The weather has been so awful in the UK that I’ve not had the opportunity to practise flying in my glider at all.  So, instead I decided to spend some time and go through the necessary paperwork.

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) subscribes to the World Anti-Doping Regulations.  The Anti-Doping Rules are sports rules that govern the conditions under which sport is played, and these regulations are also applied to gliding competitions, so it’s really important that I get to fully understand them.

Have you ever read the rules?  I was quite shocked!  I assumed that there would be one long list that you need to read and understand and then take great care in what you eat and drink in order to avoid going anywhere near the limits.  But it’s nothing like that.. there are in fact three lists –

One whereby prohibited substances are prohibited at all times; a second list where the substances are prohibited during the competition and thirdly there is also a list of substances that are banned in particular sports – this includes gliding and this latter case, the substances are alcohol and Beta Blockers.

It is my personal duty to ensure that no Prohibited Substance enters my body.  The Women’s Gliding Team do not have an enormous support team of coaches, Team Captains or nutritionists to assist us in ensuring that we are aware of the regulations, so it is entirely up to me.  I do not take any medication, but never-the- less, it still worries me that it could be so easy to be eliminated from the competition by something apparently trivial.  The tricky part is that the lists have the chemical names in the main rather than ‘products’, so each ingredient needs to be carefully checked out.  Watch this space!