Can Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games Be the Cleanest Games Ever?

The XXXIII Olympiad in Paris is scheduled to take place from July 26th to August 11th, 2024, spanning a total of 19 days. The tournaments for handball, football, and rugby will begin on July 24th. The Games will bring together 10,500 athletes from 206 nations. With 28 sports and an additional 4 sports (breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding, surfing), there will be a grand total of 329 events to be contested.

For The International Testing Agency (ITA) the Summer Olympic Games in Paris has started already. The agency kicked off the Pre-Games Program at the end of 2023.

As the qualification procedures will continue until shortly before the start of the first competitions in France, over 70% of the pre-Games doping tests take place from April until the end of July.

- The ITA’s anti-doping program for Paris 2024 does not only cover the Games-time activities, but also the time before and after the event. Actually, the Pre-Games period is the most important phase as athletes likely to dope will most probably do so in the run-up to the Olympics, says Marta Nawrocka Communication Senior Manager to the Anti-Doping Database

- After the Games, all collected samples will be stored in view of their possible re-analysis for a period of up to 10 years, for instance when there are breakthroughs in analysis technologies or new information is received, she continues.

How realistic is it that the Games in Paris returns zero positive results?

- Relatively few athletes tend to be caught for a potential anti-doping rule violation during the Games. This is mainly due to the deterrent factor of the ITA's rigorous controls at the event, which they are aware of. In most cases they are also well prepared and trained by their national anti-doping agencies and their national Olympic committees to be very careful about what drugs or supplements they take in order to avoid inadvertent doping.

- It is not the ITA’s role to speculate about the amount of cases that will be uncovered and perception about these numbers tend to vary to both extremes. To some, zero positives means zero doping, to others, zero positives means that the anti-doping program is not effective. We rather focus on deploying the best anti-doping program possible for Paris 2024, as mentioned above, and the aspects of it that we can control and lead, Nawrocka answers.

One of the largest Anti-Doping Programs

The anti-doping program that has been put in place to make sure the Olympic Summer Games in Paris are as clean as possible, is one of the largest. More than 6.000 samples will be collected during the Games. It is more or less the same amount of samples collected during the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

- The plan for Paris 2024 is to collect around the same amount of samples as for Tokyo 2020. As the ITA is leading a comprehensive anti-doping program for the Olympic Games, increasing the amount of collected samples would not be an indicator for the quality of said program. Rather, what matters is the targeting and intelligence behind each testing mission - the allocation of resources and tools at our disposal to successfully implement informed and efficient clean sport activities, says Nawrocka.

- The ITA-led anti-doping program for Tokyo 2020 was the largest clean sport effort ever implemented for an edition of the Olympic Games, and the one for Paris 2024 will follow in its footsteps and additionally bring further supporting factors such as more targeted Pre-Games efforts and the use of the endocrine module of the ABP, the Communication Senior Manager continues.

The endocrine module can detect human growth hormone and is one of the new features added to the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP).

Dr. Neil Robinson, ITA Head of Science & Medical, says on the ITA-website that “With the new ABP Endocrine Module, we now have a new tool at our disposal which we must leverage to detect doping. To ensure that it can be used reliably in our daily activities for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and beyond, we need to work together to better understand how we can monitor hGH biomarkers’ levels in athletes’ bodies over the long term and detect potential abuse. I am very pleased that the ITA can lead this joint effort and thank all the organisations involved for their valuable contributions.”

High risk athletes monitored

ITA, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set the bar high for those athletes trying to cheat before or during the games.

Within the framework of the ITA’s Paris 2024 Pre-Games Program, a special focus is put on potentially participating high-risk athletes. This risk is determined by several variables, of which the combination of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) to which they belong and their discipline is one of the determining factors. The Expert Group reports some progress in this area given the current timeframe and its recommendation that a minimum of three targeted doping controls be performed on high-risk athletes from the beginning of the year until the Games begin: over 50% of these high-risk athletes have already been tested at least once. 7% have been tested three times and a further 7% have been tested more than three times. As the majority of the tests will take place in the next 70 days, this can be seen as a positive trend in this area. More than two-thirds of these doping tests on high-risk athletes were carried out by National Anti-Doping Organisations, and around one-third by International Sport Federations.

High risk athletes has already been tested numerous times to make sure they stay clean.

“The ITA Paris 2024 Pre-Games Program is a global effort to ensure that athletes can compete with confidence at the world’s greatest sporting event. The ITA is absolutely determined to ensure that all possible efforts are invested to safeguard fair play at the Olympics. In this crucial phase just over two months away from the start of the competitions in Paris the ITA thanks all anti-doping organisations dedicated to collaborating with us and working for the protection of athletes for their global efforts to ensure a level playing field at the Games. At the same time, we urge everyone involved to remain vigilant up until the end of the pre-Games phase and to use the strategic support offered by the ITA Paris 2024 Pre-Games Expert Group for adequate and risk-proportionate testing. The ITA will report the progress and outcome of the pre-Games program to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as the global anti-doping regulator.”, says ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen in a press release.

- It seems to us that the goal for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Testing Agency is the make sure the Games in Paris will be the cleanest ever?

- It is, of course, always the objective of the ITA to deploy the best anti-doping program possible at any given moment – during the Games but also throughout the year working for our partners. Over 80% of the Summer Olympic International Federations represented in Paris are by the way delegating their anti-doping programs to the ITA all year round. We will use all the tools and innovations at hand to ensure the Games benefit from targeted and expert led clean sport activities. This includes scientific aspects such as a detailed risk assessment based on an array of relevant factors, the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) or data analysis (that can, for instance, retrieve important data insights from Tokyo 2020 that can be applied to Paris 2024). But also Intelligence & Investigations – through the work of the ITA’s own experts, through collaborating with the network of anti-doping organisations and also through the collaboration with the French authorities. All aspects of the ITA-led anti-doping program for Paris will, of course, be implemented in strict compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code, the IOC’s anti-doping rules and all other connected International Standards, explains Nawrocka.

But there is no guarantee that the Games will be doping free:

- No testing regime in the world can guarantee a completely doping free environment, much like no amount of police force can guarantee zero crimes. We are not monitoring every single athlete every single hour of the day, it is simply not possible. But we implement the best possible anti-doping regime within the specific context, available resources, knowledge and technology to ensure that athletes participating in the Games know that fair play and honest performance are protected. The possibility for the ITA to re-analyse Olympic samples during the 10 years following the closing of the Games also require caution when reporting that they were potentially zero positive tests in Paris, Nawrocka says.

Since 18 April 2024, the ITA can directly implement doping controls on athletes from any sport on the program in Paris within the framework of the extended Testing Authority of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The results of the monitoring efforts of the ITA Paris 2024 Pre-Games Expert Group will also be considered for targeted out-of-competition controls by the ITA from the opening of the Olympic Village and throughout the Games constituting another measure to avoid testing gaps.

Tougher fight against doping

The period between two Olympic Games is called an Olympiad. In the current Olympiad (2021-2024) the Olympic Movement has provided USD 319 million to combat doping. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has alone provided 160 million – or just above 50%.

This amount of money shows how important trying to eradicate doping from the Olympic Games.

Gerhard Heiberg, who was the chair of the Marketing Commission from 2001 to 2014, told Anti-Doping Database that scandals like the one happened in Sochi, Russia in 2014 did great damage to the Olympic Brand.

“We understood that IOC had to fight doping harder. The work we did for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and now for Paris shows the world that we do take doping seriously. I don’t think we will win and remove doping all together, but we are coming closer and closer”, says Heiberg to The Anti-Doping Database (ADDB).

Sochi caused a lot of noise. Heiberg was also a member of the TV Rights and Media commission until 2014. IOC had many meetings with sponsors and media after the winter games in Russia.

“Sponsors do not want to be seen in connection with doping”, Heiberg says.

He is supported by former General Secretary of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports, Inge Andersen:

“Sotchi was the biggest doping scandal in the history of Olympic Games. It was a doping regime put in system by Russia.

Not so bad for IOC, damaging for the athlete

Former head of the Medical Committee at IOC, Arne Ljungqvist, doesn’t think doping during the Games necessarily could cause any harm.

“The Ben Johnson case "helped" sports to understand the necessity to take action against doping. We who worked against doping felt how the wind turned”, he says to ADDB.

Trond Blindheim is a professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College in Oslo, Norway. He thinks doping in releation to the Games is unfortunate:

“For the Olympics, it means a serious blow. The Olympic Games are dependent on sponsors.”, Blindheim starts.

“The damage is almost irreparable for the athlete, and very damaging for the team and for the country. Cheating in sports competitions is the worst thing that can damage sports. If an athlete is caught doping, the sponsors often disappear. They have also ensured that in the contracts for both the athletes and the team”, Blindheim continues.

Short facts on the 2024 Paris Olympic Summer Games:

10,500 athletes

6,000 anti-doping samples to be collected

329 events

206 nations

28 sports

19 days

Pre-Games Initiatives:

2016 Rio de Janerio Olympic Summer Games: 1500 recommendations implemented (7 sports)(3 months)

2018 PyeongChang Olympi Winter Games: 3500 recommendations implemented (7 sports) (3 months)

2020 Tokyo Olympic Summer Games: over 25000 recommendations implemented (33 sports) (6 months)

Statistics for the last four Olympic Games

Beijing 2008:

- Number of tests carried out during the Games (27 July-24 August 2008) 4,800

- Number of samples selected for reanalysis (process over as samples stored for 8 years): 1,053

- Number of sanctions issued as of January 2017: 59

London 2012:

- Number of tests carried out during the Games (16 July-12 August 2012) : 5,000

- Number of samples selected for reanalysis (ongoing process / samples stored for 8 years):492

- Number of sanctions issued as of January 2017: 37

Rio 2016

Number of tests to be carried out during the Games: 5,380

4,480 were to be urine samples, 450 were to be Blood Serum samples. 450 were Athlete Biological Passport analysis.

2,845 samples were to be collected in-competition, 2,907 were collected

2,085 samples were to be collected out-of-competition, 1,753 were collected

450 ABP analysis were to be done, only 29 were analysed

Of the planned 5,380 samples to be collected, only 4,882 were actually being collected.

28 athletes returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (aka: positive doping test)

Source: The WADA 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games Independent Observer Report

Tokyo 2020

- Number of tests to be carried out during the Games (23 July - 8 August, 2021): 6,200

- 34,6% OOC

- 65,4% IC

- Number of athletes tested: 4,125 (35,4% of the 11,658 athletes participating) from 171 countries

The Tokyo Laboratory received 5,079 urine samples and 1,104 blood samples

10 athletes returned an Adverse Analytical Finding

Tokyo stats:

A total of 2,708 samples were collected before the Games began on July 23, with 839 athletes subject to testing from 69 countries.

Of these, 2,091 were urine samples and 617 were blood samples.

A majority of these tests at 59.4 per cent were conducted in Europe, with Russia the most tested country.

A further 763 samples were collected from 472 competitors from 75 nations, with the five sports under FINA’s jurisdiction taking place across the duration of the Games up until August 8.

Samples from the Tokyo Olympic Summer Games held in 2021 – one year delayed due to the Covid Pandemic – will be stored for 10 years.

IOC called it the cleanest Games ever. Unofficial tests done by IOC Medical Commission Member, Manfred Donike, showed that 20% of the specimens he tested, including those from sixteen gold medalists would have resulted in disciplinary proceedings had the tests been official.

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Sources:

ITA Paris 2024 Pre-Games Program ramps up to focus on high-risk sports & athletes and supports global anti-doping efforts ahead of the Olympic Games - https://ita.sport/news/ita-paris-2024-pre-games-program-ramps-up-to-focus-on-high-risk-sports-athletes-support-global-anti-doping-efforts-ahead-of-the-olympic-games/

Detecting human growth hormone: the ITA launches a targeted project ahead of Paris 2024 - https://ita.sport/news/detecting-human-growth-hormone-the-ita-launches-a-targeted-project-ahead-of-paris-2024/

NOC Clean Sport Education Guide - Paris 2024 - https://ita.sport/resource/noc-clean-sport-education-guide-paris-2024/

The ITA officialises cooperation on anti-doping information exchange with the AFLD and French authorities for Paris 2024 - https://ita.sport/news/the-ita-officialises-cooperation-on-anti-doping-information-exchange-with-the-afld-and-french-authorities-for-paris-2024/

Independent Observer Reports:

2020 Tokyo Report: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/IO%20Report_2020%20Tokyo%20Olympic%20Games_Final.pdf

2016 Rio Report: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/rio2016_io_team_report_26102016.pdf

2012 London Report: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/WADA-IO-Report-OG-London-2012.pdf