Montreal: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Witold Banka said it will trial the use of dried blood spot testing at the Tokyo Olympics. The new technique will be hailed as a potential “game-changer” in the fight against drug cheats, he added.
WADA president Witold Banka said the new method would complement existing anti-doping techniques.
Dried blood spot testing – in which small samples are collected from a finger prick and blotted onto an absorbent card – could mark a new era in anti-doping, eventually allowing for more athletes to be targeted and more tests to be carried out, Banka said.
“It has the potential to make a significant positive impact for both athletes and anti-doping organisations,” Banka said. “I truly believe that it could be a real game-changer in anti-doping.”
While WADA said the new method would be trialled at this year’s delayed Tokyo Olympics, testers hoped to have the technique in “routine” use by next February’s Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.
WADA said dried blood spot testing allowed for greater analysis of unstable compounds and made it easier to test athletes in remote areas around the world, where traditional blood samples were often difficult to transport.
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