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[00:01.00]STEVE EMBER:This is Steve Ember with the VOA special English program in the NEWS.
[00:05.91]Over the next two weeks,ten-thousand athletes from two-hundred countries will compete in the Summer Games in Sydney,Australia.
[00:16.57]They will try to live by the Olympic saying,"faster,higher,stronger."
[00:22.83]But in the world of sports,experts say too many athletes use performance-improving drugs to reach these goals.
[00:33.05]The International Olympic Committee says drug use risks the health of athletes and violates the rules of sport.
[00:43.31]If an athlete fails a drug test before an event,he or she is banned from the competition.
[00:51.44]Athletes who fail a test after winning an event lose their medals.
[00:58.60]This year,the I-O-C says it is testing more Olympic athletes more often than ever.
[01:05.70]Some experts say this is still not enough.They say it is still too easy for athletes to use drugs and pass the tests.
[01:18.08]The International Olympic Committee bans six kinds of substances and three methods of increasing performance.
[01:28.11]One group of banned drugs is anabolic steroids.These substances increase muscle strength.
[01:36.40]Experts say that some fast-acting steroids now leave the body in just a few hours.
[01:43.61]That makes them extremely difficult to find.
[01:47.78]Another banned drug is known as EPO,Erythropoietin increases the production of red blood cells.
[01:57.89]The resulting increase in oxygen can improve an athlete's performance in both short and long distance events.
[02:07.14]Officials at the Sydney Olympics are testing for EPO for the first time this year.
[02:14.25]But experts say the officials may not find any,if an athlete stopped taking the drug about a week before the Games began.
[02:24.46]Another banned substance is human growth hormone,which builds muscle size and strength.
[02:32.74]Others include beta blockers and diuretics.Beta blockers are taken to calm nerves.
[02:41.31]Diuretics increase the production of red blood cells.They also increase urine production,which can hide the presence of banned drugs.
[02:53.09]Still another illegal way to increase production is called blood doping.
[02:59.86]Blood is taken from an athlete.Red cells are removed and cooled.
[03:06.07]One month later,the blood is put back into the athlete's body.This increases the amount of oxygen the body carries.
[03:17.18]The newest way that some athletes try to improve their performance is with blood substitutes.
[03:25.38]These also increase the amount of oxygen in th blood.
[03:31.52]Many of these banned substances are dangerous.
[03:35.70]They can thicken the blood,cause an enlarged heart,or damage the reproductive system.They can even kill.
[03:46.93]Yet a recent United States government study said about thirty percent of Olympic athletes use illegal drugs.
[03:57.04]Winning a medal can mean fame and a chance to earn a great deal of money.
[04:03.36]Some athletes say taking drugs for a few years will not hurt them.They believe the risk to their health is a small price to pay.
