Team NMI attends anti-doping workshop

Oceania National Olympic Committees executive director and chief communications officer Inoke Bainimarama, standing left, introduces the presenters at the anti-doping workshop, which Team NMI attended last week at the NMSA Conference Room. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Over 100 athletes and officials from Team NMI attended an anti-doping workshop as part of their preparations for the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022.

The workshop, dubbed as Clean Sport and the Protection of Clean Athletes, was conducted last Monday and Wednesday at the NMSA Conference Room through the efforts of the Oceania National Olympic Committees and the Oceania Regional Anti-Doping Organization.

ORADO Finance and Administration Officer Siniva Marsters and Guam National Anti-Doping Organization Lead Doping Control Officer Joey Miranda III were the presenters at the workshop.

They emphasized the importance of educating both athletes and officials on anti-doping regulations and other related information for all stakeholders to understand the process and protect athletes’ rights, and to level the playing field.

Doping is the act of consuming banned substances under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list to enhance one’s performance in a competition. WADA is an international independent agency established in 1999 to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports.

Miranda and Marsters discussed the testing process and its 11 stages, which focuses on protecting the integrity of the tests and the rights of the athletes. The presenters also answered questions ranging from the list of banned substances to the instances that testing is allowed to be delayed.

“We are pleased with the turnout of both sessions and the questions raised during the discussions. We’re glad to have many athletes and coaches/officials for this educational program because we want to remind athletes that it’s their responsibility to know what they are putting in their body. For coaches/officials, they have to know that they can’t interfere with the process,” said Miranda, who also shared his personal experience in testing Guam athletes.

“As an athlete, even if you unintentionally take the banned substance, that’s not a valid reason and you are still in violation of the anti-doping rules. Coaches and officials must also be aware of the rules to they can guide and protect their athletes,” said Marsters.

Franco Santos of golf and Mayiah Duenas of va’a were among the 158 attendees of the workshop and both underscored the importance of the educational program, especially to athletes that haven’t gone through testing or are not comfortable with the process.

“We have a lot of questions that were answered, like how would we know if what we thought is a regular medicine/supplement could still contain prohibited substance. It’s good that we’re having this discussion now than during the competition itself or after you have won a medal because if you get tested and unfortunately, they found something, you might lose that medal and worse also lose more opportunities to compete in the future,” Duenas said.

Santos, on the other hand, took note of the impact of the violation on the athletes’ health and reputation as well as for their team, family, and the NMI.

“Doping doesn’t only harm you with short term and long-term effects, but it also brings a negative image to yourself, your coach, your family and your country,” said Santos, who will be representing the NMI in a regional tournament for the second time, but last Monday’s session was his first time to attend an anti-doping workshop.

“It was a very detailed and fun workshop and I did learn a lot of new things. The workshop is very important because we, as athletes need to understand what clean sport means and why it is important. The workshop will help us better prepare ourselves on when, where, why, and how to submit a sample,” Santos added.

Meanwhile, Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan thanked the ONOC delegation, led by its secretary general Ricardo Blas, for making the educational program available to Team NMI. Tan, who attended the workshop too, also acknowledged the leadership of the nine sports federations participating in the Pacific Mini Games for quickly organizing their athletes and officials for the event.

“The attendance from our athletes and officials in the anti-doping workshop shows how our Team NMI is committed to preparing themselves for the Mini Games and representing ours islands well,” Tan said. (PR)