A combination of Viagra pills and laughing gas, performance-enhancing tattoos and a new “exercise pill” could all be employed by Olympic athletes at the Beijing Games, according to one of the world’s leading sport drug scientists.
Dr Robin Parisotto says the latest doping techniques are more than likely to get a workout at the Games, in a bid by cheating athletes to beat the current drug testing systems.
“With some of these things the technology is so new, the concept so bizarre, that there would only be a handful of well tapped-in athletes using it, but they will be experimenting at the Beijing Olympics because it is the ultimate,” Dr Parisotto told Fairfax.
And new research suggests Olympic drug testers will continue to have their work cut out for them.
Scientists at Germany’s cancer research centre Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum have showed that delivering DNA vaccines by tattooing is 16 times more effective than injections.
Dr Parisotto says drug cheats could get a larger effect from a smaller drug sample by using the technique.
“The problem is that some of the drugs would now fly under the radar with the tattoo technique because athletes would be taking a much smaller dose,” Dr Parisotto said.
Other unusual strategies include a combination of taking Viagra pills and inhaling laughing gas.
Both drugs open up blood vessels and allow an increased transfer of oxygen, which can improve sporting performance.
Researchers also announced last week a new “exercise pill”, which has had astounding results in mice.
The new drugs increase stamina and keep bodies lean regardless of a high fat diet.
Tests showed mice that had taken the drug increased their running time by 44 per cent, even when the mice had done no exercise.
Professor Ronald Evans from California’s Salk Institute in La Jolla was stunned with the results.
“We were blown away,” he told AP.
“This is a drug that is like pharmacological exercise. After four weeks of receiving the drug, the mice were behaving as if they’d been exercised.”
