IOC to Retest Beijing Doping Samples with New Test

The International Olympic Committee has announced on Tuesday that it is to retest the samples taken from the Olympics in Beijing this January.

The announcement has come in the wake of the new test developed by the French Anti-Doping Agency, which requires the blood samples from the tested athlete.

The IOC says it conducted around 4770 doping tests, of which there are nearly 1000 blood screenings. Around 400 of these have been selected to be tested in January for the use of CERA, these testing’s will take place at the laboratories which are by the World Anti-Doping Agency in Lausanne and Paris. Those who are specifically targeted are the athletes competing in endurance events such as cycling and rowing.

CERA is the new and previously undetectable version of EPO the endurance-enhancing hormone. Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA) was developed by Roche, a Swiss company, which aimed to help dialysis patients or people who suffered from problems with the kidney.

This drug encourages the production of EPO by the kidneys, this in turn stimulates bone marrow to increase the production of red blood cells. Red blood cells have the purpose of transporting oxygen throughout the body. Therefore, the more red blood cells the faster the transport of oxygen and this results in a increase in endurance.

The first test for EPO was carried out at the Sydney Olympics 2000 and its use has since escalated. CERA is harder to test for than EPO as it requires less frequent injections. Given the fact that EPO is difficult to identify and can be undetectable a few days after injection, this gives the athletes the edge over the testers.

The fight against doping in sport has been underlined by the IOC’s intention to potentially retests samples up to eight years after the event. This allows time for previously undetectable drugs to be discovered and tests carried to detect their use in sports.

Will there come a time when sports are clean again, free of the use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs?

How are the youth of today expected to turn down the use of drugs when the only way to compete with today’s athletes is by cutting corners looking to buy steroids?

The IOC is taking their stand and the results on the retrospective testing are expected around March time.