David Owen: Targeting the worst drug cheats is all fine and dandy, but with retrospective analysis, all samples should eventually be re-tested

David Owen: Targeting the worst drug cheats is all fine and dandy, but with retrospective analysis, all samples should eventually be re-tested

Let’s begin by giving the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a little credit.

By storing Olympic athletes’ anti-doping samples for possible reanalysis for a number of years, in the knowledge that analytical methods will probably improve over time, the IOC has put in place a valuable tool that could, if utilised to fullest extent, afford periodic snapshots of the true level of doping in elite sport, albeit some years after the event.










Thorhild Widvey: WADA must be reinforced and publicly supported

Thorhild Widvey: WADA must be reinforced and publicly supported

On September 21, I attended the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Executive Committee Meeting in Lausanne. Admittedly, I walked away more encouraged than I had been in months that Executive Committee Members - from Governments and the sports movement alike - were united in believing that an independent, strengthened WADA must be reinforced, publicly supported, and empowered to serve clean athletes.