Page 75 of End Game
‘You won’t be surprised to learn that my team of highly trained scientists checked and double-checked, in fact triple-checked at Lord Coe’s insistence, both the A and B samples of the athletes concerned. Unfortunately, they confirmed that both samples contained Turinabol, a banned substance underthe revised Olympic code.’ Eight eyes were trained on him, waiting to hear the names. ‘The athletes involved,’ he said, ‘were Usain Bolt and Mo Farah.’
‘I don’t believe it,’ was Sir Keith’s immediate reaction.
‘I don’t want to believe it,’ said Seb Coe, ‘but having led a crusade against drug cheats following Ben Johnson’s disqualification in Seoul, I’m left with little choice but to announce at the morning press conference in a few hours’ time that both athletes concerned have been disqualified and will take no further part in the Games.’
‘But Bolt has just qualified for the final of the one hundred metres, and is the odds-on favourite to win,’ said Sir Keith, ‘and if Farah were to achieve the double, with victories in both the ten thousand metres and the five thousand later in the week, he would join an elite group, making him part of Olympic history.’
‘Before we get ahead of ourselves,’ said Sir Julian, ‘perhaps I might be allowed to ask the professor some obvious questions, as I would of any client, in the hope of finding a weak link in the prosecution’s argument.’
The professor nodded.
‘If an athlete wins a medal, a gold as Mo Farah did yesterday evening in the ten thousand, or should an athlete progress to the next round, like Usain Bolt, they are then automatically tested to find out if they have taken a banned substance that would disqualify them from taking any further part in the Games. Is that correct?’
‘Quite correct,’ said the professor, as if dealing with one of his brighter pupils.
‘But how is that test carried out?’ asked Sir Julian.
‘The athlete concerned is accompanied to a testing area, where they have to provide either a blood or urine sample,’said the professor. ‘If they choose to provide a urine sample, it will be witnessed by a specially trained Sample Collection Officer, who then transfers the urine from the collection vessel into two sample bottles, labelled A and B. These are then sealed and labelled before being sent by a special courier van to the drug-testing centre in Harlow. Sample A is tested, while Sample B is stored in case further testing is required.’
‘And how are these Sample Collection Officers chosen?’ asked Sir Julian.
‘They are independent officials from a neutral country assigned on a rota,’ explained Coe. ‘All of them have vast experience in the field and were vetted long before the Games opened.’
‘Who were the two SCOs on this occasion, may I ask?’ said Sir Julian.
Sir Keith began to tap away on his iPad, while everyone else waited. ‘In the case of Usain Bolt, it was a Russian called Igor Semolov and, for Farah,’ he continued tapping, ‘Jin Chun Dhang, the official Chinese representative.’
‘How very interesting,’ said William, speaking for the first time.
Sir Julian looked across at his son. ‘What are you suggesting, Commander?’
‘We have already discovered to our cost,’ said William, ‘that the Russians have a vested interest in undermining the London Games.’
‘Details, Commander,’ demanded Sir Julian, as if cross-examining a hostile witness.
‘Even before the opening ceremony, my team and I dealt with a variety of incidents unquestionably orchestrated by the Russians. It has become abundantly clear that they consider the Olympic Games is a misnomer and the wordOlympicshould be replaced withWar. If Bolt and Farah were to be disqualified, that would be the only thing the London Games would be remembered for. All our hard work and successes would be forgotten overnight. Ask any Canadian.’
‘I assume you all read the story in theDaily Mailconcerning a Russian high jumper, Natasha Korova, which only confirmed something we’ve suspected for years,’ came in Sir Keith. ‘Namely, that the Russians have a state-sponsored doping programme, with the single purpose of winning as many medals as possible, preferably gold.’
William suppressed a smile. He was proud of his daughter. She’d nailed the Russians far more convincingly than a thousand officials.
‘We suspect the Russians may be working alongside the Chinese,’ came back William. ‘They’ve made no secret of wanting the Beijing Games to appear a triumph when compared to London.’
‘None of this would be admissible as evidence in a court of law,’ said Sir Julian, ‘as you well know, Commander.’
‘Possibly not,’ said William, refusing to back down, ‘but I’d be very interested to know if these Sample Collection Officers were the first choice?’
‘That should be easy enough to establish,’ said Sir Keith, who began tapping away again on his iPad. A few moments later, he frowned. ‘The Commander may have a point, Sir Julian, because neither of them was originally listed on the daily rota.’
‘Then who should have carried out the tests?’ demanded Sir Julian.
‘In the case of Mo Farah,’ said Sir Keith, ‘the designated observer was an Italian called Tony Cressi, who called in earlier in the afternoon to say he was unwell.’
‘Why am I not surprised?’ said William, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Sir Julian scowled. ‘And Bolt?’ he asked.
‘His observer should have been a Brazilian official, who failed to turn up.’
