United States Anti-Doping Agency Announces Final Testing Numbers for 2004

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) performed a total of 8,051 doping control tests in 2004 in 69 Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American sports, including 7,630 domestic tests, USADA Chief Executive Officer Terry Madden announced today. Out-of-Competition (OOC) testing comprised approximately 58 percent (4,447) of the

domestic tests USADA conducted in 2004.

“We reached our goal of increasing the number of out-of-competition tests in 2004,” said Madden. “More than 90 percent of U.S. athletes consistently provide their whereabouts information to USADA to ensure that OOC tests are carried out. We view this as a strong commitment by U.S. athletes to clean sport.”

Out-of-Competition testing typically occurs at the athlete’s home or training facility and is done with little or no advance notice, based on information provided quarterly by athletes in USADA’s OOC pool.

In the fourth quarter (Oct. 1- Dec. 31) of 2004, USADA conducted 1,083 domestic tests. Sixty-five percent (708) of fourth quarter tests were no-advance-notice tests and four percent (46) were advance- notice tests.  Approximately 31 percent (329) of all domestic tests performed in the fourth quarter were in-competition tests completed at 23 events.

In all of 2004, USADA administered 421 tests on U.S. and non-U.S. athletes in the United States on behalf of other anti-doping organizations, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and international federations. Seventy-nine tests were executed in 2004 on

U.S.   athletes by international agencies at USADA’s request. Other notable figures from 2004:

• Approximately 39 percent of all domestic tests conducted in 2004 took place during the second quarter, in advance of the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The 2,956 domestic tests performed from Apr. 1 through June 30 were the most in a single quarter in USADA’s four-year history.

• USADA tested athletes at more than 200 events in 2004, including the New York City Marathon, the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, the FINA Short Course World Championships, and Olympic Trials and qualifying events for the 2004 Olympic Games.
  • USADA announced 41 anti-doping rules violations in 2004, including three non-analytical positives, three test refusals and one failure by an athlete to appear for a test.

USADA is responsible for managing the testing and results management process for athletes in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. USADA is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport through research initiatives and educational programs.

USADA announces its testing numbers quarterly. Statistics for doping violations are announced at the time of the resolution. For the testing history of individual athletes, visit the official USADA Web site at http://www.usantidoping.org.

FOURTH QUARTER, 2004 U.S. ANTI-DOPING AGENCY DOMESTIC TESTING NUMBERS