IOC: More London 2012 Doping Cases to Come

(ATR) The IOC’s medical director says he expects "many more" positives in reanalysis of doping samples from the London Olympics in the run-in to Tokyo 2020.

The number of positives following a wave of retests for Beijing 2008 and London 2012 is up to 107 since 2009. Of these 101 athletes have been caught doping this year as the IOC and WADA intensified their reanalysis to root out cheats ahead of the Rio 2016 Games.

"I can assure you there will be many more to come in the future in the coming weeks and months. We should expect more from London," Richard Budgett told reporters at a press conference in Lausanne where the IOC Executive Board is meeting.

Forty-one athletes eligible for the Rio Olympics were banned for doping offenses. The program for Beijing samples – 1,053 were reanalyzed – has concluded following the end of the eight-year statute of limitations for storing doping samples.

For London 2012, 492 samples drawn from athletes from 89 NOCs and 16 sports have so far been retested. A total of 34 athletes have been sanctioned as of Dec. 7.

Budgett said that new anti-doping technology and new tests for illegal substances other than anabolic steroids such as growth hormones will allow the IOC to catch athletes who cheated at the London Games.

Asked when the London retesting program would be completed, he said: "Just before the Olympics in Tokyo."

"For any athletes cheating now they need to be worried because we do keep the samples," he said, highlighting the importance of new analytical methods available in the fight against doping.

The IOC is cooperating more closely than ever with WADA, national anti-doping authorities, WADA investigator Richard McLaren and the international federations.

Under the New WADA code introduced in January 2015, the statute of limitations was extended to 10 years.

He said in the 10 year cut-off for storing doping samples "they could be caught and are likely to. They better watch out".

When asked by Around the Rings if he thought Rio 2016 may be eventually be considered the cleanest Games on record, Budgett said it was too early to say. Logistical challenges impacted anti-doping controls in Rio, with poor planning and training of officials part of the problem.

Budgett hopes the huge publicity around the IOC and WADA’s enhanced and targeted retesting program in 2016 "would mean athletes going into the Games were cleaner than ever".

"The most important thing is what the athletes are doing in the three to four years between the Games," he told the press conference.

Speaking about the IOC’s drive to reform global anti-doping, he added: "There is still a long way to go, the idea behind the independent testing authority and the efficiency and effectiveness of testing through and between Games."

Of the 101 athletes fingered for doping violations this year, sanctions have so far been handed down to 82 drug cheats following retests of Beijing and London samples. Forty-one weightlifters were hit with bans; athletics saw 37 athletes sanctioned.

Budgett was pressed on whether weightlifting was at risk of being expelled from the Olympics when the IOC next reviews the sports program. "I suppose every sport is at risk and weightlifting have a good program in place at the moment. It is a judgement of what went on in the past and what weightlifting is doing now," he said.

On the recent furor around the use of Therapeutic Use Exemptions, which has led to increased scrutiny of the achievements of athletes including Britain’s most decorated Olympian Bradley Wiggins, the IOC’s medical chief was firm.

"I think it is very important. It is unethical to deny athletes treatment when they need it. It is good to have a system in place to allow athletes to take it safely and fairly," he said, adding that with about one percent of athletes taking TUEs at the Games "it is not a big issue".

Reported by Mark Bissonin Lausanne.

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