As we approach the 2024 Summer Olympics, ensuring a clean game is a major priority for the International Olympic Committee. More than 1,000 people will be involved in various anti-doping testing stages, including chaperones, sample collection personnel, and dedicated anti-doping control spaces at each competition venue. The goal is to maintain fair competition so we can all trust that those Olympians who earn their podium moment did so without any artificial enhancement. Unfortunately, the anti-doping community is again grabbing headlines ahead of these Olympics for the wrong reasons.
During the 2024 Games, athletes will undergo doping tests to ensure a level playing field. There are three types of tests for athletes: urine tests, venous blood tests and dried blood spot tests. The rapid advancement in pharmacology means that new performance-enhancing drugs can sometimes slip through existing detection frameworks. Staying ahead of these innovations requires substantial funding, cutting-edge research, and a collaborative global effort.
Drug testing at the Olympics began 54 years ago, in 1968. However, athletes around the globe are pleading for fairness and lobbying for the rights of athletes who choose to compete clean. As athlete trust in a system designed to protect has eroded, what can be done to rebuild the shattered confidence?
It’s a simple question, and unfortunately, there are no simple answers that apply. The challenges and inequities inherent in creating a uniform system across borders and around the world remain daunting. As athlete distrust and discontent continue to grow, they are more united worldwide than ever in demanding accountability from their sports systems. Leaders are being challenged for transparency, as justice for all hangs in a precarious balance.
As just one small role in the anti-doping system, sample collection devices and procedures alone cannot solve these complex issues. But confidence – in any form – is one of the most valued traits for athletes and the sports systems in which they compete.
The anti-doping community needs to be committed to eliminating skepticism and doubts around the effectiveness of trusted sample collection while providing the tools and confidence to deliver a less invasive, more personalized sample collection process for athletes.
Innovation is changing the way we imagine anti-doping sample collection. One piece of the anti-doping puzzle is blood sample collection. In May 2021, the World Anti-Doping Agency approved dried blood spot testing for doping control, designed to harmonize testing requirements and procedures.
Dried blood spot testing will be utilized at the Olympic Games this summer in Paris, providing Olympians with an improved, more convenient blood collection experience. With the global availability of dried blood spot testing devices, even more confidence for athletes can be created, through a less invasive, less painful, and far faster blood collection sample than traditional venous draws. Dried blood spot testing acceptance also means a far more efficient and cost-effective process for anti-doping organizations and collection agencies, who continue to perform the irreplaceable and tireless work of protecting the integrity of sport. Increasing the testing frequency and increasing doping deterrence are two outcomes that significantly matter to anti-doping stakeholders.
During the past three years, we’ve learned confidence can take important forms as athletes share with us the peace of mind and the enhanced security of the dried blood testing equipment.
These remain challenging times for the global anti-doping community. Being committed to solutions that drive innovation and confidence must remain a top priority for all if we are to begin to rebuild trust.
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About Gabe Baida
Gabe Baida is an anti-doping, drug testing expert with 15+ years in the anti-doping field including 10+ years at the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). At USADA, Gabe managed the drug testing program for the UFC, which included athletes from 46 different countries speaking 18 different languages.
Currently, Gabe is the Executive Director at InnoVero, which provides innovation and integrity to the global anti-doping community, through solutions designed to secure global athlete trust. InnoVero’s SAFESystem™ Dried Blood Spot sample collection kit (which includes the Tasso M20) will be used by athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics. In the United States, InnoVero partners with USADA, Major League Baseball, and the collection companies that support many of the other professional sport leagues, such as the National Football League, UFC, National Basketball Association, the Professional Golf Association, Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League, as well as anti-doping organizations located around the globe.