather Fuhr wants to give blood

On the eve of the Ironman Hawaii -- the most punishing endurance race on the planet -- Canada's most decorated female triathlete wishes someone would just ask her to roll up her sleeve so she could help show the world the sport she loves isn't rife with drug cheats.

"I have never been tested out of competition, which I find a little strange, and I wish I was. I wish it would be done on a regular basis," Fuhr said. "I would say, 'Here you go, I've been tested a number of times, and nothing has ever [shown up].' "

Fuhr's desire is grounded, in part, in the events that unfolded in Hawaii a year ago. The 37-year old Edmonton native had experienced some struggles on the windy, scorching-hot Kona course in recent years, but those troubles melted away last October, and she flew to a third-place result.

Unfortunately her joy was tempered by some disturbing news: the Ironman's Queen, Germany's Nina Kraft, confessed to taking EPO, a red blood-cell booster that helps increase stamina.

"I think it was definitely a shock for a lot of people, but I can't say that it wasn't somewhat expected -- not with Nina in particular -- but I think we'd be naive to think that there wasn't some people out there using some performance-enhancing drugs," Fuhr said.

Kraft was disqualified, and banned from competition for two years. Fuhr, meanwhile, was bumped up to second place.

It is standard practice at World Triathlon Corporation sanctioned events that the top three finishers are tested for drugs. A random athlete is also drawn from among the top 10 for testing.

Fuhr allows that these post-race procedures are an encouraging start, but she argues that for the fight against drugs to be truly effective, the tests should be conducted during the lead-up to a race.

"If people are using it, they are going to be using it during training, and that's when you've got to catch them," Fuhr said. "It is definitely a funding issue as well. It costs a lot of money to do these tests ... We'd be willing to pay for some of these tests to be done, just to show that we are clean throughout the year."

Material reprinted with the express permission of: “National Post Company”, a CanWest Partnership.