Study says Olympic drug test nabs few

NEW YORK, June 26 (UPI) -- Potential Olympians can probably use an illegal performance-enhancing drug to boost blood cell count with little risk, a study indicates.

The report may expose another flaw in what many regard as the world's toughest anti-doping program, The New York Times said Thursday.

The study, published Thursday in the online edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, says a urine test intended to detect the drug, planned for use in the Tour de France next month and in the Olympics in August, is likely to miss it.

The substance, recombinant human erythropoietin, stimulates bone marrow to speed up production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, enabling endurance athletes like cyclists and distance runners to perform better.

EPO is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, an international group working with the International Olympic Committee to promote and coordinate efforts to stop doping in sports.

Athletes say EPO use is widespread, although few have tested positive, the report says. Most athletes linked to doping in recent years are said to have been caught not through drug testing, but rather through criminal investigations.

In the August 2006 issue of the journal Blood, the American lab accredited to conduct EPO testing reported only nine positive tests out of 2,600 urine samples.

The new study was conducted last summer and fall by Denmark's Copenhagen Muscle Research Center.