The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) performed 1,828 doping control tests during the first quarter of 2003, USADA Chief Executive Officer Terry Madden announced Wednesday. The 1,828 doping control tests cover 39 sports.
One thousand two hundred eighty-nine tests were no-advance-notice out-of-competition (OOC) tests done between Dec. 17, 2002 and March 19, 2003, and 18 advance-notice out-of-competition tests were completed during this same time periods. There are two types of OOC testing: no-advance notice testing and advance-notice. Seventy-one percent of USADA’s first quarter tests were no-advance notice tests.
The no-advance-notice OOC testing consists of an athlete being tested at any time, whether at an athlete’s home or training venue, with no prior notice. Advance-notice testing is when an athlete may know testing will occur but no more than 24 hours prior to testing. An example of advance-notice testing would be a test conducted during a training camp.
In addition, the remaining 521 tests were conducted in an event-testing situation completed during the period of Jan. 1 through Mar. 19, 2003. Those 521 tests tested were completed at 33 competitions.
“We continue to increase the percentage of no-advance-notice out-of-competition tests. We feel that the rise in out-of-competition tests increases our ultimate goal of deterring doping in sport and helps to protect the athletes’ health,” said Madden.
Among the 23 adverse laboratory findings received during the first quarter, 15 cases were for samples for which the athlete had prior medical waiver on file for the use of a restricted substance (salbutamol). The test results are thus reported as negative with respect to a doping offense. The detection of a banned substance may or may not be ruled a doping violation. The other adverse findings include five cases for prohibited anabolic steroids for U.S. athletes, plus two cases for stimulants (methylphendiate and pseudoephedrine) and one case involving marijuana.
Sanctions for one case from each of the second and fourth quarters (test refusal) 2002, plus three cases from the first quarter 2003 were announced during the first three months of 2003.
One case from third quarter 2002 was referred to the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing process. The AAA/CAS hearing process begins after USADA has determined there is a doping offense, and the athlete has elected not to accept the sanction presented by USADA.
During the first quarter of 2003, USADA performed 156 tests for other agencies, international federations and other sport organizations. Among the 156 tests were 15 tests for Canadian Center for Ethics and Sport (CCES) and two tests for the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA), plus 35 tests for international federations, 98 tests for the Titan Games and six tests for various national anti-doping organizations. In addition, CCES (eight) and ASDA (five) also performed tests on U.S. athletes for USADA.
USADA is the independent anti-doping agency for Olympic sports in the United States, and is responsible for managing the testing and adjudication process for U.S. Olympic, Pan Am and Paralympic athletes. USADA is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport through research initiatives and educational programs.
The breakdown of tests can be found following this release. USADA announces its test findings four times annually. The 2003 second quarter findings will be announced in July 2003.
FIRST QUARTER, 2003 U.S. ANTI-DOPING AGENCY TEST RECORDS
Type of Testing 1st Qtr
Sport OOC1 OOC2 Event Total
Archery 0 0 8 8
Badminton 1 0 0 1
Baseball 0 0 0 0
Basketball 0 0 0 0
Biathlon 0 0 10 10
Bobsled/Skeleton 5 0 24 29
Bowling 0 0 6 6
Boxing 11 0 0 11
Canoe/Kayak 45 0 0 45
Curling 0 0 18 18
Cycling 78 0 16 94
Disabled Sports 0 0 0 0
Diving 11 0 0 11
Equestrian 1 0 4 5
Fencing 0 0 0 0
Field Hockey 13 0 0 13
Figure Skating 4 0 40 44
Gymnastics 22 0 0 22
Ice Hockey 2 0 0 2
Judo 22 0 7 29
Karate 4 0 9 13
Luge 1 0 12 13
Modern Pentathlon 4 0 6 10
Racquetball 1 0 0 1
Roller Sports 0 0 0 0
Rowing 126 0 0 126
Sailing 2 0 20 22
Shooting 1 0 0 1
Skiing/Snowboarding 8 0 108 116
Soccer 23 18 0 41
Softball 12 0 0 12
Speed skating 13 0 20 33
Squash 0 0 0 0
Swimming 364 0 0 364
Synchronized Swimming 1 0 24 25
Table Tennis 0 0 6 6
Taekwondo 16 0 0 16
Team Handball 8 0 0 8
Tennis 0 0 0 0
Track and Field 289 0 154 443
Triathlon 44 0 0 44
Volleyball 37 0 0 37
Water Polo 17 0 0 17
Water Skiing 1 0 0 1
Weightlifting 50 0 29 79
Wrestling 52 0 0 52
First Quarter Total 1,289 18 521 1,828
NOTE: USADA completed 156 tests for international federations and other national anti-doping agencies. None of those totals are included in the 1,828 tests performed by USADA in the table above.
KEY: OOC1: Out-of-Competition Testing (no-advance notice); OOC2: Out-of-Competition Testing (advance notice); Event: In-Competition Testing
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