By JACQUELIN MAGNAY - SMH
Up to 300 test results taken from athletes at the Beijing
Olympics have gone missing, says a report by official drug testing
observers who attended the Games.
The team of 10 independent observers, who were given the task
of reporting on drug testing procedures at the Games, detailed the
startling news in their official report to the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The Report of the Independent Observers states: "Once the [Beijing]
laboratory had apparently delivered all reports to the independent
observer team, it transpired that around 300 test results were missing
in comparison to the doping control forms."
The team checked the status of the laboratory results with the
International Olympic Committee medical chairman, Dr Arne Ljungqvist,
and the observers reported that the IOC also "may be missing some
reports".
The independent observers were so concerned by the missing tests
that they have reserved the right to submit further comment on the
process, pending further cross-checking.
They also uncovered some surprising deviations from normal drug
testing procedures, including the fact that the Beijing laboratory
couldn't test for one banned substances - insulin. The observers noted
that the samples would be stored for eight years and could be retested
if the IOC deemed it necessary. Another concern was that the laboratory
had failed to detect one of the quality control samples that had
contained a prohibited substance.
The observers also reported that nearly half the national Olympic
committees did not provide data on the whereabouts of their athletes to
enable effective pre-Games and out-of-competition drug testing. The
numbers tested for erythro-poetin (EPO) were "relatively low, notably
in the sports where the use of EPO has been detected".
Initially, more than 110 national Olympic committees - out of the 204 teams competing - failed to.... READ MORE
