Behind the drama of high stakes competition at the Olympic Games is a scientific team working to keep medal winners honest. Author Caroline Hatton is a scientist who was on the team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In a gripping account, readers learn how the drug detection team works. While athletes wowed the crowds during the day, the scientists worked long into the night to detect a new, never-before-tested drug. Eventually three medal winners were exposed and stripped of their medals. Yay, science!

This book looked very interesting, as I did not know what “The Night Olympic Team” was. I also liked the torch on the cover. The topic of drug testing was very interesting.

It was cool to see how scientists test athletes to see if they are doping. The thing I liked most about this book was the information about THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), which is a “designer” performance-enhancing drug. The part of the book I liked least was the lack of info on the Summer Olympic Games.

I learned a lot about urine testing, and how the drug NESP was created to help cancer patients with treatment but is used by cheating athletes. I also learned how to distinguish “natural EPO” and “recombinant EPO”. Reading this book helped me realize how harmful these drugs can be if used for non-proper/non-medical purposes.

If I could change anything about this book, I would add more information about the Summer Olympics, the Tour de France, and assorted professional sports leagues. I especially liked how the author explains how the anti-doping lab tests urine samples, and how they use “old” tests to uncover new drugs. My overall impression of this book is a very good one; I learned lots from this book.

The score I give this book out of ten is 9.99 because no book is perfect. I would describe this book in one word as GREAT!

(Originally published in the May/June 2009 issue of YES Mag.)