IOC anti-doping programme sees 2,667 tests during Sochi 2014
These were the Games for the athletes. The clean athletes.
Thanks to the most stringent anti-doping programme in Olympic Winter Games history, never has it been so difficult for cheats to prosper. In total, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) oversaw 2,667 tests during the course of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, surpassing the previous record set at Vancouver 2010 by 518 tests.
Of the 2,667 tests, 477 were blood tests and 2,190 were urine tests.
The programme also included smarter and more targeted testing. Pre-competition tests numbered 1,421, an increase of about 60 per cent from Vancouver 2010. In total, the IOC set aside more than USD 1 million for pre-competition testing, transport, storage and retesting for the Sochi Games.
Post-competition testing, meanwhile, focused more on “higher risk” sports and team sports.
The samples from Sochi 2014 will be kept for 10 years and may be tested retroactively should new detection technologies become available.
For more information:
Sochi 2014: IOC Anti-Doping Rules
IOC fact sheet on the fight against doping The mission of the IOC’s Medical Commission