The world athletics championships starting on Friday will sAee an unprecedented anti-doping programme with around 1,200 tests overall and all samples examined outside the host nation of Qatar.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), responsible for the anti-doping programme of the ruling body IAAF, says it is conducting some 700 blood tests ahead of the Doha championships for the biological passports of athletes to detect blood doping or the use of Human Growth Hormone.
An additional 500 tests, mostly urine, will be conducted during the 10 days of competition until October 6 which features more than 2,000 athletes from 209 countries.
Member federations with the highest risk of positive tests must ensure their selected athletes go through several out-of-competition tests in the run-up, the AIU said.
All samples are tested outside Qatar as a “proactive measure” to avoid conflict of interest.
“The athletes competing in Doha will have gone through an unprecedented level of testing and education,” AIU chairman Chris Howman said.
“We hope that our initiatives give clean athletes the confidence to go out there and discover how good they really can be.
“Public confidence in the integrity of a sporting event is paramount and we do not want to leave any stone unturned to ensure this is achieved for the biggest athletics event,” he said.