London Olympics 2012 | Informations and Updates

After winning the 100 meters final in Seoul in 1988, a reporter asked the Canadian sprinter what was more precious: a world record or the gold medal? Johnson chose the latter. "Why?" the reporter asked. "Because it’s something nobody can take away from you," he replied. "Yes we can, and we will." – London 2012 organizers London 2012 Olympics in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will mark another first in Olympics history. This coming Summer Olympics, a private sponsor, a giant pharmaceutical company, will be providing for the facilities for the scientists to carry out their work in conducting analysis in blood and urine samples of each athlete for Olympics and Paralympics Games. All athletes will do everything they know to get what they want—the Olympic gold medal; extensive training and proper over-all conditioning of their body, mind and spirit. But some athletes are willing to go beyond what they should do, even crossing lines—taking performance-enhancing substances (drugs) to make them very active during the game proper. According to WADA’s director Professional David Howman, the list of banned substances runs to 10-15 pages, with hundreds of drugs currently prohibited (for the list of banned substances from the Olympics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drugs_banned_from_the_Olympics). The $30 million state-of-the-art laboratory in Harlow, Essex is a short distance from the Olympic Park in east London and is fully accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Marion Jones and Ben Johnson are just two examples of champions whose achievements have been removed from the record books due to drug scandals. London 2012 organizers and Professor David Howman, director of King’s College London’s Drug Control Center and chief scientist for the Games, are assuring sports enthusiasts and warning athletes who are planning to do what Jones and Johnson did that competitors who want to run the risk of taking performance-enhancing substances before or during this year’s Summer Olympics will face the most sophisticated anti-doping operation in the history of the Games (for the complete CNN news, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/12/sport/drugs-london-2012-olympics-laboratory/index.html). More than 6,250 samples of blood and urine will be tested during both the Olympics and Paralympics — four years ago in Beijing that figure was around 4,500 — with around 150 scientists on duty around the clock.

Ben Johnson streaks away from the field in the 100 meters final at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. The race, his victory and his subsequent disqualification for taking the banned steroid stanozolol was one of the most infamous episodes in Olympic history.

Marion Jones crosses the line first in the 100m final at the 2000 Olympics. It was one of three golds the American sprinter won in Sydney. In 2007, Jones admitted to taking banned substances and was stripped of her medals. Image Credit : Getty Images