IOC: Beijing anti-doping program the broadest in sports' history

by Barbara McPherson | July 4, 2008 at 05:40 pm

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I guess we can all rest easy now. Maybe they should have a dopers' Olympics and be done with it.

GENEVA - The IOC said Wednesday its drug-testing program at the Beijing Olympics will be the most rigorous anti-doping effort in sports history.

The International Olympic Committee plans to conduct 4,500 tests in Beijing, up from 3,600 in Athens four years ago and 90 per cent more than in Sydney in 2000.

The IOC will also ask Chinese police and security officers to act against suspected doping suppliers before and during the Aug. 8-24 Games.

"The Beijing Games anti-doping effort will be the most comprehensive in sports history," said Prof. Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC medical commission, on a conference call.

"The quality of tests are better than ever," he added. "No test is 100 per cent, but we are certainly up to date and state of the art, absolutely."

Ljungqvist dismissed a scientific study published last month which claimed the official test to detect EPO, a blood-boosting hormone, did not work. The Danish study claimed that some people could take EPO without being caught.