2024-08-03 17:15:40
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) develops and coordinates anti-doping rules and policies in all sports and countries. But how is a “clean” Games ensured this year?
What doping substances are the authorities looking for?
WADA (and the Fédération Equestre Internationale, FEI, which oversees equestrian sports) publishes annually updated lists of banned substances for humans and horses. The most common are anabolic steroids – such as Trenbolone and Oxymetholone – which increase muscle mass and strength. According to the WADA report, 2022 they accounted for 42 percent. positive results obtained during sports competitions.
Diuretics accounted for 16 percent. samples that did not meet the requirements of doping tests. These preparations increase the excretion of urine, as a result of which the body mass decreases, and can also be used to accelerate the elimination of other doping substances.
Stimulants accounted for 15 percent. positive results, followed by hormone and metabolic modulators (11%), cannabinoids (5%) and peptide hormones (4%). Other agents included glucocorticoids, beta-2 antagonists, narcotics, and beta blockers.
Positive results are obtained in less than 1 percent. samples, WADA reports.
Does the development of new preparations keep up with the measures to control them?
As doping substances are constantly improving, so is their detection, says a WADA representative. The agency works with the pharmaceutical industry “to stay abreast of the latest trends.”
“Science is the most important factor driving progress in the fight against doping,” says a spokesman for the agency. Her research program continues studies methods of doping use and detection, for use in the Olympic Games and other international sporting events. “Innovative research helps identify new doping trends, new substances, new doping methods and new detection methods,” the agency says.
In addition, in specialized facilities, all samples are stored for 10 years, which makes it possible to carry out subsequent analyzes – when the technology advances. Subsequent positive results will have the same legal consequences as in 2024. set results.
Athlete’s biological passport – a permanent electronic record of each athlete – can also indirectly indicate doping by detecting changes in samples over time. It contains the biomarkers of each athlete throughout their sporting career. Regular blood and urine tests can detect levels of, for example, natural steroids, growth hormones, hemoglobin and red blood cells.
Software analysis of each new sample determines whether these indicators do not meet the athlete’s norm. If so, scientific experts conduct an investigation to distinguish whether it could be an illness, doping or a trivial coincidence.
The passport is particularly useful for detecting “blood doping”, where athletes are injected with extra red blood cells or drugs to boost the red blood cells’ ability to carry more oxygen to the muscles.
What about gene doping?
CRISPR-edited genes are already being tested as medical therapies for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s disease. However, edited genes could also be injected into humans and horses to alter gene expression and thus improve the athletic performance of individuals.
To combat this, WADA established Expert Advisory Group on Gene and Cell Dopingwhich is working with scientists to develop methods for detecting gene manipulations.
Meanwhile, the FEI plans to completely update its Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Drugs rules this year, says federation spokeswoman Caterina Termine.
From 2025 January 1 it intends to introduce a provision on genetic testing. “The FEI is working with other equestrian jurisdictions to ensure that optimal procedures and analytical methods are in place,” says Termine.
Carbon monoxide
Are there concerns that Olympic cyclists could inhale carbon monoxide, as seen in the Tour de France?
Recent studies show that regular inhalation of small doses of carbon monoxide, which is not banned in sports, can increase the amount of oxygen that the athlete’s body can absorb and use during exercise (VO₂ max). Scientists conducting such research inanticipated potential ethical and security issuesrelated to the inhalation of these toxic gases.
WADA’s Prohibited List Expert Advisory Group has discussed the issue, but has not reached a consensus on whether the gas actually has a performance-enhancing effect.
“There is currently no sufficiently reliable data to support such a claim. However, it is generally accepted that the use of monoxide can be dangerous, so it is not recommended,” says the organization.
What samples are used for testing?
in 2024 During the Paris Olympics, samples are collected and analyzed by the International Investigation Agency.
WADA and the FEI mainly require urine samples, although in certain cases – for example, when urine is insufficient – blood samples can be submitted. WADA accredited French Anti-Doping Laboratory In Orsay, all human samples are tested, while the FEI sends horse samples to a laboratory in the suburb of Verrières-le-Buisson Horse racing laboratory.
Other biological samples, such as hair and fingernails, are not part of official anti-doping programs. But Pascal Kintz of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Strasbourg, France, believes they should be taken because, unlike blood and urine samples, they can show a longer history of substance use.
Not all molecules enter the hair and nails, and the threshold for a positive result is slightly higher. Nevertheless, laboratory tests can detect detectable substances as long as hair or nails are present, says Mr. Kintz.
For example, hair grows about 1 cm per month. As a result, scientists can detect the substances in every centimeter of the strand and thereby determine approximately when and how often the doping substance was used.
For example, Mr. Kintz says that sometimes a positive urine test can result from eating beef contaminated with growth hormones, but hair analysis can showthat this is real doping. Doping can also be distinguished from hair samples accidental contamination by kissing or other intimate contact with partners using such substances.
Currently, WADA does not include hair or nail tests in its policy – and will not accept them simply to eliminate urine or blood tests, the agency says.
Nevertheless, athletes can use hair analysis to fight positive doping test results in court, Kintz says.
In contrast, the FEI conducts tests on horse hair samples – in specific cases related to positive urine or blood test results.
Parengta pagal „New Scientist“.
2024-08-03 17:15:40