New ground-breaking drug test is set to be in use at the World Athletics Championships currently going on in Budapest which is to test athletes blood in bid to detect anabolic steroids usage by participants.
Read Also: Pladis Global Lifts PANASA’s President’s Cup, AYSC
World Athletics Championships authorities are hoping that the new drug testing technique will make it harder for athletes to get away with using anabolic steroids.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) have been helping to develop a new ‘blood steroid passport’, which has been approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency and has been in use during the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest as it represents a significant scientific advance on the Athlete Biological Passport, which was introduced in 2009.
While that test has been effective in identifying athletes who blood dope in search of gains in endurance-based events, it is less effective in identifying those who take illegal substances to aid performance in power events like sprinting.
“Until now it has been much harder to detect things like steroids,” explained AIU chief executive Brett Clothier on Tuesday.
“The AIU already has quite a lot of data we can now analyse using this new technique. But it will become more effective over time, as more data is collected.”
The new test will see athletes’ blood tested for steroid use for the first time but in the longer term, the AIU hopes that it will be able to identify illegal substances such as Human Growth Hormone too.
