Professor Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol. (October, 2000). Nandrolone. [https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/nandrolone/nandj.htm].

"Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid that has recently caused a great deal of controversy after a number of big name athletes have been banned from competition after failing tests for this drug. These include Linford Christie, Mark Richardson and Dougie Walker (all well known British sprinters), Merlene Ottey (the Jamaican former 200 m world champion), and Dieter Baumann (the German 500 m runner). After protesting their innocence, all were subsequently cleared by their national athletics organisations, although the International Amateur Athletics Federation fueled the controversy further by overturning the reinstatement of Christie and Walker. As well as athletes, French soccer star Christophe Dugarry tested positive for nandrolone after a match last year, and following a Wimbledon quarter final in 1998 Czech tennis player Petr Korda also failed a test. But the fact that so many sportsmen have tested positive for the same substance in such a short space of time has led to speculation that the testing procedure may be flawed, or inaccurate".

Implication. Eventually, it was shown that Nandrolone metabolites can be detected without an athlete having deliberately taken Nandrolone is one of its ester forms. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency and its national affiliates has disregarded this as being a weakness and persecutes athletes to this day.

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