Williams, CEO of the American Track and Field a.s.sociation, looked at the laptop in front of him with a complex expression.
The Track and Field a.s.sociation chief operating officer, Frey, held a printed list of names and kept shaking his head. "There are so many people involved, this can"t be true. That investigative journalist Edward Snow must have made this up to attract people"s attention."
Williams looked at Frey but didn"t speak.
Frey continued to argue, "I"ve skimmed through it. More than half of the athletes who are partic.i.p.ating in the Olympics in this year"s national track and field team are on this list, which means that at least half of our athletes are using illegal drugs. How is that possible! This cannot be true!"
Williams sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I didn"t think it was possible when I saw the list. But when you think about it, this list may be true. We have a lot of track and field athletes who use illegal drugs. It"s an open secret, and we both know it. And this time it involves a lot of biological laboratories, and the "father of prohormone" Blecher. Think about what Blecher did in the past. That sc.u.m, he destroyed so many excellent athletes. What won"t he do?"
"But there are too many people involved. Is it possible that it is exaggerated?" Frey"s tone was a little softer.
"I don"t know if it is exaggerated, but the molecular formula of the 27 steroid derivatives was published in the investigation report. I just consulted our experts. With the molecular formula of these chemicals, the Anti-Doping Committee will soon be able to develop a method of detection. When the truth comes out, the athletes who used the illegal drugs won"t be able to pa.s.s the drug test," Williams said with a worried look.
"But I still don"t believe that so many athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs." Frey shook his head.
Williams sighed deeply. "There are many athletes on this list, including athletes who use "legitimate medication." The journalist"s report pointed out that many doctors deliberately gave fake prescriptions to athletes. They can use the medicine reasonably. You and I know about this, and the IOC also knows this. It is just that we pretend we don"t see it. No one wants to change the status quo. But now, the investigative journalist has exposed all of this. I think the FBI and the Physician a.s.sociation will intervene. Prescribing fake prescriptions is illegal. This kind of thing can"t be concealed if it is checked."
"The coaches are also mentioned on the list. All the coaches on our national team are listed." Frey pointed to the list. In the coach"s column, the first name listed was Sebastian"s. "But he is the head coach of the US team! "
"So if this list is true, we will suffer a fatal blow! From the head coach to the ordinary athletes. At least half of our athletes will be unable to partic.i.p.ate in this Olympic Games because of the use of illegal drugs. All our coaches will also be unable to partic.i.p.ate in this Olympic Games because of their involvement! Right now, I really hope that this list is fake," Williams said. It looked like he had aged ten years.
"What should we do?" Frey asked.
"Let"s wait and see. After all, we can"t be sure of the authenticity of this investigation yet," Williams said.
In Williams" heart, he still hoped that it wasn"t true, but he also knew that an experienced investigative journalist like Edward Snow wouldn"t choose to fight a battle he couldn"t win. Since he decided to leak the story, it was almost certain that the story was true.
...
Montreal, Canada. The headquarters of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Lewis, the chairman of the Anti-Doping Agency, had just convened a meeting with all the cadres.
"The breaking news in America, I"m sure all of you have seen it, right? If the content of the investigative report is true, this will be the biggest scandal in the history of sports. What are your opinions on this matter?" Lewis asked.
"I think the report is forged. It involves so many athletes, coaches, and numerous biological laboratories. It"s not possible if you think about it," someone said.
"I don"t think so. I think this report is the real deal. Athletes have been using illegal drugs for decades. Athletes around the world are using drugs every year, and every time we test the B samples that we have stored, we always discover that someone was using illegal drugs. Many of them were Olympic champions," another person immediately raised a different opinion.
Someone nearby immediately added, "And a large number of names on that list are people who are "legitimate drug users." They obtained drugs legally through fake prescriptions issued by their doctors. What"s more, we of the Anti-Doping Committee are the ones who gave approval. In this regard, we also have to bear responsibility."
"From the statistics, the country with the most applications for legal drug use is the US. Its numbers exceed the total number of applicants from all the other countries. And we grant more approvals to American athletes than athletes of any other country. I think we all know that we had to do this because our funding comes primarily from the United States. So on this matter, we only gave the Americans the green light."
Cough! Cough! President Lewis coughed twice and stopped the person from continuing. He obviously didn"t want to talk about this less-than-glorious subject. He said, "The problem of approvals for legal drug use is something we can put aside for the time being. What we are discussing now is the investigative report itself. How true is it? Dr. Lawrence, you are an expert in researching illicit drugs. What do you think about the authenticity of this report?"
A scholarly old man with gla.s.ses cleared his throat and said, "I think it is too early to judge, but on the technical side, there is indeed a gap between the first-cla.s.s biological laboratories in the United States and us. For example, we usually can"t detect the illegal drugs in the A bottle sample, and it"s usually a few years before we can detect substances in the B bottle sample. Our technique is always behind. So one thing is certain; the latest types of illegal drugs, based on our current technique, cannot be detected."
"I noticed in the report published by the media that there was a 27-substance chemical formula. Although we have not tested it, from the chemical formula alone, I am certain that it is a steroid derivative, and our detection process has never discovered it before. Although I am uncertain about the clinical effects of these substances, steroid derivatives are the most popular performance-enhancing drugs at the moment."
"Steroids and their derivatives, regardless of their clinical effect, are banned from use. Even if they are unable to improve or enhance performance, they are still illegal drugs," President Lewis said. He held his chin and thought about it. After a few seconds, he asked, "Dr. Lawrence, according to what you said just now, if one of these 27 substances were detected in the athlete"s sample, could we consider the athlete to have used illegal drugs?"
Dr. Lawrence nodded. "That is the case."
"So, can we detect these 27 substances?" Lewis then asked.
"In the past, definitely not, but now that the chemical formula of the substance has been published... Although we still can"t synthesize these substances, if we were to just test for them, it would be relatively easy," Lawrence said.
"How long do you need?" Lewis continued to ask.
Dr. Lawrence raised three fingers. "Three days. Three days is enough for me to design a method to detect these 27 substances."
"Very good. Inform the United States immediately; in three days, we will test the B bottle sample of all athletes who are allegedly using drugs," Lewis said without hesitation.
"Mr. Chairman, this matter involves many things. Do we want to be considerate of the United States?" someone reminded him.
"Things are already getting out of hand. Even the Americans themselves are asking for the truth. If we don"t do this, we will lose credibility. Don"t forget the Olympics is being held this year! If we let a group of athletes on drugs partic.i.p.ate, then what would become of the Olympics in the future?" Lewis said with a deep sigh. "Now that we"ve come to this, any attempt at a cover-up would be ludicrous."
...
How did the molecular formulas of the 27 derivatives leak out! Finished! This time I am really finished! Blecher"s expression was filled with despair.
Did the leak come from the biological laboratories? No, I only gave the laboratories 24 derivatives. There are three kinds of derivatives that I did not let any biological laboratory know, but they were still published! The problem is from my end.
It was that investigative journalist, that d*mn investigative journalist. It must be him! I should have killed him when I had the chance!
Blecher knew that this time, he was completely finished. The 27 steroid derivatives were the clearest evidence that he had been providing athletes with illegal drugs through those biological laboratories. Taking into account his criminal record, this time he might be subjected to a very heavy sentence. And his company would never be able to walk away from this.
Blecher went to the window and opened it, hoping to breathe fresh air and relieve his depressed mood, but he saw a black Chevrolet parking in front of the door to his company.
It was a Chevrolet Suburban. This car was a household name in the United States. For example, in the president"s motorcade, that car would be at the front. At the same time, this car was also called the FBI"s exclusive vehicle.
The FBI is finally here. Blecher had already guessed their ident.i.ty. His legs became soft, and he couldn"t help but drop to his chair.