Key role of Blackpool's double-Olympian shotputter Martyn Lucking in the fight against drugs since first Tokyo Games.

The 32nd summer Olympics have closed and thoughts turn to its legacy. The previous Games in Tokyo 57 years ago would have a profound impact on the future of world sport and a shot putter from the Fylde coast played a significant part in that.
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Martyn Lucking may not have made the impact he had hoped for the GB track and field team in Japan in 1964, though the Blackpool doctor sowed the seeds for what would become a worldwide battle against drug-cheating in sport which continues to this day.

That's not to downplay the sporting achievements of Martyn, now 83 and living on Headroomgate Road, Lytham St Annes.

Two-time Olympic shotputter and Commonwealth Games champion Martyn Lucking in 1959Two-time Olympic shotputter and Commonwealth Games champion Martyn Lucking in 1959
Two-time Olympic shotputter and Commonwealth Games champion Martyn Lucking in 1959
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Lucking is a two-time Olympian, having reached the final at Rome in 1960, and went to Tokyo as Commonwealth Games champion (Perth 1962). He had also won silver at the previous Empire Games, as the event was then known, at Cardiff in 1958.

Martyn admits he underperformed in Tokyo, where nerves overcame him, though that was not the only reason he did not qualify for a second Olympic final.

Dr Lucking, a GP on Lytham Road in South Shore for more than 30 years, takes up the story. “I felt completely intimidated by these huge fellows I was competing against.

"I was intrigued to learn during the Games that the weight gain and improved performances of some competitors in my event was due to these little white pills – anabolic steroids.

Martyn Lucking continued to dedicate himself to sport's battle against doping ever since encountering steroid use at Tokyo in 1964Martyn Lucking continued to dedicate himself to sport's battle against doping ever since encountering steroid use at Tokyo in 1964
Martyn Lucking continued to dedicate himself to sport's battle against doping ever since encountering steroid use at Tokyo in 1964
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"I reported this to Sir Arthur Gold of the British AmateurAthletics Board. We checked whether there was anything about this in the rulebook of any Olympic sports but there was nothing. So what these athletes were doing was not illicit.

"Sir Arthur took this up with the International Athletics Federation and the International Olympic Committee. Within a few years the use of these substances was banned.

“I felt very strongly that these people were cheating, even if they were not contravening the rules. And by getting Sir Arthur involved, I stimulated a British effort which got the ball rolling.”

Using his own medical expertise, Dr Lucking would continue his studies into this field, his findings assisting the development of what would ultimately become the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

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Born in Leigh-on-Sea on the Essex coast, Martyn discovered his talent for track and field at primary school and went on to specialise in shot and discus as a teenager.

At medical school in London he met fellow student Anita, from Fleetwood. After they graduated and were married, the couple settled on Anita's native Fylde coast, and former Southend-on-Sea Athletic Club member Martyn joined the Blackpool and Fylde Club.

He recalls: “We met in the university athletics team. Anita was a sprinter who had won the all-England girls' title.

"All my best competition performances were at university. Once I started work as a doctor, time to get away was very limited and so I lacked competition practice enormously.

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"I became a junior doctor at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, which was handy for practising at Stanley Park. I was able to do weight training using my own equipment in the physiotherapy department, while also being on call.

“I exceeded the Olympic qualifying distance of about 57 feet quite easily and was selected to go to Tokyo. The hospital kindly agreed that I could have 15 days off work.”

Martyn became a firm friend of sprinter Alf Meakin, Blackpool and Fylde's other representative at those 1964 Games. Alf too spoke to The Gazette recently about his amazing experiences and those distant days at Stanley Park.

“Alf and I travelled the world together and I knew him well,” recalls Martyn. “But the problem then was finding time to compete because you had to work. I didn't actually compete for the Blackpool club very often.

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“But I just about held my own in training and the facilities at Stanley Park were good – the only problem was they used the track for dog shows.”

Indeed, Alf and Martyn tell a story from one such canine convention which has passed into the club's folklore. A lady praised the hosts for being so thoughtful in providing a sanded play area for the dogs – it was actually the long jump pit.

Like Meakin, Lucking has fond memories of Japan, though neither did themselves justice in competition.

Martyn recalls: “The British athletics team performed exceptionally well in Tokyo and were third in the medals table behind the USA and USSR.

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"But personally it was a disappointment. I was well up to my best in practice but when it came to the event I was a complete wreck. I could hardly get any rhythm or flow into my performance.

“I was Commonwealth Games champion and had six years of international experience but the Olympics is a whole different level.

“I was capable of throwing well over 60ft, which would have got me into the final, but I only did 57.

“We were very much welcomed by the local people. The accommodation was good but it wasn't new or purpose-built - we were just in houses. The training facilities were good too but I didn't see an awful lot of Japan.”

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There was little time to do so, with tight budgets meaning that athletes remained at the Games no longer than necessary.

“I don’t recall the opening ceremony in Tokyo and I suspect that's because we hadn't arrived,” says Martyn. "The team definitely did not attend the opening ceremony in Rome because the British Olympic Association did not have the funds for a long stay.

"The Olympics in those days were very different. We were all classed as amateurs, though even then there were various ruses to circumvent that.

"There was very much less hype in those days. There was no sponsorship or cash available from any source. Nor was there any targeting of specific sports to win this or that number of medals."

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Martyn's time in Japan may have been short but it had a lasting effect on his life and career, as he pursued his studies into doping in sport.

"At that time there were no tests which could be done to detect its use," he explained. "Work was initiated at St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Chelsea College in London and they came up with an accurate and reliable method for detecting hormone-related substances in urine samples.

"It seemed obvious to me that just testing competitors at actual events was unlikely to catch many. It was necessary to test away from competition arenas and I proposed this via the British International Athletes Club (IAC) to The British Amateur Athletics Board.

"I conducted a trial of 25 active international athletes during the winter of 1978/9. The idea was to determine whether it was feasible to drop in on athletes at home, at their place of work or training ground with minimal notice to obtain a urine sample.

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"I had volunteer 'testers' throughout the country and I did several myself. It worked well and so began the out-of-competition testing scheme, now taken over throughout the sporting world by WADA. It is still run on lines very similar to those we devised all those years ago.

"To a certain extent, I feel that the knowledge I gained in Tokyo and how I was able to take the anti-doping organisation forward in some small way justifies my selection for the 1964 Games."

But close to six decades later, that race to defeat the cheats is still being run.

Dr Lucking says: "WADA are doing a lot more now and are introducing fingerprint blood tests, which are very effective and give a lot of information.

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"But regrettably, despite all the testing that goes on, there is evidence that doping is still a scourge of many Olympic and other sports.

"I am sure we need to do much more out of competition testing and make the penalty for contravening the doping laws a life ban and not just a year or so."

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