Selecting Athletes for Testing
USADA staff go to great lengths to develop an efficient and effective test distribution plan that allocates our resources intelligently. Factors for determining tests align with WADA’s International Standards for Testing and Investigations and may include:
- Physical demands of the sport and possible performance-enhancing effects that doping may elicit
- Doping analysis statistics
- Available research on doping trends
- History of doping in the sport and/or discipline
- Training periods and the competition calendar or season
- Information received on possible doping practices
The term “random” is not an accurate way to describe anti-doping testing in the United States, as USADA uses various factors to strategically plan when and where we test athletes in order to achieve maximum success in deterrence. If you have further questions, we encourage you to visit www.USADA.org/testing for more information.