A lot of anti-doping tests are done in the world, both during tournaments and competitions, and between them. Consider what doping is in sports.
What is doping control?
Doping control is a process that includes sampling, testing, various post-test procedures, appeals and hearings.
How is the process of discussion and recognition of a substance as doping proceeding?
As a rule, prohibited substances are not immediately recognized by doping. Within a certain period of time, qualified specialists monitor such substances. But there are times when a substance is immediately recognized as doping.
The center's specialists are monitoring substances in special laboratories. For research, special equipment is used. The monitoring period is determined by the leading specialist of the center.
After the monitoring is completed, all received data is sent to the WADA committee (anti-doping agency). This organization conducts:
- study of various scientific arguments;
- conferences;
- study of various reports of researchers and scientists
- complex discussions.
After that, based on the studied data, a certain decision is made. Today there are substances in relation to which discussions and studies have been seen for many years.
Procedural rules for doping control
All athletes who have been awarded the highest qualification must undergo a special doping control. For this, a urine sample is taken. Testing is underway in sports laboratories.
The results are then announced. If any prohibited substances are found, the athlete will be unconditionally disqualified.
Before the procedure, the athlete of the highest qualification must be informed. He should be informed of the date and exact time, as well as other nuances.
After that, the employee presents the athlete with a so-called confirmation form. After reviewing the form, the athlete of the highest category must sign. Now, the confirmation form is valid so to speak legally.
As a rule, a highly qualified athlete needs to arrive at a special point within one hour. If he does not have time to arrive at the appointed time, then the procedure will not be carried out. In addition, in this case, it will be considered that the highest qualification athlete is using any prohibited substances.
In this case, certain sanctions are applied:
- withdrawal from active competitions;
- disqualification procedure.
The corresponding sanctions are applied in 99% of cases. There are always some exceptions.
1. Before arriving at the site, a highly qualified athlete must be accompanied by someone. This could be a laboratory employee or a judge. The responsible person controls the movement of the athlete. According to current regulations, he cannot urinate prior to the procedure.
2. Upon arrival at the appropriate point, the person from whom the sample will be taken is required to provide any document:
- international passport;
- passport, etc.
3. For special studies, a certain amount of urine is required - 75 milliliters. Therefore, you must definitely provide any drinks:
- mineral water
- soda, etc.
In this case, all drinks must be in a special container. The container must be sealed. Typically, the administrator offers a drink of your choice.
4. After that, he is offered to go to the room in which the sample is being taken. The athlete must be accompanied by an administrative person (judge). When carrying out the procedure for taking a sample, it is necessary to be guided by the rule - to expose the body to a certain level.
5. According to the current recommendations, it is allowed to stimulate urination. There are two official ways:
- apply the sound of water pouring;
- pour water on your wrist.
6. After carrying out the appropriate procedure, the administrative person divides into 2 parts:
- bottle marked A;
- bottle marked B.
7. After that, the administrative person (judge) must make sure that the sample taken is suitable for carrying out the relevant research in the laboratory. Then the container is closed with a lid. After that, the administrative person (judge) must put a unique code and also seal the bottle.
8. Further, special bottles are carefully checked again. But now for the flow. The administrator must verify the tightness and reliability of the bottle.
9. Now it is necessary for a highly qualified athlete to check the bottle:
- make sure the bottle is tight;
- make sure of the quality of the sealing;
- make sure the code is correct.
10. And the last step. Employees place vials in a secure container. After that, the container must be sealed. Now, accompanied by guards, the protected containers are transported to the laboratory for research.
After that, the laboratory conducts appropriate research. Each laboratory must have a specific certificate. In order to obtain such a certificate, you must pass the appropriate certification. This certification is carried out by WADA.
Who collects doping samples?
According to the current legislation, 2 types of control are determined:
- out-of-competition (held long before or after the competition);
- competitive (held directly during the current competition).
The control is carried out by the so-called doping officers. These are specially trained people who have certain qualifications.ent goes here
Long before starting work, all "officers" are carefully selected:
- testing;
- interview;
- conversation with a psychologist, etc.
These "officers" represent the following organizations:
- various international federations;
- organizations that work closely with WADA.
Example, IDTM Corporation. This corporation monitors athletes who are involved in athletics.
What samples are taken for doping control?
According to the current legislation, a urine sample is taken for special doping control. Research on other materials is not carried out.
Can an athlete refuse?
The current rules prohibit refusing to go through this procedure. Otherwise, the competitor will be unconditionally disqualified. That is, the commission will document the acceptance of the positive sample.
Sometimes you can take a break. For example, it might be a young mother who needs to feed her baby. But even in this case, it is necessary to correctly substantiate the reason for the commission to suggest taking a break.
How is the sample taken?
As a rule, the sample is handed over to a special point. The participant of the competition can move around the point only in the presence of an administrative person.
- The test is carried out, so to speak, in a natural way. That is, the competitor must urinate in a special bottle.
- In this action, the administrative person monitors this process in order to prevent possible illegal actions. An example of a possible violation is bottle replacement.
Unscrupulous athletes can use various tricks and tricks to change the bottle:
- a mini container that is located in the rectum;
- false penis, etc.
It is also possible that the inspector (officer) is corrupt. In this case, you can replace the bottle. If a violation is found, the officer will be severely punished.
How quickly is the analysis done?
The timing of the analysis depends on the scale of the competition:
- For small sporting events, the analysis should be done within 10 days.
- According to the current rules, the analysis of the sample obtained at large sports competitions is carried out within 1-3 days:
- three days for complex analysis;
- two days for various additional studies;
- one day to analyze samples that are negative.
How long are samples stored and where?
To date, the shelf life of samples has changed significantly. Some of them can be stored for up to 8 years. Long-term storage is necessary for repeated analyzes. What is it for?
- to identify new illegal methods;
- to identify new prohibited substances (drugs).
Thus, the analysis of the results obtained is carried out several years later. The results are announced. Some participants in the past competitions receive disappointing results.
The samples taken are stored in special laboratories, which are carefully guarded from unscrupulous persons.
Anti-doping passport
From a legal point of view, the results obtained during doping control do not differ in any way from the indicators in the anti-doping passport.
The analysis of anti-doping passport indicators is very simple:
- for this, special equipment is used;
- laboratory employee enters passport data;
- the program analyzes the information received and gives the result.
Moreover, the entire procedure is absolutely anonymous. Laboratory staff use only biological data (indicators) for analysis.
After the research, the results are discussed. As a rule, the opinion of 3 laboratory employees is taken into account. However, the results obtained are not direct evidence.
What is an anti-doping passport
An anti-doping passport is an electronic record of a competitor, which contains various information. These are so-called biological markers that are compared with the obtained results of doping control. Laboratory staff use this information when analyzing samples.
An anti-doping passport has several advantages:
- it is possible to identify various violations without resorting to the identification of prohibited substances;
- You can identify various violations without resorting to complex testing.
The biological passport consists of 3 parts:
- endocrine biological passport;
- steroid biological passport;
- hematological biological passport.
To date, only the data of the hematological passport are widely used for the analysis.
Endocrine and steroid passports are rarely used. Since until now, no special criteria have been developed by which laboratory employees determined the presence of prohibited substances. However, in the near future, it is planned to widely use the data of the endocrine and steroid profile.
Why do you need an anti-doping passport
Of course, a biological passport is required for the detection of prohibited substances. But it is possible to determine the presence of prohibited substances using a urine test.
The biological passport was created for the determination of erythropoietin. This is a kidney hormone that cannot be detected by urinalysis (after 15-17 days). Because it is very quickly excreted from the human body. The existing methods do not bring real results.
This hormone directly affects a person's stamina. Also, blood transfusion affects the change in some parameters of blood endurance. Therefore, these data are very important in the analysis.
The main thing in the biological passport is the stimulation index. The stimulation index is a formula (profile) into which various blood parameters (data) are entered.
When conducting research, these blood indicators are taken into account.
How does he show doping?
Each participant in major competitions and tournaments must donate blood at a special point:
- before the competition;
- during the competition;
- after the competition.
Further, a blood test is carried out on special equipment. The program automatically enters the received data. And then he analyzes the blood counts.
In addition, the program determines the norms of blood counts for each participant in the competition. That is, it makes “corridors” with upper and lower boundaries. All this makes it possible to determine the use of prohibited substances.
Rechecking the sample
Rechecking the sample makes it possible to detect prohibited substances. If such substances are found, then the athlete will be punished. The sample can be rechecked after many years.
On what basis are samples rechecked?
There is an organization that decides to recheck the sample. And her name is WADA. The international federation can also make a decision to conduct a recheck.
Samples are rechecked when a new method is developed to detect any prohibited substances. When developing this method, a specialized laboratory invites the International Federation and WADA to recheck the sample. And already these organizations make the final decision.
How many times can samples be rechecked?
It is legal to double-check samples many times. However, nobody canceled the laws of physics. A certain amount of urine is used for each test. Therefore, on average, two cross-checks can be carried out.
When did you start testing athletes for illegal drugs?
For the first time, athletes began to be tested in 1968. But the samples themselves were taken in 1963. Such analyzes have become possible thanks to the development of technology. Special equipment was used to analyze the samples.
The main methods of analysis were:
- mass spectrometry;
- chromatography.
Prohibited List
Prohibited Substance Classes:
- S1-S9 (glucocorticosteroids, drugs, diuretics, adrenomimetics, anabolic substances, cannabinoids, stimulants, various substances with antiestrogenic activity, various hormone-like substances);
- P1-P2 (Beta-blockers, alcohol).
In 2014, the list was slightly changed. Argon and xenon inhalation were added.
Sanctions for Anti-Doping Rule Violations
Sanctions may apply to both laboratories and athletes. If the laboratory has committed any violation, then it may lose accreditation. Even if a violation is committed, a specialized laboratory has the right to defend itself. This is how the court proceedings take place and all the circumstances of the case are considered.
All competitors, administrators, technical personnel must comply with the rules of the so-called Anti-Doping Code. It was first published in 2003.
The competition organizers set the sanctions on their own. Each case of violation is considered individually. If the staff or coach contributed to the violation, then they will be punished more severely than the athlete himself.
What sanctions can be applied to an athlete?
- lifelong disqualification;
- cancellation of results.
As a rule, lifelong disqualification is possible when using any prohibited methods and substances. Violation of any rule will invalidate the results. In addition, the withdrawal of prizes is possible.
In big sport, doping is a forbidden topic. Athletes who have devoted their entire lives to sports do not want to be disqualified. Therefore, we are forced to abandon the use of prohibited substances.
