The majority of the Russian athletes sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency after the Rodchenko whistleblowing case were done so on the basis of compelling but circumstantial evidence rather than than being caught by testing.

Yet the Irish anti-doping programme has only ever sought sanction on those who were caught by a test.

That was one of the most interesting points to arise from yesterday’s launch of the 2023 Sport Ireland antidoping report which we covered yesterday here.

The presence and engagement with the audience of Gunter Younger, WADA’s Director of Intelligence and Investigation was eye-opening.

“Cheaters adapt quickly,” he told us, “and we have to match them through the increased use of intelligence.”

“Whistleblowers can be your best asset but also your worst enemy,” he added and sorting out the motivations behind the near 500 cases that have been reported through hotlines is an ever growing part of WADA’s remit.

The appointment of Michael Heffernan, a senior law enforcement official to head up Sport Ireland’s Investigation team was a real positive for Ireland and the deterrent threat of a case that does not rely on the luck of timing and science is another, though one that has yet to be attempted.

“An athlete who might be caught in Paris this summer has two problems, one that they have provided a positive sample, and two, that they are stupid,” saud Younger with wry German wit but indicating the difficulty of catching cheats.

Michelle de Brúin retains her Olympic medals from Atlanta 1996 because she did not test positive for any performance enhancing drugs at the time. How many others might have wriggled through the net?

Younger also spoke of the courage of WADA leadership in allowing russian athletes back into competition during the investigation period, condemned as weakness at the time, including by us, but actually part of an elaborate and successful operation to gain greater access to records at the Moscow lab that ultimately held the key to greater insight and greater sanctions.

It was a fascinating insight into the murky world of drug abuse in sport.

Ultimately his hope is that cheating will rise up police authorities’ agenda through the increasing involved of organised crime.

For them, the detection rate and the sanctions are currently low and the profits are huge, Seizures made around the world in 2023 would have amounted to a staggering 288 million doses of performance enhancing drugs, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

 

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