A stunning exposé by the Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD has revealed the dark doping underbelly of athletics
The sport of athletics is reeling this morning after the newspaper published previously hidden details of more than 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes in what is described as the ‘biggest leak of blood-testing data in sporting history’ and the results are both startling and incredibly disappointing.
The five-page report claims more than 800, or 16 per cent, of the athletes tested were found to have had results that were ‘suggestive of doping or at the very least abnormal’.
A third of medals won in endurance events at the Olympic Games and world championships between 2001 and 2012, including 55 golds, were won by these athletes, including ten medals at London 2012, yet none have been publicly shamed or stripped of their honours.
These athletes have ignored the serious health risks associated with the reckless use of transfusions and blood boosters like EPO, made infamous by its use in professional cycling, with 21 recording ‘blood values so extreme they risked heart attacks or strokes, and should have been given emergency treatment to have their blood drained’.
Russia has the highest occurrence of adverse results, with 80 per cent of its medal winners, and 30 per cent of all its athletes tested, coming under suspicion, although competitors from across the globe have been implicated. In Ireland, three per cent of our athletes are on the list of abnormal tests.
Two athletes to come out of the mess unscathed, however, are sprint king Usain Bolt and long-distance champion Mo Farah, both of whom have come under scrutiny during their careers.
The World Anti-Doping Agency responded to the findings, with president Craig Reedie saying: “Wada is very disturbed by these new allegations, which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide.
“These allegations require swift and close scrutiny to determine whether there have in fact been breaches under the world anti-doping code and, if so, what actions are required to be taken by Wada and/or other bodies.”
