Olympic alarm at drop in dope tests
Olympic chiefs today expressed concern at a huge drop in the number of out-of-competition drugs tests.
The surprise visits, where doping officials arrive unannounced at an athlete’s home, have been credited as being the biggest single deterrent in the campaign against drugs in sport.
Due to financial problems however, the World Anti-Doping Agency more than halved the number of tests they carried out from 5,000 in 2003 to 2,400 last year – despite it being an Olympic year.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said: “Out-of-competition testing is the cornerstone of the fight against drugs in sport.
“I have expressed concern with [WADA president] Dick Pound and he has told me that his budget does not allow for more testing.
“He has other priorities such as scientific research which we understand is very important asset in the fight against doping and also because of the desire for WADA to invest more in education.
“I think there is no lack of goodwill on the side of WADA but there is perhaps a little bit of a shortage of funds to do that. We will see how we can accommodate that.”
Rogge, Pound and the head of the summer Olympic sports Denis Oswald will now meet in June to try to find a solution.
Meanwhile, the IOC are to close a loophole in doping regulations to extend drug-testing to all finalists in Olympic events.
Currently, only the medallists are tested but if one tests positive then the fourth-placed athlete – who has not had a drugs test – is awarded a medal without having to prove they are clean.
Rogge added: “We need to avoid a situation where athletes are awarded medals without being tested properly.
“We need to expand the number of athletes tested and we will take this on board.”
