Nearly 900 elite athletes from USADA’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP) helped contribute to the largest study conducted to date on the attitudes and perceptions of athletes on doping and anti-doping efforts. Results of the comprehensive analysis, featuring nearly 100 questions around athlete attitudes about fairness and clean competition, perceptions about USADA, and reasons why athletes choose to compete clean, are now publicly available.
USADA’s Athlete Perception Survey was distributed to more than 2,000 athletes who are a part of the RTP and subject to USADA testing protocols. A total of 886 current and former athletes completed the survey online, with survey sections separated by Athlete Attitudes, Doping Perceptions, Impact of Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Perceptions about Testing, Perceptions about the Prohibited List and Therapeutic Use Exemptions, Perceptions about USADA, and Perceptions of Penalties. Key findings grouped by eight themes have been identified and are available here.
“Protecting athletes is at the center of what we do, and we cherish the opportunity to hear directly from athlete on topics that impact them,” said Travis T. Tygart, CEO of USADA. “We are honored that nearly 900 athletes took part in the survey and their responses will help us, and anti-doping efforts worldwide, create new strategies for deterrence, as well as help determine where we need to invest further to ensure their right to clean sport is protected.”
Athlete participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymous. Among respondents, 499 were female and 387 identified as male. Athletes from 65 Olympic and Paralympic sports responded, with 149 Track and Field athletes totaling the most responses from any sport. Ski and Snowboard produced the next highest total of respondents with 45. More than half of the respondents – 537 – have been in sports for more than 10 years. Raw data for all 83 questions are presented at USADA’s Web site.
USADA plans a follow-up study specifically designed to assess the important topic of doping prevalence within elite and other athlete populations.
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