(Reuters) – The independent organisation that looks after anti-doping in athletics will investigate three adverse testing results out of thousands conducted during the 2017 World Championships held in London earlier this month, however none of the anomalies belonged to medal winners.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) came into operation in April and handles aspects related to misconduct within the sport, replacing the governing body’s (IAAF) former anti-doping department.
Part of the AIU’s remit is to restore trust in athletics following, predominantly, the revelations from an independent report in 2015 about state-sponsored doping in Russia, which has left the country still banned from the sport.
A number of medals were awarded in London to competitors who had been upgraded from previous results, due to the retesting of samples and subsequent discovery of doping violations in athletes from Russia and other nations.
However, the AIU said that none of the adverse results from the London testing programme belonged to athletes that won medals at the event.
“The analyses resulted in three adverse analytical findings which are now being investigated. None of the adverse findings relate to medallists at the championships,” the organisation said in a statement.
“The AIU will not make any further comment at this stage, but in all cases will publicly disclose appropriate details at relevant points of the disciplinary process, in accordance with the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules and AIU policy.”
The AIU conducted over 2,000 blood tests and 3,000 urine tests during a 10-month period prior to the championships and a further 596 urine and 917 blood samples were collected in the days leading up to and during the event. The anti-doping programme was one part of an extensive three-part plan that included betting monitoring and education outreach for athletes and support personnel.
“Throughout the championships, it was evident that there was a strong, positive reaction from athletes and their support teams to the work of the AIU,” the organisation’s operational head Ed Clothier said.
“It was hugely satisfying to see that athletes have a real thirst to gain knowledge of integrity-related issues and to learn how they can better help uphold the right values of the sport. The AIU will build on this.”
