Are Olympic Drug Testers Targeting Jamaican Sprinters Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell?

When the track and field competition begins at the Olympic Games on Friday, the main focus will be on the men's 100-meter dash, where Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell will duke it out with American Tyson Gay for the title of World's Fastest Man.

But some of the focus will also be on the issue of performance-enhancing drugs. Recent history has told us that it's practically guaranteed that some of the greatest performances on the track will be called into question.

It's basically accepted by everyone that drug testing as part of the Olympics is here to stay, but Bolt and Powell think they're being unfairly targeted. Gina Kolata of the New York Times reports that Powell has been tested at least once a week since the track season started in May, and Bolt has been tested three or four times in the past 12 days, and they're starting to get sick of it. They also question whether they are being singled out for more testing than other athletes.

It's hard to blame them. Olympic rules basically say the testers can approach any athlete at any time and demand urine and blood samples, and that the athletes have to drop what they're doing -- eating, sleeping, stretching, getting a massage, whatever -- and comply immediately. If my job required such an invasion of privacy, I'd be looking for another job.

But Bolt and Powell chose this job, and these are the consequences of the war on performance-enhancing drugs. I don't know if Bolt and Powell are being targeted, but I do know that they've agreed to the rules that allow the International Olympic committee to target them.