All athletes at worlds to be blood tested

Aug 12, 2011, 15:42 GMT

Monaco - Athletics' governing body IAAF has said that all athletes participating at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, will be blood-tested.

In a statement issued in Monaco, the IAAF said that the programme will be done in addition to the regular doping controls that are collected at a World Championships.

IAAF said that they would collect some 500 in and out-of-competition urine samples.

'The (blood) samples will be analysed on-site in Daegu for a first haematological screening analysis and after the end of the Championships in Lausanne for further analyses.

'The analyses by the LAD will focus on measuring relevant parameters (biomarkers) for individual profiling purposes within the framework of the Athlete Biological Passport.'

The IAAF said that using the athlete's biological passport the athlete's biomarkers could be monitored over time.

'The focus is not on the detection of prohibited substances or methods themselves, as for traditional doping tests, but on proving the use and effect of these substances and methods by way of abnormal variations in an athlete's biomarkers that would otherwise be stable.

'It will be the first time that a heterogeneous population of nearly 2000 elite athletes competing in a major sports event will be blood tested under the same optimal conditions, within the same time period.

'The data collected will therefore constitute a unique database of reference ranges for various biomarkers in elite male and female athletes competing in different disciplines and from different ethnical backgrounds.'

The organization said that they would use the results as a first 'fingerprint' for athletes with no previous records at the IAAF and to build upon already existing athlete profiles recorded and followed by the IAAF.

'Suspicious results from the screening analyses performed on-site could, where appropriate, trigger follow-up target tests in Daegu in urine (notably for EPO) and/or further analyses for prohibited substances or prohibited methods in blood in Lausanne.'

The IAAF said that the results could be used in support of an anti-doping rule violation if an athlete's overall biological profile is found to be consistent with the use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method, in accordance with IAAF Anti-Doping Rules and Regulations.

The 13th world athletics champions will be held in Daegu from August 27 to September 4.