Wednesday 6 May 2015 16:09, UK
The fight against drug use in sport is facing a new challenge after a French scientist proved it is possible for athletes to evade positive drugs tests using a technique known as ‘microdosing’.
Microdosing involves taking small amounts of drugs frequently over a period of time so that the small amounts in the bloodstream fail to show up in an athlete’s ‘biological passport’.
Pierre Sallett doped eight athletes for one month under supervision with EPO, human growth hormone, blood transfusions and corticosteroids.
After a month of doping, the amateur athletes showed an average improvement of 2.3% on a simulated 14km bike time trial and 2.8% when running on a 3000m indoor track.
The biological passport is a good way of detecting doping but needs to be improved. Cheaters have adapted in the last few years.
Nine blood samples were taken across 40 days, much more frequently than is normally the case with elite athletes, and analysed using current biological passport technology.
Sallett, who works for Athletes for Transparency, a French organisation set up in 2005 to help in the fight against doping, is calling for new methods to tighten up the biological passport drugs testing system.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Sallett said his research shows new analysis methods need to be used in conjunction with the biological passport to stop dopers who microdose evading the testers.
"The biological passport is a good way of detecting doping but needs to be improved,” Sallett said. “Cheaters have adapted in the last few years.
“With microdosing, a clean passport does not mean a clean athlete. We need to add on other existing statistical models and follow abnormal variations and competition periods in detail. Logistics remain the biggest challenge.
“Biological passport samples need to be taken in every location."
Abnormalities
The current biological passport system, which is being rolled out across all major sports as a new method of catching drug cheats, monitors blood values over a period of time and abnormalities in the passport can indicate doping.
Athletes can be banned on the basis of an abnormal biological passport even when testers do not know the substances used.
Sallett’s research found the athlete’s blood levels would not have fallen foul of biological passport parameters.
The detection rate of doping was 28% with the nine samples a month. However, if the testing followed current biological passport guidelines, the detection rate would be 0%.
But the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has questioned the validity of the research, saying in a statement: “The study does not accurately follow the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) guidelines, and therefore its relevance to the ABP is not entirely clear.
“In commenting on any study, it is first important that the findings are properly peer reviewed and published. This has not yet taken place with this study.
“Furthermore, WADA does not ever recommend athletes take part as ‘human guinea pigs’ in a study in which they would be subjected to taking performance enhancing drugs.
“We welcome and encourage research relevant to the Athlete Biological Passport, and continue to work with experts to advance and enhance the project.”
