2012 Olympics: have British athletes been used as guinea pigs?

UK Sport, the British government agency, is said to have used 91 athletes in eight sports as guinea pigs, ahead of the 2012 Olympics. This is confirmed in its Sunday edition of the British tabloid The Daily Mail. The institution allegedly administered an energy drink called DeltaG to them without having guarantees on the side effects. The device would have cost several hundred thousand pounds of public money. UK Sport denies these accusations.

The daily claims to have documents from 2011 and 2012 attesting to a "secret project" aimed at improving the performance of athletes. The athletes would have been hired without knowing whether the doping tests would all come back negative. This drink was known to fuel the special forces.

The World Anti-Doping Agency in the loop

UK Sport reacted by explaining that it had consulted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the British anti-doping authorities to ensure that this product complied with the rules in force and did not endanger athletes.

"UK Sport does not finance research projects intended to give our national teams a performance advantage at the expense of the well-being of the athletes", defends the institution in a press release. The government agency ensures that, according to the list of products and methods prohibited by WADA dating from 2011, DeltaG cannot be considered as doping.

The Mail on Sunday survey reveals that 40% of athletes who tested this product suffered from gastrointestinal side effects (vomiting, etc.). 28 of 91 athletes preferred to end the test for these reasons. 24 others withdrew from the program believing that this product brought them no benefit. Great Britain had concluded the 2012 third-best Olympic nation with 29 gold medals.