"Full of gaps"

“Patchy”: 67 medal winners without a doping test

The Summer Olympics took place from July 26 - August 11 in Paris.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Thomas SAMSON)

Despite further improvements, the doping test program before the Olympic Games in Paris showed some major gaps. This is the conclusion reached by the International Testing Agency (ITA) in its final report. According to the report, a total of 10.3 percent of athletes were not tested at all in the six months before the Summer Games, including 67 subsequent medal winners.

"The testing program remains incomplete," concluded the ITA. Recommendations were followed in some areas, but improvements were needed in the predictability and range of tests, among other things. Before the Tokyo 2021 Games, almost 15 percent had remained untested. The number of tests in the six months before the Games had increased by 45 percent compared to the previous six months. According to experts, testing is particularly useful during this period.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Testing gaps vary in size
In the run-up to the Games, the National Anti-Doping Agencies are responsible for testing. There are major differences here. For example, only one athlete from each of the Olympic teams of the top nations China, USA and Germany, as well as Austria, remained untested. The figure for New Zealand was 40, which corresponds to 21 percent. With ten gold medals, New Zealand recorded its most successful Summer Games.

Of the largest European nations, Great Britain and France had the largest gaps with seven and six percent of untested athletes respectively. Of the 67 untested medal winners, 66 came from team disciplines or from the ITA as low-risk sports. Many small countries also have large testing gaps, which can also be attributed to cost reasons.

Swimming conspicuous
Of the 14 high-risk sports according to the ITA, swimming stood out. Here, 18% of participants were not tested in the six months leading up to Paris. None of the untested athletes won a medal. A total of 31,896 tests were taken from 10,720 athletes. Five cases of doping at the Paris Games are known to date. All samples were frozen for later analysis.