Sydney-There is nothing really new in the Olympic drug race but the handicappers. For years, new technology tried to get a nose ahead of resourceful cheats, with the only pervasive result being even- spreading cynicism. Now? It's still a difficult call, but new players such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) are billing themselves as more independent and better funded than previous doping police.

According to [Barry McCaffrey] and Frank Shorter, the 1972 Olympic marathon champion named chairman when the USADA was formed early this year, the work is real. They reported yesterday that 2,045 tests have been done this year by WADA, with 20 "elevated samples," the results being referred back to the national governing bodies for the sports of the fingered athletes.

The more important aspect of having the new national and worldwide testing bodies is to de-politicize dope detection by taking it out of the hands of the sports federations and national Olympic committees that stand to lose marketing clout and prestige if they discipline their own stars. Shorter said that all U.S. sports bodies had "signed off on this," and that his group will have complete authority in issuing suspensions and penalties for positive tests, with the project funded by the national government and the U.S. Olympic Committee.