More tests, tougher testing: New anti-doping levels for Beijing

(BEIJING, July 4) -- More extensive anti-doping efforts will be applied at the Beijing Summer Games, as announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). A total of over 4,500 tests will be administered, which is 25% more than the number of tests conducted in the 2004 Athens Games, also a 90% increase from Sydney 2000.

IOC, in cooperation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG), will employ an any-time-any-place testing system during the Beijing Olympic Games. Athletes can be required to take a test at the Olympic venue, the Olympic Village or a training facility. In case of any positive testing result, the athlete involved will be denied the right to participate in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

IOC has been battling against doping for almost 50 years. A list of banned substances was issued following the 1960 Olympics in Rome, with the WADA founded in 1999. Penalties inflicted upon dope users are getting increasingly severe, with even more tough punishment to be employed in Beijing 2008.

"Most athletes compete honestly and fairly," IOC President Jacques Rogge is quoted by the Internatinal Triathlon Union website as saying, "they treasure the Olympic experience. We owe it to these athletes