LONDON -- A "very low" number of samples from track & field's world championships have tested positive for the steroid THG, an IAAF official said Thursday.
IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai wouldn't give the specific numbers, but he told The Associated Press that initial results from the French laboratory indicate there were very few positive tests.
The International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport's governing body, is retesting some 400 urine samples from the summer meet in France for the steroid that was undetectable until recently.
"These are excellent results for the IAAF," Gyulai said in a telephone interview. "The number is very, very, very low. There is nothing extraordinary so far."
Gyulai said the IAAF expects to receive further details of the tests at a meeting of its rule-making council in Berlin this weekend.
The initial results support the view expressed by IAAF and IOC officials that THG use is not widespread.
Retesting of the samples began Nov. 10 at the Olympic doping control laboratory at Chatenay-Malabray; it's expected to be completed next week.
"No one is expecting an epidemic," Prof. Jacques De Ceaurriz, director of the lab, told the AP. "It seems that it's limited to the United States and especially to California."
Names of any athletes testing positive would remain confidential pending analysis of the backup B samples. Those found guilty of steroid offenses would face two-year bans and lose any medals from the world championships.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has identified the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) as the source of THG, an accusation denied by BALCO owner Victor Conte.
THG, or tetrahydrogestrinone, was uncovered this summer after an unidentified U.S. track and field coach gave USADA a syringe containing traces of the substance.
The doping control lab at UCLA identified it as a steroid -- deliberately modified to avoid detection -- and devised a test for it.
At least five track and field athletes tested positive for THG before the retesting of the world championship samples began.
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