Howman reflects on seminal year

David Howman has been back in New Zealand on holiday. Photo / AP

Death threats to his US counterpart and the prospect of new drugs detection methods being trialled mean it's been an intriguing year for New Zealand's David Howman, who has been back home on holiday.

Howman, the Montreal-based director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, completed 10 years in the job in August - but counts 2013 as a year of gaining real traction against the drugs cheats.

That was shown partly by the intimidatory tactics against Travis Tygart, the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, a US$10m ($12m) commitment to research cell and hair sampling to detect drugs usage and stronger sanctions at November's 'world conference on doping in sport' in Johannesburg. As of January 1, 2015 a four-year ban confronts those convicted of using substances such as EPO, meaning an absence from the next Olympics. Tougher measures were also ratified for support staff who aid cheating.

The moves completed a seminal year for Wada. It started with the confession of former seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong as a serial doper in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Further developments cascaded. New International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach apportioned US$10 million towards doping detection innovations to match the annual US$3-4 million Wada spends on research; investigations employed better customs and police co-operation; literature abounded on performance-enhancing drug use with Wall St Journal writers Vanessa O'Connell and Reed Albergotti adding Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever to a bulging genre.

Downsides emerged too, such as the lack of effective drugs testing in the sprinting stronghold of Jamaica; the failure of Rio de Janeiro to develop a fully-equipped doping laboratory with a football World Cup this year and Olympics in 2016; the Spanish court ruling in Operacion Puerto that blood bags transfused from sportspeople by Dr Eufemiano Fuentes could be destroyed. Wada continues to fight that case under appeal. The bags remain locked in a vault.

Howman is contracted to Wada until midway through 2016 and said 2013 was a watershed: "The Armstrong case had a major impact because of his stature. It showed sophisticated cheats can be caught without testing positive. Information readily available through customs and police can be shared with sport to ferret out cheats, including trainers on the periphery.

"People have heroes [like Armstrong] who they don't want to shake from pedestals but, with so much media coverage and the release of books devoted to the subject, people are more aware of the industry it's become."

Howman paid tribute to Tygart who continued the fight against Armstrong when federal investigators reached a stalemate.

"As a result of his tenacity for justice, Travis had death threats. I hope more examples of what he has done filter through. We've got to do the best possible job for clean athletes because there'll always be many more of those than dirty ones."

Howman is encouraged by Bach's US$10 million initiative because it's a step into the unknown. Blood and urine testing are the usual methods of testing but cell and hair samples may do a more effective job and tell a story over a longer period. That may assist detection and do so faster and more cheaply - at a time when the IOC is retesting doping samples from the 2006 Winter Games in Turin with an improved steroid detection method; the results are due soon.

"He [Bach] doesn't appear to want to invest in the same old research which struggles to close the gap between clean athletes and sophisticated cheats," says Howman. "What he's saying is 'let's be innovative'."

Stagnation over the Rio lab gives Howman his greatest cause for concern: "That is pretty serious. We need a stronger commitment to make sure the lab is restructured in a new building for the Games. Apparently it will not be ready for the World Cup, but, for credibility's sake, we cannot afford to have a false positive or false negative test during the Games. This cannot drag on much further."

Howman is less worried about Jamaican testing lapses: "They went off the rails but we believe we've sorted it. We worked with the government, including the Prime Minister, to ensure they co-operate with the new [Jamaican anti-doping] agency who we met during the year. They appear well-trained."

Operacion Puerto is an area where Howman's legal training has him acknowledging the civil liberties/patient confidentiality defence used as a premise for not revealing the identities of tainted blood bags. Howman says the judges need to consider the greater good.