Drug tests for World Masters Games athletes

Oct 16, 2009, 7:12 GMT

   Sydney - For 71-year-old World Masters Games competitor Hylke van der Wal drug testing started at Sydney Airport when he arrived to represent Canada in the steeplechase events at the nine-day sports fest for older folk.

   'They wouldn't let my stash of royal queen bee jelly in with me,' van der Wal said Friday. 'Those Customs guys even weren't going to let my running shoes in - they said my spikes could be bullets.'

   But, like the other 28,000 competitors, the Dutch-born Canadian will be exposed to the same tough in-competition anti-doping regime that Olympic athletes have to bow to.

   Anti-doping coordinator Nicki Vance said testing would be focused on disciplines with a reputation for using performance-enhancing drugs - weightlifting, athletics and swimming - but that even lawn bowlers in their 80s and 90s might be asked to give urine samples.

   'For a lot of the athletes, this is their first time being tested,' she said. 'They've been very interested in the process and very supportive of what we're doing.'

   Van der Wal, recently back from serving as a chaplain to troops in Afghanistan, thinks drug testing for aged athletes is comical.

   'The Good Lord has a sense of humour,' he said. 'I'm not doing this for gold but for survivorship.'

   He said a divorce six years ago had relegated him to an also-ran in the medal stakes rather than just the passage of time.

   'A heart attack can be beaten, cancer can be beaten - I've done it - but divorce can't be beaten,' the former college champion said.

   Because samples take time to process there have been no results issued so far. The games end Sunday and the results are expected to be out after that.