Souped-Up Athletes?

The doctor thought he saw a disturbing symptom. When he was a college lad, "the four-minute mile was as unlikely as flying to the moon." but nowadays it is only a little better than par for the course. "The recent rash of four-minute milers is no coincidence," darkly concluded Dr. Herbert Berger, chairman of New York State Medical Society's Subcommittee on Addiction to Alcohol and Narcotics, as he stood last week before this year's convention in New York City of the American Medical Association (see MEDICINE).

Dr. Berger offered a diagnosis: many of the nation's athletes, from milers to football pros to schoolboy second basemen, are gobbling "pep pills" containing stimulating, habit-forming drugs like amphetamine, commonly known as "dexies" or "bennies." Prodded by Berger, the A.M.A. voted to investigate the "indiscriminate use of these agents, particularly in relation to athletic programs."

Somewhat to the doctor's dismay, his patient rose up in wrath. To a man. the four-minute milers scoffed at his direct implication that they were hopped up for their races. Said Britain's Roger (3:58.8) Bannister, who first cracked the "barrier" in May 1954: "I have never even contemplated using such drugs myself." Don (3:58.7) Bowden, University of California miler who this month became the first American to go under the mark, called the charge "ridiculous and silly." Said Australia's world recordholder John (3:58) Landy: "Hah, hah, hah."

At week's end, while man plodded resolutely ahead with plans to fly to the moon, the A.M.A. set up a press conference for Dr. Berger to meet reporters anxious to ask for documentation of his charges. He did not show up. later firmly turned away all such queries. Meanwhile, the American College of Sports Medicine decided to look into the situation.

After the first angry blast at Dr. Berger's claims, a handful of sports figures--a few American pro footballers, a former Olympic swimmer from Australia, a Canadian team physician--frankly admitted that the doctor had a point. When he was playing for the Detroit Lions, recalled Quarterback Tom Dublinski, who later switched to the Toronto Argonauts, he once took a pill that pepped him up too much. "It hopped me up to high heaven," said Dublinski with a shudder. "That's no good--a quarterback has to be steady."

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