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Clean bill of health for Athens heroes

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UK Sport Press Release 11 November 2004

Massive steps forward in the drug testing of disability sport have been highlighted today in figures released by UK Sport. In the run up to the Paralympic Games, 92.8% of the British team were tested by the UK’s national anti-doping agency compared with just 30% prior to the Sydney Games.

In addition, 99.6% of Britain’s Olympic team were tested at least once before the Games, compared with 81% prior to Sydney. This makes it, in terms of percentage of squad tested, one of the most successful pre-Games testing programme of any nation in the world. It is also the most comprehensive pre-Games testing programme ever conducted by UK Sport on Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

John Scott, UK Sport’s International Director, said: "We have seen through the quality of performances at the Paralympic Games that this is world-class sport featuring world-class athletes. As such we need to make sure their performances are fair, and the proactive work of the International Paralympic Committee and the British Paralympic Association in embracing drug testing has enabled us to achieve this major improvement over previous pre-Games programmes."

Earlier this year the IPC issued new anti-doping regulations, in line with the World Anti-Doping Code, to which the BPA has signed up. Phil Lane, Chief Executive of the BPA said: "The Paralympic movement has come a long way in recent years in terms of recognition. Having a full and thorough anti-doping programme in place helps this process by showing that athletes with a disability are subject to the same strict scrutiny as their able-bodied counterparts.

Lane added: "And, of course, we’re particularly pleased that all the tests conducted by UK Sport prior to the Games showed that all our athletes went to Athens as drug-free athletes. In Athens, the British team performed superbly to finish second in the medal table and this shows they did so fairly and cleanly."

Indeed, there were no positive cases among the 1,016 pre-Olympic and Paralympic Games tests conducted by UK Sport. This is no doubt in part due to the comprehensive education programme which accompanied the pre-Games testing.

All British athletes attending the Games had access to an anti-doping workshop and all were provided with anti-doping packs which included a selection of approved permitted medication for common illnesses. In addition, enquiries to UK Sport’s Drug Information Database reached record levels in the six months before the Games. Over 21,000 enquiries were recorded on the site (www.uksport.gov.uk/did) which allows athletes to check whether or not products they wish to use are permitted according to the World Anti-Doping Code’s list of prohibited substances and methods.

"We continue to put more resources into education and information provision to athletes and their support staff," said Scott. "This ensures they know all they need to know about competing drug-free, and also minimises the risk of inadvertent doping through stressing the importance of carefully checking substances before they take anything."

Other notable statistics to rise from the pre-Games testing programme include:

• 100% of Britain’s Paralympic medallists were tested at least once before the Games and 58% two or more times.
• 98.2% of Britain’s Olympic medallists were tested at least once, and 49% two or more times.
• 74% of the 1,016 pre-Games tests conducted out-of-competition – a reflection of WADA’s recommendation for more no-notice out-of-competition testing.

The results were released on the same day as those from the UK’s anti-doping programme for the period from 1 July-30 September. These show that 1,408 tests were carried out across 35 sports. Over the course of the year to date (April-September), 2,756 tests have been conducted. Governing bodies receiving most tests during this six month period have been the Football Association (295), UK Athletics (283) and British Swimming (211).

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