Victor Conte – The so-called 'Saddam Hussein of Sports’

Founding BALCO
Developing PEDs
‘Saddam Hussein of Sport’
THG
Nutrition supplements
'The Clear'
Helping stars
Gold medals
USADA
Finding syringes
550 athletes tested
Interview
Name dropping the athletes
Dropping 40 from 42
Light sentence
Force for good
Founding BALCO

In March 1984, Victor Conte founded the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), initially testing athletes for nutritional deficiencies.

Developing PEDs

By the 1990s, Conte had started developing Performance Enhancing Drugs, working with some of the biggest athletes in world sport.

‘Saddam Hussein of Sport’

According to wbur.org, Conte said: "I'm a guy that's called many bad names: Dr. Frankenstein, the Saddam Hussein of Sport."

THG

According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Conte developed a banned steroid known as tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) with the help of bodybuilding chemist Patrick Arnold.

Nutrition supplements

For the majority of his time at BALCO, Conte developed legal nutrition supplements, but by 2000, Conte was the man for PEDs in elite sports.

'The Clear'

Conte developed an anabolic steroid called 'The Clear,' a watery substance that was dropped under an athlete's tongue to prevent hormone levels from changing, keeping them clear in drug tests.

Helping stars

For years before he was indicted and arrested for conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering, Conte helped stars Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, and allegedly Barry Bonds.

Gold medals

Conte had helped Jones to multiple Olympic Gold Medals, most notably at the 2000 Games, and helped Montgomery to a 100m world record in a team he formed called 'Project World Record.'

USADA

Conte sold his substances undetected until 2002 when the official federal investigation of BALCO began. USADA also started their investigation into the company around the same time.

Finding syringes

In the summer of 2003, USADA investigators received a syringe with trace amounts of a mysterious substance. The anonymous tipster was Trevor Graham, Jones and Montgomery's coach.

550 athletes tested

The syringe went to Don Catlin, who had developed a testing process for THG. He tested 550 athletes, of which 20 had tested positive for using the substance, including Kelli White, Dwain Chambers, and Kevin Toth, who became incriminated in the investigation.

Interview

Conte knew he was on borrowed time, with 20 athletes found to have used his developed steroid. In December 2004, he participated in a groundbreaking interview that changed everything.

Name dropping the athletes

In an interview with ABC, Conte admitted to running a doping program, that had broken Olympic records, as well as implicating Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, Dwain Chambers, and NFL player Bill Romanowski, including many more.

Dropping 40 from 42

Federal prosecutors dropped 40 of the 42-count indictments after BALCO was thrust into the public consciousness as the face of performance-enhancing drugs.

Light sentence

In 2005, Conte pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and one count of money laundering, spending four months in prison and four months on house arrest.

Force for good

Since his release from prison, Conte has started a new company called Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning and helps boxers like Devin Haney to maximize their body's limits legally.

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