Press Release - IAAF World Championships - 8/11/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                   Blood Tests for All Athletes in Daegu in 
                      Unprecedented Anti-Doping Programme
  
Monaco - The IAAF will collect blood samples from ALL athletes taking part 
in the IAAF World Championships in Daegu in an unprecedented anti-doping 
programme.
 
This programme will be conducted in close co-operation with the Lausanne 
WADA-accredited Anti-Doping Laboratory (LAD) and with the support of the 
World Anti-Doping Agency and a number of local partners including the Daegu 
Local Organising Committee, the Korean Anti-Doping Agency and the Doping 
Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology.
 
The blood testing programme in Daegu is being organized in addition to the 
regular doping controls that are collected at a World Championships (in 
Daegu, approximately 500 urine samples shall be collected in and 
out-of-competition combined).
 
What is the blood testing programme?
 
Blood samples will be collected from all athletes participating in the 
World Championships.
                                              
The samples will mainly be collected at a purpose-built doping control 
station located in the Athlete's village starting from 18 August 2011.
 
The samples will be analysed by the LAD on-site in Daegu for a first 
haematological screening analysis and after the end of the Championships in 
Lausanne for further analyses.
 
The analyses by the LAD will focus on measuring relevant parameters 
(biomarkers) for individual profiling purposes within the framework of the 
Athlete Biological Passport.
 
The fundamental principle of the Athlete Biological Passport is based on 
the monitoring of an athlete's biomarkers over time.  The focus is not on 
the detection of prohibited substances or methods themselves, as for 
traditional doping tests, but on proving the use and effect of these 
substances and methods by way of abnormal variations in an athlete's 
biomarkers that would otherwise be stable.

As one of the leading International Sport Federations in the fight against 
doping, the IAAF has fully engaged in the implementation of the Athlete 
Biological Passport at an early stage since it believes it to be a key tool 
in the modern fight against doping.
 
Why is this programme unprecedented?
 
It will be the first time that a heterogeneous population of nearly 2000 
elite athletes competing in a major sports event will be blood tested under 
the same optimal conditions, within the same time period.
 
The blood testing will cover all disciplines in Athletics and a wide range 
of relevant biomarkers.  Notably, the analyses will not only screen markers 
indicating the use of EPO or blood manipulation in endurance events (as has 
been the IAAF's practice to date) but also markers potentially indicating 
steroid or growth hormone doping more relevant to the power disciplines. 
 
The data collected will therefore constitute a unique database of reference 
ranges for various biomarkers in elite male and female athletes competing 
in different disciplines and from different ethnical backgrounds. The IAAF 
considers this to constitute a major step forwards in the development of 
the Athlete Biological Passport in the sport of Athletics and indeed the 
Athlete Biological Passport generally. 
 
What will the IAAF do with the results?
 
The results will be used:

(i) as a first "fingerprint" for athletes with no previous records at the 
IAAF;
 
(ii) to build upon already existing athlete profiles recorded and followed 
at the IAAF;
 
(iii) to establish the reference ranges of relevant biomarkers in a 
heterogeneous population of elite male and female athletes.
 
How will the IAAF follow-up on the results?
 
Suspicious results from the screening analyses performed on-site could, 
where appropriate, trigger follow-up target tests in Daegu in urine 
(notably for EPO) and/or further analyses for prohibited substances or 
prohibited methods in blood in Lausanne.
 
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 IAAF Anti-Doping Rules and Regulations.

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