Planted Samples Upset Seoul Drug-Test Chief

The director of drug-testing at the Olympic Games in Seoul said he was angered when he learned that International Olympic Committee officials planted drug-filled urine samples in his lab to see if he was doing his job.

“I was mad,” Park Jong Sei told the Washington Post. “When you are tested, you are not too happy.”

Park said he learned he had been monitored when he asked IOC officials why no action had been taken against the athletes the samples supposedly had come from.

The testing supervisor also confirmed that 7 athletes were found to have traces of banned substances in their urine, but they were not disciplined because the amounts were too small. Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal in the 100 meters after tests revealed he had taken massive amounts of a banned steroid, and 10 other athletes also were disciplined.

Park also revealed that samples taken from 3 athletes revealed that they had smoked as many as 2 joints of marijuana the night before their competition. The athletes were not penalized because marijuana is not one of the 97 performance-enhancing substances banned by the IOC.