Tuesday, August 15, 2000
Pentathlon News Online

Pentathlon scraps blood tests

Modern pentathlon’s governing body has scrapped plans to run its own blood tests at the Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee , citing the International Olympic Committee’s approval of a test for the banned hormone EPO. “We decided to run haematocrit _ blood health _ tests last year,” federation president Klaus Schormann said in a statement. “Because the method has been accepted now on the scientific and legal sides we don’t need to run these controls any more.” Schormann said the International Modern Pentathlon Union, known by its French initials UIPM, was “very satisfied; with the IOC executive board’s decision Monday to approve a combined blood and urine test for EPO in Sydney. The IOC estimated that 400 EPO tests will be carried out between this Saturday, the day the athletes’ village opens, and the closing of the games Oct. 1. EPO, which enhances endurance by boosting the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells in the body, is believed to be widely used by athletes in endurance sports such as long-distance running, swimming and cycling, and was at the center of the 1998 Tour de France doping scandal. In Sydney, an athlete will be considered guilty of EPO use only if both elements of the test are positive. In mid-August, the UIPM faced criticism from the newly formed World Anti-Doping Agency for being one of the last summer sports federations to join its out-of-competition drug testing program. It has since signed up.

The Times