On Side

With Sport Integrity Australia opening to the public on July 1, new Chief Executive Officer David Sharpe talks about the dangers sports will face in the future in the latest episode of On Side. Sharpe admits there are a “lot of challenges ahead”, particularly in the current COVID-19 climate. “If you took me back three or four months ago, I would have said the greatest threats in sport are organise...

This episode features two of our Doping Control state managers John Rhodes (Victoria) and Alissa Ready (Queensland). John and Alisa commenced their newly created roles in July to be a conduit between the Canberra office, regional staff and sports. John, who has a background in anti-corruption, says the perception of ASADA of the past has been “misrepresented” and is happy to see this perception ha...

While COVID-19 has shut down sport in Australia and around the world, ASADA’s CEO David Sharpe says our role in protecting sport is “more critical than ever”. “There’s a lot of pressure on athletes and right now, more than ever, ASADA’s role is to look at the environment and ensure that we are still able to effectively protect the environment for the future of sport,” Sharpe says. It’s important t...

USADA CEO Travis Tygart has dealt with some of the biggest anti-doping cases in history, such as the scandals involving Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones. Tygart says “nobody ever likes to have to hold a global icon accountable or take away five medals from a Marion Jones”. “Those are tough moments and you wish those athletes hadn’t made the decision to cheat,” he says. Despite receiving numerous d...

Swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medallist Petria Thomas has a message for all athletes - “You don’t need to cheat to be good”. Petria joins us on the Podcast this week to discuss the role anti-doping plays to ensure a level playing field and how the process has developed over time. “It [testing] is a part of being an elite athlete,” she says. “It’s not just about enduring the testing, it’s abo...

This episode focuses on an anti-doping education collaboration between the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ). USADA’s Elite Education Manager Tammy Hanson says while there are a lot of similarities between the programs, collaborating and sharing resources was “invaluable”. “We’re questioning everyth...

Welcome to Season 2 of On Side. Today’s episode features 2008 and 2012 Paralympic cycling gold medallist Michael Gallagher. Prior to the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Gallagher tested positive for recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) at a training camp in Italy. Still under sanction, Gallagher talks about the biggest impact his sanction had on him and what drove him to “cross a dark line”. “It [sanction...

Dr Susan White, an inaugural member of the very first Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) committee in Australia, last month celebrated 20 years on the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee (ASDMAC).   Dr White, who has been the committee chair for the past five years, has reviewed over 4,500 TUE applications and renewals. Recognised as a global expert and leader in the field of Anti-Dopin...

You’re never too young for anti-doping education!   That’s the view of Drug Free Sport NZ (DFSNZ) Education Manager Sian Clancy.   Sian believes the perfect time to ensure they develop as a clean athlete is when a person is developing the limbs and mindsets that will set them on the pathway to be an athlete.   We also learn how the similarities between Australian and New Zealand athletes have laid...

In this episode of On Side, we speak to Andrew Collins, ASADA’s Chief Information Officer.   A self-confessed nerd, Andrew has always been interested in technology and loves pulling things apart. A university degree led him to Defence intelligence where he was introduced to the world of cyber security. Andrew was brought to ASADA to lead our digital transformation to a paperless organisation and t...

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work at ASADA? We asked University of Canberra student John Vandermeide, who has finished a professional placement here with the science team, exactly that. “It’s definitely been very eye-opening because it is a very particular mix of science and kind of law-enforcement,” John says. “It’s definitely an amazing opportunity that I’ve had.” In his third year o...

AIS Chief Medical Officer Dr David Hughes talks about the issues of inclusion in sport following the release of the Guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport in June. Sport Australia, in consultation with the Australian Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, whose members include the AFL, Tennis Australia...

In this episode of On Side we meet swimming World Championship bronze medallist Kurt Herzog, our Clean Sport Educator, who made his Australian debut at the relatively late age of 23.   Kurt, who jokes that for many years he was the “slower twin”, says he became increasingly passionate about clean sport as his career took off.   “[After] putting years and years of training into your chosen sport yo...

In this episode of On Side, we talk to Margaret Anderson, a former PE teacher and our Doping Control Officer. Anderson, who has a life-long love of sport, says athletes “are usually pretty cooperative” when asked to provide a urine sample however “it might depend on whether they won or lost”. She says her motivation to work for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority was because she believed i...

In this episode of On Side, we talk to Nick Paterson, the Chief Executive Officer of Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) about our collective commitment to clean fair sport.   “As ever there is plenty of competitiveness and banter in there, but certainly working together, collaborating, is the only way to address it (anti-doping), the only way to approach it,” Paterson says. “It’s about getting in...

In this episode of On Side Darren Mullaly, our Deputy CEO – Legal, Education and Corporate, discusses why ASADA has confidentiality undertakings with national sporting organisations (NSOs).   Mullaly says ASADA’s default position on the disclosure of protected information is to maintain confidentiality, however there is some flexibility.   “The confidentiality undertakings don’t restrict sports in...

In this episode of On Side we meet scientist Shereen Naz, who also studied vet science and pathology.   Shereen migrated to Australia from Pakistan and talks proudly of how she celebrated Ramadan with her colleagues earlier this year. “The way ASADA celebrated with me pre-Ramadan - that memory will stay with me forever ... This is how we can bridge those gaps which are due to misperceptions.”   We...

Welcome to On Side, the official podcast of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).   ASADA is globally recognised for continually setting new benchmarks in operating and delivering an effective anti-doping program. Our mission is to protect the health of athletes and the integrity of Australian sport.   This podcast goes behind the scenes of ASADA and meets the people associated with...