Unbeknownst to the four-time Olympic gold medalist [Dara Torres], [Travis] Tygart and his staff had been developing a program that would attract worldwide attention. It was the first step in what could change the face of anti-doping. Project Believe, it was dubbed, and the program and its name underscored the challenge USADA and the Olympic movement face.
In China, during 16 days of competition that follow Fridays opening ceremonies, far more than medals will be at stake. So is the credibility of sport frayed by one steroids scandal after the next.
Project Believe amounted to a bold step for those tasked with catching cheaters and safeguarding clean athletes. The program calls for an unprecedented number of drug tests in an effort to monitor an athletes body chemistry, and the underlying principle addresses a vexing problem.
Though Marion Jones eventually admitted she took banned substances, she had passed dozens of drug tests administered by USADA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Either she was too clever for the drug tests, or the drug tests werent good enough. Project Believe provides a potential solution.
By measuring an athletes body chemistry, any drastic shift in the levels of testosterone, hemoglobin or other biomarkers would serve as evidence that an athlete had cheated, even if the traditional tests failed to detect banned substances. Like Jones, Torres had passed dozens of drug tests but never been subject to a program like this.
USADA found 12 volunteers, including some of the worlds most elite Olympic athletes such as swimmer Michael Phelps and sprinter Tyson Gay. But the athlete who drew more attention than any other and, in turn, intensified the spotlight on USADAs new program and its effectiveness was the mother of a 2-year-old who turned 41 in April and is headed to her fifth Olympics.
