Report: Countries fail to share athletes' location

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-10 10:52

Nearly half the countries that participated in the Beijing Olympics failed to tell organizers where their athletes were so they could be drug tested outside of competition.

A report issued Thursday by independent observers for the World Anti-Doping Agency said 102 of 205 countries represented did not provide Olympic officials with information about their athletes' whereabouts.

It is each country's responsibility to notify testers of its athletes' whereabouts during the games. The countries were not reprimanded during the games but were to receive written notification afterward.

Though one violation of the rule is normally not considered a doping violation, observers said the number of non-conforming countries was alarming.

They lauded the increased number of overall tests (4,770), blood tests (969) and tests for EPO (817) and human growth hormone (471), along with some very specifically targeted tests.

"This was undermined by the amount of missing whereabouts information," the report said. "Information about the whereabouts requirements for the pre-Games testing period and during the Games needs to be better communicated ..."

Among the biggest successes singled out by the observers were the positive tests of Spanish cyclist Maria Moreno and Greek hurdler Fani Halkia.

Moreno was the Beijing Olympics' first positive test. It came because of specifically targeted out-of-competition testing, the likes of which anti-doping agencies want more of in the future.

She was specifically tested for EPO, an endurance enhancer thought to be widely used in cycling. Earlier this week, the IOC said it would retest many Beijing samples for CERA, a new generation of EPO.

Halkia also was ejected from the games, and observers noted the Greek Olympic committee's plans to investigate whether she or her coach broke any laws.

The observers closed their 50-page report with a long list of recommendations.

In addition to asking for better compliance of rules regarding athletes' whereabouts, they recommended:

EPO testing for all athletes, not just medalists, in sports such as cycling, where use of the substance is well known. Also, more targeted testing for human growth hormone.

Not listing the substances being tested for on the doping control forms signed by the athletes "in order that athletes and support staff are under the impression that any sample can be analyzed for all substances."

Aggressive investigation of the role of coaches and medical staff in doping cases. Beginning next year, the name of each athlete's coach and doctor will be required on doping forms.

Observers applauded the work of the hundreds of sample collectors and chaperones, many of whom were put in awkward situations, needing to keep athletes in their sight after competition and through the testing process.

This led, however, to a few awkward moments, including a chaperone "gathered into, or perhaps under, a successful team's huddle after a basketball match," the report said.