CHENNAI: India may not be on top of the world in most Olympic disciplines. When it comes to doping, though, the country still leads the pack. Especially among countries that tested more than 2000 samples. At 19,222 samples, China’s Anti-Doping Agency has tested the maximum number of athletes. In comparison, India tested about 3,865 samples.
Even in 2021, with 2.3 per cent of AAFs against samples collected, India were the leader (for more than 1000 samples tested). This newspaper had already reported late on Wednesday, how India are on top in terms of percentage for doping violations this time as well.
According to the 2022 Anti-Doping Testing Figures of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published on Wednesday, National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) in New Delhi has about 3.2 per cent conversion rate of positive cases. The NDTL had collected 3,680 urine samples, out of which 126 had Adverse Analytical finding (AAF), which is the number of positive tests before final adjudication (Anti-Doping Rule Violation). The 2022 testing figures also revealed that NDTL collected 216 blood samples out of which there was one AAF. In 2021, NADA had collected 1,794 samples out of which 42 tested positive.
The figures published under National Anti-Doping Organizations also revealed that the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) had collected 3,865 samples out of which there were 125 positive tests. To break down the figures, the NADA collected 2,154 urine samples during competition out of which 88 returned positive. In out of competition, 1,501 urine samples were collected out of competition (OOC), out of which 36 tested positive. While NADA collected 90 blood samples in-competition, 120 samples were OOC.
South Africa’s Bloemfontein laboratory is second with a conversion rate of 2.04 per cent. It tested about 3,761 urine samples out of which 89 were positive. The lab also collected 158 blood samples for a total of 3,919. However, South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport, the anti-doping watchdog of the country, had tested 2033 samples (urine and blood) out of which 58 tested positive.
Though Cologne laboratory in Germany had more positives in numbers – 186 AAFs – the laboratory tested about 30,000 samples. In terms of percentage, it comes to just .60 per cent. Similarly, Ghent in Belgium tested over 16,000 samples for a positive test of 100, which is .69 per cent. Salt Lake City in the US also tested about 10,489 urine samples for 125 positives and 2,144 blood samples for one positive. Percentage wise, it is 1 per cent. When it comes to NADOs, the Kazakhstan National Anti-Doping Centre is behind South Africa in terms of percentage of positive tests. It collected 2174 samples (urine and blood) and 41 tested positive.
After China, German National Anti-Doping Agency (13,653) and Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA - 10,186) are the two organizations that tested more than 10,000 samples. For China, there were 23 positive cases, which stands at 0.2 per cent against samples collected. There were 84 positive cases reported in by RUSADA.
The US Anti-Doping Agency too recorded a high number of 84 positives but their sampling stood at 6,782 which stands at 1.2 per cent.