IOC targeting drug cheats at Beijing Olympics

updated 5:02 p.m. ET July 10, 2008

LONDON - The competition on the track, in the pool and on the playing fields won’t be the only place where medals are won and lost at the Beijing Games.

The perennial battle between doping cheats and drug-testers will be more intense than ever, as Olympic officials strive to protect the games’ integrity following a slew of scandals that have tarnished the sports world in recent weeks and months.

The International Olympic Committee promises to carry out the most rigorous and comprehensive anti-doping program in sports history, with hundreds of more tests, increased out-of-competition checks and enhanced controls for EPO and human growth hormone.

The IOC also is ready to act on intelligence and tip-offs to target suspected cheaters and ask Chinese law enforcement authorities to go after any suppliers or organized drug gangs.

“They know that we mean business,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Athletes know that we are going to chase them. Finding a hiding place is becoming more and more difficult.”

No guarantee
The IOC plans to conduct 4,500 doping controls in Beijing, up from 3,600 in Athens four years ago and 90 percent more than in Sydney in 2000. Rogge said the program includes more than 700 blood tests, including 400 for HGH.

Despite the strong measures, there is no guarantee these games will be any cleaner than others, because potential cheaters can still find ways to beat the tests or might be using substances that are undetectable.

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The testing period begins with the opening of the Olympic village on July 27 and runs through the end of the games on Aug.

24. Even before reaching Beijing, athletes can be tested at their homes, training camps and other locations anywhere in China or around the world.

During the competitions, the top five finishers and two randomly selected athletes in each event will be tested for the usual menu of steroids, stimulants, blood boosters and other performance-enhancers.

Samples will be taken by armed guard from 41 collection stations to a new doping lab near the main Olympic stadium, where 180 scientists and staff will be on 24-hour duty to analyze the specimens. Blood samples will be stored for eight years to allow scientists time to develop better tests with new technology.

Under a newly adopted IOC rule meant to signal a powerful deterrent, any athlete caught doping in Beijing and subsequently suspended for at least six months will be barred from the next Summer Olympics in London in 2012.

The Athens Games produced 26 doping cases, more than double the previous Olympic high of 12 at Los Angeles in 1984. Six medalists, including two gold winners, were caught in Athens.

Silver lining
With many more tests scheduled in Beijing, it would be natural to assume there will be more positive cases.

But Rogge said that might not be the case, citing the deterrent effect and knowledge that athletes can be tested at any time and any place.

“I’d be surprised if there would be a big difference with Athens,” he said. “Every positive case is a sad thing for the reputation of sport. On the other hand, there is always a silver lining to every cloud. Every positive case is a protection for the clean athletes.”

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