Its athletes' preferred off-limit drug seems to be the steroid nandralone, used to boost muscle growth, increase strength, and reduce fatigue. Before the Olympics, Romanian hammer thrower Mihaela Melinte and weightlifters Adrian Mateas and Traian Ciharean were discovered to have used nandralone and were banned for attending the games. Meantime with three athletes stripped of their medals for using banned drugs and one athlete banned even before arriving in Sydney, Bulgaria is in the lead for the silver. Taiwan is in the running for the bronze, with three athletes banned and sent home for using off-limit drugs. At press time, Canada, Egypt, Great Britain, Hungary, and Italy are tied, with two athletes each testing positive for banned substances either during the Olympics or months before the competition.
Competitors use steroids to boost performance and gain a tainted edge over the competition.
They can increase the risk of prostate cancer for men, cervical and endometrial cancer in women, damage major organs like the heart by rapidly expanding cardiac muscle, and harm your liver. They can cause impotence and generate breasts in men, facial hair and deep voices in women, and infertility in both sexes. And once you start using the drugs, it can be all too easy to get hooked. The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would decide whether disabled golfer Casey Martin, who suffers from a painful circulatory disorder in his right leg, must be allowed to ride in a golf cart on the PGA Tour. The 7th Circuit decision - Olinger v.