Sport

Has a cup of coffee sunk Elana Meyer's career?

May 08, 2003 Edition -1

By Mark Beer and Sapa

Elana Meyer, one of the true icons of South African athletics, could have her sparkling career prematurely cut short because of a "questionable" positive doping test.

Yesterday, South Africa's most successful woman athlete was suspended from competition by Athletics South Africa.

The world women's half-marathon and 15km record holder was found to have an excess of the stimulant caffeine in her system after finishing third in a 10km road race in Bali on February 2.

Meyer reacted with dismay to the news, saying: "I have no way of knowing how this caffeine count could have happened.

"On the morning of the event, I drank one cup of hotel coffee, which was the only substance I took that could have contained caffeine."

The 36-year-old Stellenbosch superstar has asked that a second sample be tested and requested that a hearing be held.

If, after the B-sample is tested, Meyer is found guilty of a doping offence, as is expected, she will probably escape with a warning.

But it is not this case that concerns Meyer and her manager/ husband Michael - it is what could transpire in the future.

"Yes, Elana did have a cold on the morning of the race and yes, she did drink coffee that morning, but we're not talking huge amounts of caffeine here," said Michael.

"The IAAF's (athletics' governing body) caffeine limit is 12 micrograms per millilitre," he explained, "and Elana's A-sample allegedly contained 15 micrograms per millilitre."

But caffeine is present in many products, such as tea, drinking chocolate, Coca-Cola and chocolate, and the Meyers are concerned that Elana might again become an unwitting offender.

"If she does happen to get caught for something as harmless as caffeine again, she'll be banned for two years," her husband said.

In the meantime, the Meyers need to explain how the excessive amounts of caffeine came to be in Elana's system.

Elana said: "I have never used any form of prohibited substance in my career and deny I have in any way breached the rules of the great sport of athletics.

"I have been running for 25 years and have been tested more than 200 times in my career. My dilemma is that I have no way of knowing how this caffeine count could have happened.

"Caffeine is such a common ingredient, but as a professional athlete, I am always aware of trying to cut it out of my diet."

She has been suspended from all athletics activities until the matter has been settled.

TRACK RECORD

By Mark Beer

Age: 36

Hometown: Stellenbosch

Personal-best times:

Marathon: SA record - 2hr 25min 15sec (Boston, 1994)

Half-marathon: World record - 66:44 (Tokyo, 1999)

15km: World record - 46:57 (Cape Town, 1991)

10km: SA record - 31:13 (Budapest, 2001)

10 000m (track): SA record - 30:52,51 (London, 1994)

5 000m: SA record - 14:44,05 (Hechtel, 1995)

3 000m: SA record - 8:32,00 (Durban, 1991)

Meyer is twice an Olympian in the 10 000m, winning the silver medal at Barcelona in 1992. Best known for her half-marathon prowess, no one has come close to the world record she ran at the 1999 Tokyo City race.

Recent highlights:

2000: Won Tokyo City (67:33) and Sendai half-marathons (69:04)

2001: Won Miyazaki Women's half-marathon, Sendai half-marathon, Cherry Blossom 10-miler, Crescent City Classic 10km, Lilac Bloomsday Run (12km), SA 10km championships, Peninsula Marathon and Gran Marathon Pacifico.

2002: Won Sendai half-marathon.

2003: Sixth in World's Best 10km in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ALL ABOUT CAFFEINE

Caffeine is a stimulant which is banned when used in large amounts.

Stimulants act on the central nervous system to speed up parts of the brain and body. They can make a person feel more awake and alert and hide feelings of tiredness.

According to the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids), the amount of caffeine an athlete needs to take to return a positive test result can be vastly different from person to person, depending on body size, metabolic rate and degree of dehydration.

Caffeine is banned when the concentration in an athlete's urine is more than 12 micrograms per millilitre.

Saids says an average person would need to ingest about 500 milligrams of caffeine over a short period of time to return a positive test result.

The social use of caffeine should not be a problem, but caffeine before events should be minimal to avoid problems.

Approximate caffeine concentrations:

Coffee: 50 to 350 milligrams per cup

Tea: 40 to 90mg/cup

Cola drinks: 30 to 50mg/cup

Cocoa or chocolate drinks: 40 to 80mg/cup

Chocolate bars: 150mg/100g slab

Over-the-counter preparations (Flu medication): 10 to 100mg

Source: www.drugfreesport.org.za