British Olympians to be drug tested before Beijing

Every British athlete competing in the Beijing Olympics will be dope tested at least once before this year's Games as part of the country's most comprehensive pre-Olympic testing programme, UK Sport announced yesterday.

More than 1,500 tests will be carried out on athletes attending the Aug. 8 to 24 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games in a programme run in partnership with the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association.

"We have a duty to ensure we do all we can to show the world that the British teams competing in Beijing are drug-free," John Scott, director of Drug-Free Sport at UK Sport said.

"The majority of tests will be attempted through no advance notice out-of-competition tests, either at squad training sessions or through whereabouts information provided by athletes, with additional tests targeted at key in-competition Beijing selection events.

"Whilst the overall aim is to test everyone at least once, obviously those in more high-risk sports or disciplines can and will be tested more often. Essentially there is no limit to the number of times we might test any individual athlete."