Swedish Athletes Back GPS Implants to Combat Drug Use

paulraps writes "Swedish athletes Carolina Klüft and Stefan Holm have proposed a radical technological measure to stop top level competitors from taking performance-enhancing drugs. Klüft and Holm, reigning Olympic champions in the heptathlon and high-jump events, argue that competitors at the highest level should either have computer chips implanted into their skin or GPS transmitters attached to their training bags so that the authorities can keep tabs on them at all times."

Re:Stupid Scientists

[megaditto]

Taking steroids IS honorable!

With steroids, everybody is equal and has a sporting chance, so anyone can have 165 IQ and be athletic. It really only comes down to the willpower and determination, not what set of genes you have. What's wrong with that?

Otherwise, activities such as bodybuilding would be impossible (without steroids) for most normal people, since their genes will not allow them to starve and build up muscles at the same time.

Er, we can't actually do this yet.

[Animats]

We can't actually build a small implantable GPS yet. Passive RFID tags, yes; GPS receiver with uplink, no.

Well, in theory you could build a pacemaker-sized device powered by a nuclear battery [orau.org], but that would take major surgery to install, and approval from the FDA and DOE.

Re:WTF?

[HomerJ]

There's a very simple test for HGH that involves taking no samples from the body.

Extended use of HGH makes your head grow like Ken Griffy Jr. on nerve tonic. Once you're done growing, your head doesn't grow. So after your first game, the league takes a note of your hat size. If your head grows more than two sizes, you're on HGH.

This always reminds me of a comment from a pitcher I can't remember. He beaned Barry Bonds in the head, and his excuse was "I couldn't help it! His head grew after I threw the ball!"

not that radical

[Anonymous Coward]

After looking at many of the comments it's clear to me that most of the folks here aren't Track and Field fans. What Kluft and Holm are suggesting is really not all that radical. Currently all elite T&F athletes must inform doping officials of their whereabouts at all times to allow for surprise out of competition drug testing. If the testers can't find an athlete it can count as a failed drug test (under the assumption that they may be hiding from the testers). The GPS would simply allow the testers to find the athletes at any time with ease, something that they are already supposed to be able to do. There have been several high profile cases of athletes getting banned because they weren't where they were supposed to be. The GPS just makes it so that dirty athletes trying to hide have no excuse (oh, I just forgot to tell officials that I was changing my training site) and clean athletes who legitimately forgot don't get banned for their forgetfulness.