Doping is the greatest danger threatening sport and a direct attack on the health of athletes, the president of International Olympic Committee (IOC) says. Dr. Jacques Rogge, an orthopedic surgeon from Belgium, says it's time for the sports community to “wake up to this terrible danger.”
To this end, the policing role of the independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was expanded for the 2002 Winter Games. For the first time, WADA received test results for medal winners at the same time as Olympic officials and before any sanctions were imposed. Twelve WADA observers with expertise in doping control monitored every stage of drug testing. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 15 WADA observers monitored 35 sports and 4 times as many athletes.
The additional transparency is designed to counter accusations that the IOC has not been serious about combating the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and even that it had covered up positive tests at past Olympics in order to protect the Games' reputation.
Rogge, who says doping has reached “unacceptable levels,” pledged the IOC's total support of WADA, the third-party agency founded 2 years ago to combat drug use in sport.
WADA also introduced a voluntary doping passport at the Games, which records test results during an athlete's career. Fifty athletes signed up in the Olympic Village within hours of its launch. Athletes who register at www.wadapassport.org provide contact information and details of their whereabouts, thus demonstrating their willingness to be tested anytime and anywhere. — Janet Rae Brooks, Salt Lake City