Thousands of athletes throughout the world participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Each participating nation sent their best athletes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to compete with other athletes from around the globe.
The World Anti-Doping Agency or WADA recently reported that there have been ‘serious failings' on anti-doping methods during the Rio Olympics in August. WADA said that there were many athletes who were aimed for testing were "simply could not be found" and "up to 50% of tests were aborted" in some days.
The Telegraph also reported that almost "500 fewer drugs tests were carried out and less than 10 percent of biological passport samples were taken than planned". According to WADA's observer team, many high-risk sports went untested including track-and-field athletes, cyclists and swimmers.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that "it was only due to the enormous resourcefulness and goodwill of some key doping control personnel working at the Games that the process did not break down entirely".
WADA's 55-page Independent Observers report shows that 4,125 out of the 11,470 athletes had no record of any testing in 2016 of whom 1,913 were competing in 10 "higher-risk sports", reports BBC News.
In the report, it also said that nearly 100 samples were not matched to an athlete because of data entry errors. Another missing sample was not located until two weeks after the games. Without the dedication of doping-control staff, "the anti-doping program would have almost certainly collapsed", and as of Aug. 8, only 4,795 athletes were providing whereabouts information in the anti-doping system.
WADA's report also reads, "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."
WADA or World Anti-Doping Agency is a foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee that promotes, coordinates, and monitors the fight against doping in sports in all its forms.
