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One positive doping test is one too many
Caribbean RADO Executive Director, Tessa Chaderton-Shaw (second, left), in a photo moment with, from right, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, the Guyana Olympic Association President, K. A.Juman-Yassin and Permanent Secretary, Alfred King.
By Edison Jefford
Executive Director of Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO), Tessa Chaderton-Shaw believes that one positive doping test is one too many in the fight against the emergence of the use of performance enhancing drugs (doping) in sports.
”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.
The international spotlight shone on Guyana this year when Powerlifter, Gumendra Shewdas was tested positive for Methylhexaneamine and Oxilofrine, which are both banned substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list.
Shewdas had won a gold medal in the 53kg class at the World Junior and sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships in Killeen, Texas in August last year. His case is the only high-profiled case that the country has ever endured in its sport history.
The Caribbean RADO Executive Director was in Guyana for a board meeting, which was held yesterday at the Princess Hotel, Providence; the Caribbean RADO also conducted a development seminar to spread anti-doping awareness and education.
“We looked at the role of the Caribbean RADO, the services it provides to the region and more specifically to Guyana,” Chaderton-Shaw stated, adding that one of the challenges is consistent anti-doping education and its accessibility to local sport associations.
“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,” the lead RADO official said.
According to Chaderton-Shaw, testing has to be embraced domestically and be seen as a “pivotal component of sport development”. She said that more testing has to be done across the board, in and out of competition, to ensure that sport is kept clean.
“With the assistance of the board members, and the doping control officers in collaboration with the national sport federations, this can be achieved. It’s something that we have to keep chipping away at, in all of our fifteen member countries,” she indicated.
The Caribbean RADO is an affiliate of WADA and has a responsibility to “provide education on the use of drugs and doping methods in sport”. It also has a mandate to promote, and coordinate, the fight against doping in sport among Caribbean countries.
The Caribbean RADO is made up of fifteen member countries, with a board member from each country. Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Alfred King is Guyana’s RADO Board member with Charles Corbin, Dr. Karen Pilgrim, Dr. Clive Bowman and more recently Dr. Navin Rambarran serving as Doping Control Officers. It is the duty of the Doping Control Officers to conduct tests locally.
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