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Becker took sleeping pills and alcohol to combat stress

Digest : Three-times Wimbledon champion Boris Becker says he took pills and alcohol to cope with the stress of the tennis world…

Wed Nov 05 2003 - 00:00

Digest: Three-times Wimbledon champion Boris Becker says he took pills and alcohol to cope with the stress of the tennis world.

The former world number one reveals in an autobiography to be published later this month that he was addicted to sleeping pills for years and also had a drinking problem.

"Sleeping pills were my problem," he wrote in a an extract of his book released yesterday by top-selling German daily Bild.

The German, now 35, said he started taking sleeping pills in 1987, during a low point in his career, and did not kick the habit until 1992.

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Becker, whose heroics on the tennis court made him one of Germany's biggest post-war celebrities, retired after playing one last Wimbledon in 1999.

In his book, entitled Wait a second, stay a while, he says he was prescribed sleeping pills called Planum and soon became addicted but also took other drugs.

"Against the lack of sleep there was Planum, against the pain there were a few other pills," he writes. "Against loneliness, women and whisky helped." Becker said he soon could not sleep without taking pills and suffered from depression from swallowing too many.

ATHLETICS: The discovery of a new designer steroid and the proliferation of positive tests could lead to athletics chiefs reimposing four-year bans on drugs cheats. World athletics' governing body the IAAF reduced the minimum penalty for steroid offences from four years to two in 1997.

But in light of the recent discovery of tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) and the number of positive tests for the stimulant modafinil, the IAAF now says there may be an argument to restore the four-year minimum.

"We reduced the minimum ban period because of pressure from (athletics) outsiders who wanted harmonisation," IAAF media director Nick Davies said yesterday.

"Some countries had a real problem with imposing a four-year ban . . . legally speaking. That may have changed now. "

HOCKEY: The Mauritius and Chilean Cup holders, DCU (men) and Trinity (women), both suffered defeats on the opening day of the intervarsities in Dublin yesterday, with Trinity's men and the women of UCD and the University of Limerick beginning their campaigns with two wins apiece, writes Mary Hannigan.

UCD beat NUIG and Trinity 5-0 and 2-0, respectively, to top pool A in the women's event, while Limerick had a perfect start to their pool B campaign with 4-0 and 1-0 victories over RCSI and UCC. Trinity's men, meanwhile, overwhelmed Limerick 5-0 before f a narrow 4-3 win over champions DCU.

CHILEAN CUP (women) - Pool A: NUIG 0 UCD 5; Trinity 0 UCD 2; DCU 0 Trinity 4; Univ of Ulster 1 DCU 1; NUIG 0 Univ of Ulster 0. Pool B: RCSI 0 Univ of Limerick 4; Univ of Limerick 1 UCC 0; UCC 2, Queens 1.

MAURITIUS CUP (men) - Pool A: NUIG 2 Queens 4; Queens 0 DCU 2; Trinity 4, DCU 3; Trinity 5 Univ of Limerick 0; Univ of Limerick 0 NUIG 2. Pool B: UCC 0 Univ of Ulster 5; RCSI 0 UCD 2; RCSI 1 UCC 4.