The International Testing Agency (ITA) will especially focus its out-of-competition doping test efforts on the months leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, aiming to test 3200 samples.
A FINA press release notes that its anti-doping strategy, supported by the ITA, will cut the 2021 calendar year into two distinct periods. The FINA/ITA testing will focus especially on the pre-Olympic period, “due to the increased doping risk that comes with an Olympic Games,” the release says.
The goal of 3200 samples tested before Tokyo can still fluctuate, based on “the rapidly-evolving sanitary situation.” But FINA says it is reinforcing doping control at Olympic qualifying events – that includes national Olympic Trials meets across the world.
In the ITA’s release, the organization said that “most out-of-competition doping controls and other anti-doping activities have been largely maintained,” even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The ITA, an international body that oversees doping control across sports, says it reviewed all 33 Summer Olympic sports and issued a list of around 26,000 testing recommendations. In contrast, leading up to the Rio Olympics, the comparable list of recommendations only centered on 7 at-risk sports and included 1,500 total recommendations.
Most dopers have stopped well before national championships, out of competition is where you catch them