• Tests would allow blood doping to be identified for months.
• IOC hails research pioneered at University of Brighton.
Image: /REUTERS
A ‘groundbreaking’ method of using gene testing to catch doping cheats could be ready in time for the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.
Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, said the technology would allow blood doping to be identified several months after banned performance-enhancing drugs such as EPO had been used by an athlete.
As things stand some substances can be undetectable by testers after only a few hours.
“With research on genetic sequencing progressing well, this new approach could be a groundbreaking method to detect blood doping, weeks or even months after it took place,” Bach told the World Conference on Doping in Sport in Katowice, Poland.
“If approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency, such gene testing could be used at the Tokyo Olympics. These new methods will again strengthen deterrence. We want the cheats to never feel safe, anytime or anywhere.”
The gene test has been pioneered by Yannis Pitsiladis, a professor of sports science and genetics at the University of Brighton, who has been developing it since 2006.
Using volunteer athletes, Pitsiladis and his team have identified which genes are ‘turned on’ when blood has been manipulated by either the use of a banned substance such as EPO that boosts the production of red blood cells or a transfusion.
Pitsiladis, a member of the IOC medical and scientific commission, believes it is the most significant development in the fight against doping since the introduction of the athlete biological passport more than a decade ago.
Even if the test is not validated in time for Tokyo 2020, the IOC intends to store more samples so it can analyse them in the future.
“This will add to the fact the pre-Games testing programme will be the most extensive ever, aimed to maximise both detection and deterrence,” Bach said.
The outgoing Wada president, Sir Craig Reedie, has conceded that the Russia doping crisis was the worst in the history of the anti‑doping movement but insisted it had reawakened people to the importance of tackling cheating.
“Clearly there have been times when elements within the system have failed to live up to expectations,” he said. “The worst case of system failure, certainly in my time as president, if not in the entire history of the anti-doping movement, has been with Russia.”
“The revelations exposed by the Wada-led investigations of Richard Pound and Richard McLaren forced a sea change in attitude around the globe. Confirmation of that unprecedented level of cheating left the sports world in no doubt of the scale of the job facing Wada and has reawakened all stakeholders to the importance of sports integrity.”