IAAF: All athletes in Daegu to be blood tested

Every athlete competing in this year's World Athletics Championships will be blood-tested in an unprecedented anti-doping programme, the sports governing body said yesterday. The blood-testing programme at the August 27 to September 4 event in Daegu, South Korea, will be carried out in addition to the regular doping controls — in Daegu approximately 500 urine samples will be collected in and out-of-competition combined, the IAAF said. It will mark the first time that almost 2,000 elite athletes competing in a major sports event will be blood tested under the same optimal conditions, within the same period. First screening The samples will be analysed by the Lausanne Wada-accredited Anti-Doping Laboratory (Lad) on-site in Daegu for a first screening analysis and after the end of the Championships in Lausanne for further analyses. The analyses would focus on measuring relevant parameters (biomarkers) for individual profiling purposes within the framework of the Athlete Biological Passport, the IAAF said. The results will be used in three ways — as a first "fingerprint" for athletes with no previous records at the IAAF; to build upon already existing athlete profiles recorded and followed at the IAAF; and to establish the reference ranges of relevant biomarkers among elite male and female athletes. Suspicious results from the screening analyses performed on-site could trigger follow-up target tests among the athletes in question in Daegu in urine (notably for EPO) and/or further analyses for prohibited substances or prohibited methods in blood in Lausanne. Biological profile All results can ultimately 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 the IAAF's Anti-Doping Rules and Regulations.