Those who participate in athletics in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal and who aspire to participate in the Paris Olympics will have to undergo more drug tests between now and the start of the Olympics due to substandard national anti-doping programs international.
Each of these countries failed to heed warnings served after the 2022 World Championships, played in Oregon, to improve their unannounced tests before the 2023 edition of the World Championships. This was indicated on Monday by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which described the anti-doping systems of these countries as “unprecedented”.
The AIU clarified that the four nations had “failed to ensure that there are sufficient out-of-competition tests” during the World Championships in Budapest in 2023. The AIU is seen as the best unit among the Olympic sports to investigate cases of doping and corruption.
At the 2023 Worlds, Ecuador and Peru both won silver medals, while Brazil won a bronze medal. All three were won on the march.
The international federation, World Athletics, supported the recommendations of the AIU, namely that athletes from these four countries who are not considered advanced athletes cannot participate in the Paris Olympics unless they provide three samples collected unexpectedly in the 10 months preceding July 4 [2024].
The athletics events at the Paris Olympics will begin on August 1.
“In this Olympic year, we want this to remind member federations that the IAU and World Athletics are extremely serious about providing a level playing field for all athletes,” said AIU President David Howman . »
Stricter rules will be required for athletes taking part in endurance events, i.e. “for the 800m and longer distances”. They must also provide a blood sample for their biological passport and an EPO detection test.
These increased measures will affect athletes who are not part of the world top 10 in their discipline. The latter are already targeted by the AIU, as are the hopes of medals from major competitions.
The investigation team, based in Monaco, declared that this way of doing things “will protect the Games from athletes whose development is dazzling or who offer surprising performances”, or will aim “ [des disciplines] where the talent pool delivers unpredictable results.”
Two national athletics teams, those of the Czech Republic and New Zealand, also warned about their anti-doping programs after the 2022 Worlds, were praised Monday because of the changes made.