NEWS

Anti-Doping Updates, 14th December 2011

By Masa Takaya | 15 Dec, 2010

The year 2010 was an exciting and eventful year in triathlon and another busy year with regards to ITU anti-doping initiatives!

In 2011 ITU would like everyone to be aware of the following information:

  • Details on ITU Anti-Doping Rule modifications that are in effect as of January 1, 2011, as approved by the ITU Executive Board.
  • An outline of the changes to the WADA Prohibited List that are in effect on January 1, 2011.
  • An outline of the changes to the WADA International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions that are in effect as of January 1, 2011.
  • A summary of ITU’s projected anti-doping activities for 2011.

All Athletes and Athlete support personnel will be affected by these changes.
Accordingly, it is of utmost importance for everyone involved in triathlon to become aware of annual modifications to all applicable anti-doping regulations, and of all their respective responsibilities under the ITU Anti-Doping Rules and the World Anti-Doping Code and related International Standards.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE ITU ANTI-DOPING RULES IN FORCE AS OF JANUARY 1, 2011

 

General

There have been no substantive modifications to the ITU Rules in relation to the mandatory provision of the WADA Code. As such the ITU Rules remain Code compliant and their application is mandatory for every individual and organization involved in the sport of triathlon.
Other than minor grammar modifications, syntax and phrase restructuring throughout the Rules, the ITU would like to point out some specific modifications that have been brought to the ITU Rules:

Scope

The Scope provision of the Rules has been reworded to ensure that the Rules apply or may apply to a wider spectrum of Athletes, Athlete support personnel and other individuals or organizations involved in the sport of triathlon. 
As with the many provisions that were slightly modified, the Scope provision has also been reworded to ensure and provide a better reflection of the practical application of the ITU anti-Doping Rules and to not be redundant in relation to other provisions of the Rules.

Therapeutic Use Exemptions

Article 4.4.2 of ITU Rules now delegates the responsibility of collecting TUEs and whereabouts information for Age Group Category Athletes to the relevant Athlete’s National Federation or National Anti-Doping Organisation.
This modification was the result of many open discussions with National Federations and NADO’s in order to allow them to apply their respective national rules on those Age Group Athletes (as defined in Article N.1.2 of the ITU Competition Rules) who are neither part of the ITU Registered Testing Pool nor compete at the international level other than in Age Group Categories.
ITU is thereby granting its National Federations greater flexibility in the application of their national laws to Age Group Category triathletes.
In short, as of January 1 2011, all Age Group Category Athletes must apply for a TUE with their respective National Anti-Doping Organization or their National Federation prior to using any prohibited substance. (And as before all granted TUEs must then be reported to ITU and WADA).

 

Registered Testing Pool

In order to better reflect the doping control test distribution plan carefully elaborated and prepared by the ITU, article 5.5 of the ITU Anti-Doping Rules has been reworded to include the non exhaustive criteria applied by the ITU when considering Athletes for inclusion in the ITU Registered Testing Pool.
The International Level Registered Testing Pool may consist of the top ranked 50 Athletes of the official ITU World Ranking List which is published on the ITU website and updated on a regular basis for each International Event, but may also include a variety of other triathletes as defined in article 5.5.1
All Athletes designated as included in the International Level Registered Testing Pool must submit whereabouts information to ITU Headquarters in accordance with ITU Anti-Doping Rules and the WADA International Standard for Testing, unless they are already submitting whereabouts to their National Anti-Doping Organization, who in accordance with article 5.6.4 will share this information confidentially with ITU as per a formal agreement concluded between them.
For the latest Registered Testing Pool check this link -http://www.triathlon.org/about/downloads_category/anti-doping/

 

Results Management for Other Possible Anti-Doping Rule Violations.

Article 7.3 now also explains the results management procedure that will be followed in cases where information based on the Athlete Biological Passport may result in an anti-doping rule violation. It explains the review process that will be undertaken by the ITU Blood Profiling Review Panel of experts and how, following this review, an anti-doping rule violation may or may not be asserted.

 

Right to a Fair Hearing

The actual process of Article 8 has not been altered. However the provisions have been slightly reworded and modified to provide more clarity to the procedure, to ensure better understanding for the reader and to better reflect the reality of ITU procedures as well as the functioning of the ITU Anti-Doping Hearing Panel.
As before, these provisions guarantee that all triathletes facing disciplinary procedures will benefit from procedural fairness. Article 8 is drafted to grant all triathletes with their rights of natural justice throughout any and all disciplinary procedures and is compliant with the mandatory provisions of the World Code.

 

Definitions

Two definitions relating to the Biological Athlete Passport have been added to the Rules.
Biological Athlete Passport (the Passport) is now a defined term as is Blood Profiling Review Panel.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE 2011 WADA PROHIBITED LIST.
The 2011 Prohibited List offers a number of changes in comparison to the 2010 List.
These changes reflect the latest scientific advances and broad consensus in the anti-doping community. They are founded on expanding anti-doping knowledge, evidence from the field, and constantly growing understanding of doping practices and trends.
Although we invite you to get familiar with the 2011 Prohibited List, the following are the major changes in comparison to 2010.

Non-Approved Substances

A new section – “Non-Approved Substances” – has been added to the Prohibited List. This “open” section addresses the issue of the abuse of pharmacological substances for the purpose of performance enhancement that are not included in other sections of the List and that are not approved by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use (i.e. drugs under pre-clinical or clinical development or discontinued).
Any such substance will be prohibited at all times (in and out-of-competition) in 2011.

Platelet-Derived Preparations

Platelet-derived preparations (commonly referred as PRP or blood spinning), which were prohibited in 2010 when used by intra-muscular route, have been removed from the List for 2011 after consideration of the lack of current evidence concerning the use of these methods for purposes of performance enhancement.
Current studies on platelet-derived preparations do not demonstrate potential for performance enhancement beyond a potential therapeutic effect. WADA will however continue to closely monitor research results and developments of these preparations.

Declaration of Use

Another noteworthy amendment is the removal of the obligation for Athletes to file a Declaration of Use for specific substances that are not prohibited.
In short, triathletes using asthma medication no longer need to file a Declaration of Use, however, the ITU and WADA will continue to monitor the use of asthma medications by all Athletes in the future.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR THERAPEUTIC USE EXEMPTIONS
The only major modification brought to the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions involves Declarations of Use.
In 2010, Declarations of Use - which must be distinguished from Therapeutic Use Exemptions (allowing the use of a prohibited substance) - were made mandatory for any all Athletes using salbutamol and salmeterol by inhalation; glucocorticosteroids administered by intra-articular, periarticular, peritendinous, epidural, intradermal and inhalation routes; or platelet-derived preparations that are not administered by intramuscular route.
Yet, upon a finding of salbutamol and salmeterol by inhalation; glucocorticosteroids administered by intra-articular, periarticular, peritendinous, epidural, intradermal and inhalation routes;, even if a triathlete had failed to file a Declaration of Use, this same finding did not result in an allegation of an anti-doping rule violation. Therefore this practice was, in effect, of no use.
This burdensome administrative requirement was therefore removed by WADA for 2011.
As a result, there are no longer substances or methods on the Prohibited List that require a Declaration of Use and therefore it is not necessary for Athletes using salbutamol or salmeterol by inhalation or glucocorticosteroids administered by intra-articular, periarticular, peritendinous, epidural, intradermal and inhalation routes to file a Declaration of Use or to report it in ADAMS .

Please note that in accordance with the International Standard for Testing,  all triathletes must still declare any substance(s) they have been using on their Doping Control Forms as per usual practice and must still apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption from the ITU or their NADO before using any prohibited substance.

A LOOK AHEAD TO ITU ANTI-DOPING INITIATIVES 2011

In-Competition testing

In conformity with its Rules and Test Distribution Plan, in all ITU Events, the ITU will continue to determine the number of finishing placement doping controls (blood or urine) it shall perform on triathletes as well as the number of doping controls (blood or urine) that may be performed on any triathlete as part of random or target testing or as part of the Athlete Biological Passport.

Out-of-Competition testing

The ITU will, of course, also be vigilant about continuing to test its Athletes out of competition. We will carry on our practice of conducting out-of-competition testing and Athlete Biological Passport doping controls on Registered Testing Pool Athletes, in accordance with the whereabouts submissions they have timely submitted.
Based on the objectives of the ITU Test Distribution Plan, some out-of-competition testing (blood or urine) will also be conducted randomly on any given triathlete at any time and at any location during training or pre-competition.

Athlete Biological Passport

ITU will continue to build up the Athlete Biological Passport on its athletes. ITU will work with other NADOs to make sure that the programme is effective and efficient and fits well with the overall goals of ITU’s Anti-doping programme.

Education

The ITU will update its website as necessary to reflect the changes in the ITU Anti-Doping Rules and in all WADA documents.
Because of the success of the Athlete Outreach Education Booth over the past two years, and most notably at the World Championship Series Grand Final in Budapest in 2010, the ITU will also consider organizing another Athlete Outreach Booth at the World Championship Final in Beijing in September 2011.
Finally, the ITU will maintain its current practice of communicating with its member federations on all matters relating to anti-doping and of disseminating any important and relevant information on anti-doping as it becomes available and/or required via all available communication mediums.

The ITU thanks you all for your continued commitment in our concerted efforts to eradicating the use of performance enhancing drugs in our sport.

If you have any questions or comments about ITU’s Anti-doping programme, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)