The Wada report said that, on some days, “up to 50%” of planned tests had to be aborted
A Wada report on the anti-doping methods employed at Rio 2016 has highlighted “serious failings”.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said many athletes who had been targeted for testing “simply could not be found”.
It added that, on some days, “up to 50% of tests were aborted”.
Its Independent Observers report said there was a “lack of coordination or unified approach among the management team in the Rio 2016 anti-doping department during the Olympic Games”.
Wada’s report did praise improvements made to Rio’s anti-doping laboratory, however.
The organisation had suspended the lab just six weeks before the Games opened, because it failed to comply with international standards.
But Wada said it had been “superbly equipped”, and was “operated very securely and generally very efficiently”.
It said it now represents an “outstanding legacy from the Games for the anti-doping movement in South America”.
However, other “failings” highlighted in the report include inadequate support for the chaperones employed to notify athletes of testing.
Wada said that on several occasions more than half of these failed to turn up, or turned up very late. It said they were “disincentivised” because of a lack of training, poor travel arrangements, and the fact many could not speak English.
In one of its recommendations, it said: “Untrained and inexperienced chaperones should not be working at the Games.
“It undermines respect and trust among athletes in the anti-doping program, and provides opportunities for experienced and unscrupulous athletes who would want to abuse the system to manipulate the doping control process.”
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