Pound sounds Athens drugs warning
World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound warned potential Olympic cheats that his organisation is making huge strides at the “beginning of a whole new era” in the fight against drugs in sport.
Drugs scandals are never far from the spotlight and they have been as prominent as ever in the build-up to the Olympics in Athens, threatening to overshadow sport’s greatest showpiece.
David Millar’s shock admission and subsequent two-year ban for admitting to taking the blood-boosting drug EPO sent shockwaves through the British team, while in Athens a Kenyan boxer has already failed a drugs test.
For that pair, the Games were over before they had even begun for other sportsmen and women, sparking concerns that more bad news will be on the way as the competition unfolds.
There is considerable pessimism among competitors, spectators and the media.
However, the Athens Games is the first at which WADA’s new code will be adopted by all Olympic committees, and Pound believes the undertaking will ensure the fight against drugs is one the authorities are winning.
“I think we are now at the beginning of a whole new era that will create a level playing field around the world,” said Pound, as he outlined WADA’s role in doping controls during the Olympics.
“The process to agree the code and have it set down has taken 18 months to complete and all 35 Olympic federations will adopt it.
“Every one of the 202 national Olympic committees with teams here in Athens have also adopted the code.
“Compliance with this code is obligatory for all stakeholders in the Olympic movement.”
While Pound stressed it will be the International Olympic Committee who will carry out doping tests during the Games, he said WADA will once again play a key role alongside the IOC, as they did in Sydney.
Through their ‘independent observer’ programme set up for the Sydney Games, WADA will randomly monitor and report on all phases of the doping control and results process – a measure which Pound believes puts WADA in a strong position.
“As independent observers we have the right to appeal to the sport arbitration court if there is any case where we believe it is necessary,” he said.
WADA are also involved in out-of-competition doping tests during the games, and there will be many carried out, with Pound confirming that the total would be somewhere “in the hundreds”.
Such testing is what accounted for Kenyan bantamweight boxer David Munyasia’s positive test, which Pound admitted was unfortunate but showed how increased measures were rooting out the cheats.
A total of 3,500 doping tests will be carried out in Athens during the Games, a 25% rise on the Sydney figures.
