LONDON :The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are still three months away but now is a key time in the battle to keep the dopers out, WADA director of intelligence and investigations Guenter Younger said on Thursday.
The Games in Italy run from February 6-22, with many winter sports yet to get going.
“Every doper who is intelligent knows that he gets tested (at the Games), so every doper would stop at one stage (before then),” the German told Reuters at a World Anti-Doping Agency media briefing.
“So therefore now it’s the best time to check them, and I’m sure that our colleagues test those that are suspicious more frequently than others.
“For us now it’s the most important time.”
WHISTLEBLOWERS ARE A KEY ELEMENT
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, the big doping story from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in December 2021.
Younger said whistleblowers remained a key element of the battle but there was no notable increase in the number of people getting in touch before an Olympics.
“If there is something related to the Games, then of course we are more alerted and we prioritise them more and we are in contact with the respective sports federation,” he added.
“We need the guidance, to find the needle in the haystack. It’s always complicated if you don’t know where to look. If you know where to look it’s much easier.”
Younger also confirmed that WADA was looking into a leak about the investigation into 23 Chinese swimmers cleared of doping ahead of the Tokyo Games that took place in 2021 but denied “chasing the whistleblower”.
He said ‘Operation Puncture’ had been set up to understand what happened, the motivation for leaking information, and how to strengthen the process.
“I guarantee we will do nothing to endanger a whistleblower,” he added.
WADA is now also targeting supply chains, with the help of Interpol and local law enforcement, by busting illegal laboratories and obtaining customer lists.
From there, the names of doctors might emerge with further details of the athletes – even elite ones – treated by them.
“Every elite athlete was an amateur at one stage,” said Younger.
“We have already cases where they (the police) came back and said “actually, we saw on the customer list some names that are very familiar to us.”
WADA president Witold Banka said the figures were “mind blowing”: More than 140 joint operations conducted with law enforcement to date, with 800 million doses of illegal steroids confiscated and 40 tonnes in total with 35 illicit laboratories closed down.
