(ats) She wishes to continue the anti-doping fight made extremely difficult by the coronavirus,
The principle of this program called “Believe 2020” is simple: test kits have been sent to athletes, who must then produce blood and urine samples when they receive an unexpected call from Usada. The tests are monitored by a controller via an application such as Zoom or FaceTime.
Athletes then seal the samples and send them by next day delivery to a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency for analysis.
“This program is the only one of its kind in the world and was launched when Usada’s regular in-person and unannounced drug testing almost stopped due to social distancing and other health guidelines during the pandemic,” welcomed the boss of the instance Travis Tygart.
Fifteen athletes volunteered to participate in this program, including multi-medal Olympic gold swimmers Katie Ledecky and Lilly King, as well as sprinter Noah Lyles, reigning 200m world champion.
If the athlete films himself taking a drop of his own blood, this is not the case with his urine collection, for reasons of privacy.
To avoid cheating, he must film his toilet live to prove to Usada that no one else is present in the room and that no sample is hidden.
The athlete then urinates in the bottle without filming, and, this done, goes back to the camera to stick a heat-sensitive label on said bottle, proving that the urine is hot and therefore his.
This entire phase is timed by the Usada controller, who can then compare the urinalysis with the athlete’s previous tests.
“I felt very comfortable with the whole process,” Katie Ledecky, who conducted her first test in her apartment in California on Monday, told USA Today, adding “this is the perfect time to try it out.” considering the situation”.
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