Australia vowed to run drugs off the road to the Olympics when it won the right to host the Games in Sydney this September, but the wheels of sports bureaucracy do not spin fast enough to outpace performance-enhanced athletes.
Wednesday's revelations that Australian Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning discus thrower Werner Reiterer has blown the lid on national sports officials who he claims have condoned and covered up drug use among athletes, and the ensuing inquiry, make a mockery of Australian Sport and Tourism Minister Jackie Kelly's assurances in Tokyo this week.
Kelly swung into town to talk with Japan Olympic Committee chairman Yushiro Yagi and other JOC members about "Australia's preparation for the Sydney Games and international efforts to eliminate drugs in sport."