EVEN one positive doping test is one too many, according to Executive Director of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation, Tessa Chaderton-Shaw, who conducted a successful Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MYCS) Anti-Doping seminar yesterday at the National Resource Centre.

Chaderton-Shaw and her team are here for the Caribbean RADO board meeting, which is expected to be held here today, at the Princess Hotel, and the Ministry requested that the developmental seminar be held, where one of the key areas was on increasing anti-doping awareness along with the importance of ensuring that athletes are not doping.
“Guyana has had some positive test that has been made public, and one test is one too many, and our effort is really to spread that measure far and wide so that we have a level playing field and all Guyanese athletes are playing fairly.” Chaderton-Shaw said.
Chaderton-Shaw was one of several persons who spoke at the five-hour-long seminar, which was attended by some 47 officials from the various sporting federations in Guyana. At the completion of the event, she noted her satisfaction with both the attendance and the training features at the event.
“The whole purpose of today was really to give managers, coaches, the athletes’ entourage a better understanding of what doping is and what it isn’t.
“We would’ve looked at the role of the Caribbean RADO, the services it provides to the region and more specifically to Guyana … We had a very comprehensive five-hour training seminar that was very well attended and I leave here very satisfied today,” she said.
Doping, in sports, refers to an athlete’s use of drugs that are considered to affect how an athlete performs in a sporting event, in most cases giving them an unfair advantage over the other competitors. Athletes found to test positive for such drugs receive sanctions of varying proportions depending on the severity of the case.
The RADO is an affiliate of the global anti-doping body, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and has a responsibility to “provide education on the use of drugs and doping methods in sport”, as well as to promote and coordinate the fight against doping in sport among the countries of the Caribbean. It currently has fifteen member countries, with a board member from each member country. Guyana’s board member is MCYS Permanent Secretary Alfred King.
Over the years the need for the development in anti-doping awareness has grown increasingly necessary as athletes and the federations are left to bear the stigma when athletes test positive. The anti-doping tests are conducted by Doping Control Officers, of which Guyana has four. Guyana’s officers are Charles Corbin, Dr Karen Pilgrim, Dr Clive Bowman and more recently Dr Navin Rambarran.
“The doping control officers in Guyana have done a phenomenal job; they have been testing athletes over the year.” Chaderton-Shaw commented.
Chaderton-Shaw noted that as it pertains to hurdles in anti-doping Guyana doesn’t face any that isn’t a common issue in Caribbean nations all across the board.
“I think one of the first challenges is consistent anti-doping education being delivered across all sport federations, doing it consistently; it takes time.
“Anti-doping is an area of sport development that people tend to frown on, and ignore because there is a certain intrusion of privacy. We have to make sure that the urine is leaving their body so a chaperone, of the same gender, must accompany (the athlete), but we are trying to change that stigma, and ensure that it is something that is embraced and seen as a pivotal component of sport development.
“The other area of concern is testing, doing more testing both in and out of competition across all disciplines.
“With the assistance of the board members, and the doping control officers, in collaboration with the national sporting federations, this can be achieved. But it is something that we have to keep chipping away at, in all of our fifteen member countries. So the challenges faced by Guyana are quite similar across the board,” Chaderton- Shaw stated.
The seminar featured a practical session conducted by the local Doping Control Officers, while opening remarks were made by Minister Dr Frank Anthony. King and the president of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K. A. Juman-Yassin were present.

(By Tamica Garnett)