EXPERT: Dr Stephen Bird is an expert when it comes to nutritional supplements and sport, and says that as soon as people see needles they think it has to be bad. 020813bird
THERE may be practices in the world of elite sport that some people find a bit odd.
This could include taking supplements, which is common practice.
Dr Stephen Bird, senior lecturer at the School of Human Movement and Exercise Science at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, is a widely acknowledged expert when it comes to sports performance.
He is set to present a paper on nutritional supplements at a conference in Sydney in April.
With the emotive issue of performance enhancing drugs across several codes making headlines around the nation, Dr Bird remains open-minded about the taking of nutritional supplements.
"Nobody has been named," he said. "There are a lot of nutritional supplements used out there, but it is yet to be determined whether it is best practice or detrimental to the athlete.
"All these teams are being implicated in providing a supplement program that is being done through injection as opposed to an oral means.
"If what they have used conforms with ASADA and WADA, I can't see it as a big issue ... In light of the sensitivity of the subject, following the recent developments in cycling, people are much more aware of the issue and immediately think 'oh, this is a problem'."
Dr Bird says a case in point is that people are quite happy for an athlete to come off at half time with an injury, get a cortisone injection, and then sent back onto the field to finish the game.
"Is that right?," he said. "All I can say is, the professional teams I have worked with, I haven't witnessed anything being used outside the approved supplement dosages set by the World Health Organisation and comply with ASADA.
"People see needles and think it has to be bad. You have to remember a lot of athletes would rather take vitamin B6 or B12 by injection rather than tablets. Maybe these people would also be happy to have a needle to take other supplements. But at the moment it is not clear what they have taken".
Dr Bird said no-one in the sports named in the controversy had been implicated, "but everyone has been tarnished".
"These teams need to be sure the staff they are employing are properly accredited ... and have the right qualifications."
