Lausanne, Switzerland, January 19, 2018: The IOC has announced that more than 14,000 doping tests have been undertaken on over 6,000 athletes from 61 countries to safeguard the upcoming Olympic Winter Games that open in PyeongChang, Korea, on February 9.

As part of the work carried out by the Pre-Games Anti-Doping Taskforce, the tests, conducted between April and December 2017 by the National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) and International Federations (IFs), represent a 70 per cent increase from the same period in 2016. This reflects the collective effort to protect clean athletes ahead of PyeongChang 2018.

Dr Richard Budgett, IOC Medical and Scientific Director, said: “Protecting clean athletes by fighting doping is a top priority for the IOC. The sporting integrity of the Games is vital, and we are committed to working with our partners to ensure that PyeongChang 2018 provides a level playing field for all clean athletes. 

“The number, reach and specific targeting of our pre-testing programme highlights the importance of intelligent and intensive testing through a coordinated effort with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), IFs and NADOs, as well as our commitment for a cleaner future in sport.”

With extra scrutiny on Russian athletes, November and December saw testing on double the number of athletes from Russia than any other country.

Source: www.olympic.org