Fighting to Keep Drugs Out of the Games
"I wrote this book to show young readers science in action and how difficult work was accomplished only because key people helped one another."
Book Description:
The Night Olympic Team takes readers behind the scenes at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City to discover how lab scientists catch athletes on performance-enhancing drugs, which are prohibited because using them is cheating. Teachers can use the book in the classroom to spark discussions of scientific and ethical issues in doping in sports. The clear language makes it an easy crash course in anti-doping basics for adults.Nonfiction
Hardcover, 56 pages.
Full-color photographs, glossary, resources, index.
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press (May 2008)
ISBN-10: 1-59078-566-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-59078-566-9
E-book: Kindle Edition, 76 KB
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press (May 2008)
ASIN: B001CRPH30
Read the School Library Journal Interview
Praise from Reviewers:
"A must-read on doping...Caroline Hatton's 'The Night Olympic Team' is an essential in-depth look at drug cheating in sports."--Philip Hersh
Special to the Los Angeles Times
"[A] detective story…packed with convincing reasons to compete clean."
--Robert Ito
Los Angeles Magazine
“Hatton does a creditable job of explaining the chemical alphabet-soup jargon of drugs and drug-testing, abetted by a design that features short chapters and fact boxes that both flesh out the story's details and offer supplementary facts about doping. Along the way, she makes a strong case for the importance to both health and integrity for the stringent treatment of offenders. Readers will certainly understand one of the more complicated subtexts of the upcoming Olympics much better after spending some time with this… readable offering.”
--Kirkus Reviews
"A concise, readable account of a group of scientists who are working to detect forbidden drug use in sports. ...Hatton’s approach to the issues raised by the use of performance-enhancing drugs is fair-minded and kid-friendly. When considering why athletes cheat, she observes: “A gold medal might make an athlete a national hero or lead to fabulous wealth. Some athletes feel too much pressure to win from fans, loved ones, or even themselves.” Teachers and young readers will appreciate Hatton’s personable manner and her keen perspective on this timely subject."
--School Library Journal
"Timely and informative."
--Reviewers of Young Adult Literature
In this timely and highly readable account of the unmasking of three Olympic athletes who used a performance-enhancing drug that they thought would be undetectable, and the scientists who discovered and identified that drug, Caroline Hatton has created a true-life adventure story. Clearly written, with a “you are there” sense of immediacy, we are pulled into the story of the drug testing lab at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, participating in the nightly urgency as the scientists process urine samples provided by athletes the previous day. With pronunciation guides for difficult words and sidebars to explain complicated concepts and related issues, the author keeps the main story focused on the drama of unfolding events. Holding us in suspense until the final chapter, Caroline Hatton helps us understand the dedication, challenges, and rewards of the Night Olympic Team.
-- Caroline Arnold
Author of 30 Outstanding Science Trade Books - Children’s Book Council and National Science Teachers’ Association (CBC/NSTA)
Teachers are an important audience as the kids are where the future will be influenced. Will the next generation be as jaded and open to temptation as the current one? Time will tell. But books like this one are necessary to provide solid information and context to the issue. It's well done, nicely illustrated, and should be well received.
-- Jim Ferstle
Freelance writer
Look Inside The Night Olympic Team:
Click here to view inside the book.
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Look inside the E-Book and Buy it:
Click here to preview the Kindle book and buy it.For Teachers:
The Night Olympic Team is an Accelerated Reader Book. The quiz is available from Renaissance Learning.
Video: Introduction to Sports Doping Control (2 min 20 sec)
Informational video made by Agilent Technologies for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Caroline K. Hatton, Ph.D. (UCLA Olympic Lab consultant at the time) and Stuart P. Cram, Ph.D. (Agilent Technologies) appear in it.
Curriculum ties to frameworks
- Middle School
- High School
Teachers Tool Kit:
ages 10-12- The Spirit of Sport
- Doping and the Spirit of Sport
by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
More resources at the page Against Drugs in Sports.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How long did it take to publish The Night Olympic Team?
It took me two years to write the book and two more years to find the publisher. Then it took only nine months to publish the book.
How does the EPO (blood booster) test work?
Read a clear explanation offered by Anti-Doping Research, Inc.
Were the three 2002 Olympics cases described in the book also based on blood tests, in addition to urine tests?
Yes! In each case, a blood sample had been collected at the same time as the urine sample in which NESP (the prohibited blood booster) was found. Both the blood and urine were analyzed at the UCLA Olympic Lab in Salt Lake City. The test results met the criteria for reporting the cases.
The Night Olympic Team describes how clean athlete Beckie Scott got bumped up in the ranking when dopers were disqualified. Were other athletes bumped up for the same reason?
Yes! In each case, a blood sample had been collected at the same time as the urine sample in which NESP (the prohibited blood booster) was found. Both the blood and urine were analyzed at the UCLA Olympic Lab in Salt Lake City. The test results met the criteria for reporting the cases.
Can sports ever be drug-free?
We'll never catch every single drug user, but we have room to cramp the style of dopers and have reasonably drug-free sports.
For answers to the following questions and more, see the School Library Journal interview.
What was it like being a member of the Night Olympic Team?
How stressful was it to work under such a tight deadline?
Tell us about the night your team discovered NESP in an athlete’s urine.
Did you feel bad about someone’s career being ruined?
For the answer to the following question, see the interview by Tina Nichols Coury.
Will you be going to the Summer Olympics in Beijing? If not, will an independent service or the Chinese government do drug testing?
References Used to Write the Book:
available upon request
Click on other titles by Caroline Hatton:
Where Is My Puppy?
Surprise Moon
A Pet for Grandma
Vero and Philippe