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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Expert Says Some Extreme Doping Test Results Show Athletes' Health At Risk

Robin Parisotto, an inventor of the test used to detect the blood doping agent EPO, said that some of the readings from athletes' blood tests leaked by a whistleblower for a report exposing suspected doping were so extreme they were "downright dangerous," according to Shine & Feast of REUTERS. He said, "There are real questions to be asked if there is no action taken, particularly for the results taken post-2009. Some of the values in these athletes were so extreme that they were downright dangerous and the risks to their health were indisputable." The head of world athletics defended the IAAF anti-doping record as global sporting bodies "called for a thorough probe into the latest allegations to plunge international sport into crisis." Parisotto noted that "not all the abnormal results necessarily indicated doping, as factors such as the timing of tests, altitude and testing conditions could have led to some suspicious outcomes." He added: "But there were values that were ... quite extreme and even taking into consideration confounding factors, there was really no disputing what that data was telling us" (REUTERS, 8/3). In London, Sam Dean wrote IAAF President Lamine Diack dismissed the accusations of widespread doping in athletics as a “joke” and said that "there is an agenda behind their publication." Diack said that "the timing of the reports is evidence that there is a campaign for a redistribution of medals." The IAAF will answer its critics but he added that the suggestions that medals should be taken away from athletes with suspicious blood results are a “farce.” Diack said, “They are playing with the idea of a redistribution of medals. It’s possible, if we prove with the new techniques at our disposal that someone doped. Otherwise, it’s a joke. Just three weeks before the world championships, there is something behind [this]” (LONDON TIMES, 8/3). In London, Lewis & Cutler wrote the two men who want to run world athletics claim that "the IAAF can clean up doping in the sport despite the latest damning revelations that appear to show widespread cheating." With British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe and Ukraine National Olympic Committee President Sergey Bubka still campaigning for votes, neither Coe nor Bubka "was willing to be critical of the IAAF’s apparent lack of action in picking up on suspicious results." Bubka: "We invest the most money according to other federations, with all the new innovation to catch the cheaters. If we need to strengthen our rules and regulations, we will do it" (LONDON TIMES, 8/3).

TARNISHED IMAGE: In a separate article, Lewis wrote top British athletes criticized "lax drug controls." Former Olympic Gold Medal-winner Sally Gunnell "called for nations to match Britain’s drug-testing regime." Gunnell: "I wish some countries were as strict as we are in this country. I know our athletes, the amount we are tested. I sometimes think, ‘Why aren’t other countries doing that?’ But please don’t tarnish everyone with it.” Triple jump world record-holder Jonathan Edwards said that "the revelations were another blow for the sport." He said, "It is one story after another at the moment" (LONDON TIMES, 8/3). The AP reported IOC President Thomas Bach said that the IOC "will take action against any Olympic athletes if they are found guilty of the latest doping allegations rocking the sport of track and field." Bach: "If there should be cases involving results at Olympic Games, the IOC will react with zero tolerance with our usual policy." The IOC "previously stripped medals from athletes who have been retroactively found guilty of doping offenses dating back to the time of the games." The IOC "also stores Olympic doping samples for 10 years for possible retesting." Bach said, "We have full confidence in the inquiry by WADA. If needed, we will follow suit ... and do everything to protect clean athletes" (AP, 8/3).

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