20. march 2008.

IAAF Releases 2007 Annual Doping Control Statistics

Monte Carlo – The IAAF has today released the detailed statistics of its 2007 anti-doping programme including testing numbers, concluded positive cases and a list of athletes tested out-of-competition.

For the calendar year 1 January to 31 December 2007 the IAAF conducted 3277 doping control tests consisting of 1426 in-competition tests and 1759 out-of-competition tests (plus 92 Pre-Competition). This IAAF testing forms part of a world-wide programme where approximately 20,000 samples were collected in the sport of track and field in 2007.

To date the IAAF has publicly announced 10 positive results from the 2007 IAAF testing programme with 8 of these occurring as a result of the targeted out-of-competition testing programme. A number of further cases are still pending the results management process and final decision.*

In announcing these statistics, IAAF President Mr. Lamine Diack commented “I am proud that the IAAF continues to conduct one of the world’s largest out-of-competition testing programmes and the crucial importance of this is shown in the fact that the majority of our positive results are found in this form of testing”.

“Already the focus of our testing has turned towards the Beijing. Since the closing of the 2007 World championships we have been concentrating our testing on those athletes who may compete in, or attempt to qualify for the 2008 Olympics and we will conduct well in excess of 1,000 out-of-competition tests between 1 January and the opening of the Olympic Games,” said President Diack.
“The IAAF will use every method available to it in the next 5 months to chase down the minority of athletes who may be thinking of cheating and committing fraud against their fellow competitors in Beijing,” confirmed President Diack.

2007 IAAF Doping Control Statistics

Blood Testing Programme

http://www.iaaf.org/antidoping/news/newsid=44109.html

17. february 2008.

IAAF Medical and Anti-Doping Commission - summary

Monte-Carlo - The IAAF Medical and Anti-Doping Commission met over a period of two days in Monaco from 8-9 February. IAAF General Secretary Pierre Weiss opened the meeting by welcoming the 5 newly appointed members of the Commission and at the same time thanked the previous and continuing members for their hard work over the recent years.

Day one of the meeting was dedicated to medical matters with Chairman Dr. Juan Manuel Alonso stressing this important area of work should not be overlooked and that they IAAF had a responsibility to provide the best possible advice to the athletes and Member Federations.  In this light the Commission discussed the Injury Prevention Project which was piloted in Osaka and already has some interesting results.  The Project will continue most notably Valencia and Beijing 2008 (with the cooperation of the IOC) to allow the opportunity for more data to be collected.  The Commission also discussed the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and what information and advice can be provided to athletes who will be competing.  Among the other issues discussed were resources for Federations such as the Nutrition for Athletics Booklet which will soon be available in multiple languages (already available in English), the IAAF Medical Manual, liability issues, Regional Development Centre medical seminars, and the IAAF requirements on Local Organising Committees in regards to medical services.

Day two of the meeting focused further on anti-doping issues.  This meeting provided an opportunity for the Commission to hear a report on the IAAF 2007 doping control programme (details soon to be released on the IAAF Website), as well as the plans for the 2008 programme which has already begun and is this year focused on providing targeted out-of-competition testing in the lead up to the IAAF World Indoor & Cross Country Championships as well as of course the Beijing Olympic Games.  The World Anti-Doping Code which forms the basis of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules was updated in late 2007 and the Commission Members discussed the timeline for changes to be made to the IAAF Rules. Commission Members also discussed the various new WADA International Standards for Testing, TUE’s, Protection of Privacy, and Laboratories which all impact to various extents on IAAF Anti-Doping Rules, Regulations and Protocols.

http://www.iaaf.org/antidoping/news/newsid=43435.html

2. january 2008.

Arbitration panel suspends Justin Gatlin for four years

The United States Anti-Doping Doping Agency (USADA) has announced that Justin Gatlin (USA) has committed an anti-doping rule violation and has received a four year period of ineligibility starting on May 25, 2006.

To read the full USADA announcement please click here.

http://www.iaaf.org/antidoping/news/newsid=42802.html

23. november 2007.

IAAF Press Release on Marion Jones

At its meeting held in Monaco on 23 November 2007, the IAAF Council reviewed the case of Marion Jones in light of her admission that she was using the prohibited substance known as 'the clear' beginning on 1 September 2000 and confirmed the following consequences of her admission of doping and acceptance of sanction:

The IAAF Council further recommends to the IOC Executive Board to disqualify Ms Jones and the USA women's 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams from the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and to insist on the return of all medals and diplomas.

http://www.iaaf.org/antidoping/news/newsid=42531.html

13. september 2007.

Scientists highlight benefits of genetic research in sport, but warn of ethical concerns

Genetic research into athletic ability should be encouraged for its potential benefits in both sport and public health, a leading group of scientists meeting at the University of Bath said today.

However, ethical concerns, such as whether seeking information about differences between ethnic groups could be perceived as racist research, need to be properly addressed, they warn.

Their recommendations are published in a ‘position stand’ on genetic research and testing launched at the British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences annual meeting today.

They call for more genetic research in the sport and exercise sciences because of the anticipated benefits for public health, but want researchers to take a more active role in debating the implications of their work with the public.

“If a powerful muscle growth gene was identified, on the one hand this could help develop training programmes that increase muscle size and strength in athletes, but even more importantly the knowledge could be used to develop exercise programmes or drugs to combat muscle wasting in old age,” said Dr Alun Williams from Manchester Metropolitan University, one of the report’s authors.

“We, as scientists investigating genetics, acknowledge a public concern about some genetic research and we believe scientists need to engage in public in debates about the potential benefits of their research."

“Research into the athletic success of East African distance runners or sprinters of West African ancestry might be perceived as unethical."

“But understanding the limits of human exercise capacity in sport could lead to the development of treatments for a range of diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease.”

The potential applications of genetic testing in sport and exercise also raise some ethical concerns, for example in identifying potential athletic ability before birth.

An Australian company already offers the first genetic performance test (for the ACTN3 gene) which has been linked to sprint and power performance.

The report authors are sceptical about whether this test is useful but anticipate that more advanced versions of these tests will be available in future.

“We are not yet at a point where we can identify a potential future Olympic champion from genetic tests but we may not be very far away,” said Dr Williams, who wrote the report with Drs Henning Wackerhage (Aberdeen University), Andy Miah (University of Paisley), Roger Harris (University of Chichester) and Hugh Montgomery (University College London).

They highlight two dangers of genetic performance tests. Firstly, genetic performance tests might later be linked to disease. For example, a muscle growth gene may later be linked to cancer growth.

“Not all people may want to know, while young that they are at increased risk of cancer by early middle age, but they might inadvertently become aware of that just because they had a ‘sport gene’ test,” said Dr Williams.

Secondly, genetic performance tests can be performed even before birth and this may lead to the selection of foetuses or to abortions based on athletic potential.

The report recommends genetic counselling and that the testing should be confined to mature individuals who fully understand the relevant issues.

Genetic tests might also be used to screen for health risks during sport such as genes that are linked to sudden cardiac death.

Genetic tests for sudden cardiac death are already available but the report recommends that such testing should not be enforced on athletes.

Problems with mandatory testing are highlighted by the case of the basketball player Eddy Curry, who had an irregular heart beat.

Curry was asked by his club, the Chicago Bulls, to perform a predictive genetic test for a heart condition. The athlete refused and was traded to the New York Knicks who did not make such a demand.

In future, genetic tests might be used to identify those that respond with the biggest drop in cholesterol, blood pressure or glucose to exercise.

In a personalised medicine approach, such tests could be used to select subjects for therapeutic exercise programmes but scientists are concerned that this might undermine the ‘exercise for all’ message that already seems difficult to get across to the public.

The authors say that genetic testing might also be used to detect gene doping, which may be a real threat by the time of the London Olympics in 2012, or to show that positive doping tests are the result of a genetic mutation in an athlete.

The report recommends that genetic testing should be used for anti-doping testing as long as the genetic samples are destroyed after testing.

http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2007/9/13/sportgenetics.html