German TV claimed that a high-profile British athlete "is said to be among more than 150 competitors involved in another doping cover-up," according to Rick Broadbent of the LONDON TIMES. The Cologne-based anti-doping investigative team said that the Int'l Association of Athletics Federations "failed to follow up a raft of suspicious blood values between 2006 and 2008." Its whistleblower, who was a long-serving member of the IAAF Medical Commission, claimed that athletes from the U.K., Russia, Kenya and Germany "were among those who escaped target testing." The latest program aired on the ARD channel alleges that the “vast majority” of these cases would have led to doping bans. Inevitably, the claim "led to wild rumours about who the Briton is with at least one Olympian carelessly libelled on Twitter." The athlete "has not been identified" in the program or by any athletics body (LONDON TIMES, 12/9). In London, Ben Rumsby wrote the list, "the authenticity of which has not been disputed by the IAAF, contains the names of three British competitors." The program "interviewed a whistle-blower it said was a long-time member of the IAAF medical commission." The list was said to have been compiled between '06 and '08, "before the introduction into athletics of the biological passport, which monitors the longitudinal blood values of competitors" (TELEGRAPH, 12/9). The BBC reported the latest claims "will add weight" to British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe's campaign for the IAAF's anti-doping system to be completely independent in terms of testing and sanctions. Coe, who is running for the IAAF presidency, "has made the establishment of an independent doping body a key part of his manifesto." Coe: "There is a disproportionate amount of reputational damage being caused by a small number of countries. This is not endemic across the world of athletics" (BBC, 12/9).
