Anti-doping analysis and the Olympics
2012; Future Science Ltd; Volume: 4; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês
10.4155/bio.12.144
ISSN1757-6199
AutoresPatrick Schamasch, Olivier Rabin,
Tópico(s)Muscle metabolism and nutrition
ResumoBioanalysisVol. 4, No. 13 Special Focus Issue: Anti-doping analysis and the Olympics - ForewordFree AccessAnti-doping analysis and the OlympicsPatrick Schamasch & Olivier RabinPatrick Schamasch* Author for correspondenceInternational Olympic Committee Medical & Scientific Department, hateau de Vidy, Lausanne, 1007, Switzerland. & Olivier RabinScience Department, World Anti-Doping Agency, 800 Place Victoria, Montreal, Quebec, H4Z 1B7, CanadaPublished Online:26 Jul 2012https://doi.org/10.4155/bio.12.144AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Keywords: analysischeatsdopingsportsThe fight against doping has always been, and will remain, linked in peoples' minds to the image of cops and robbers. For a long time, the 'cops' were always lagging behind the 'robbers', running after them but never managing to catch up.For over a decade now, we have seen this trend being reversed, which does not mean, however, that we are ahead of the sophisticated cheaters, preventing them from committing all their crimes.The sophistication of the tools provided to us by science is equalled only by the ingenuity that the cheats and their entourage use to elude them. However, over the last 10 years, this 'cat-and-mouse' game seems to be turning to the advantage of those who are fighting for a healthier playing field, cleaner sport and, in particular, for increased protection of the athletes' health, protecting them from themselves on the one hand, as well as from their entourage, which often includes people who are prepared to endanger the health of those whom they are supposed to advise and protect.In the area of analysis, scientific progress and the intelligence of those who contribute to it are developing increasingly efficient methods to be available to the laboratories involved in the fight against doping. A large variety of such recent developments and their perspectives are presented by the various articles in this special focus publication.We realise, when reading these articles, that all progress and new methods must be able to withstand any scientific and legal challenges. The fight against doping, unlike medical practice, must work with an infinitesimal margin of uncertainty. This element, which is inherent to doping controls, makes the work of the laboratories even more challenging, as their work must combine scientific rigour with the Sword of Damocles that legal scrutiny represents.The harmonization of anti-doping rules, which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has sought to achieve since its creation, is one of the elements that helps to ensure a first-line of defence against the assaults that the cheats are ready to launch in an attempt to discredit, often publicly in the media, a well-founded accusation by using some fallacious justification.Furthermore, the measures implemented by WADA help to strengthen the arsenal that allows us to stand up to the dubious ingenuity of the people against whom we are fighting. When reading the articles herein, we see that all technological progress and all new trends in this fight must be based on a scientific quality that is not frequently demanded in other areas of society.Furthermore, all steps of the anti-doping process and, in particular, the analytical procedures must be robust enough to stand up in court, which, sadly, is an ever-increasing recourse.It should also be realized that there are numerous new interesting avenues to be explored. They open up new horizons in the fight against doping in sport, but involve a different approach as far as results management is concerned.When WADA was created in 1999 and it appeared that the fight against doping could not be performed without the support of the public authorities, which have the power of investigation, it is now clear that a strong component in the future of this fight is intrinsically linked to the strengthening of relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.This intelligence-sharing indicates the new routes that our enemies could take and, in doing so, allows us to thwart them. Anticipation of doping trends already allows the authorities involved in the fight against doping to move from a reactive to a proactive mode.We use bellicose terms to describe this fight because this is indeed a war we are waging: a war against a faceless enemy; a war against an enemy that fears neither God nor man and which frequently uses athletes as a means to much more mercenary ends.In conclusion, the fight against doping is a fight against one of the deviations of human nature; this is to say cheating. We are not naive, and we know full well that our fight must not be likened to the labor of Sisyphus. We do not know if our boulder will one day reach its ultimate summit, but we are doing what we can to bring this goal closer every day.DisclaimerThe opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the opinions of the organizations of affiliation of the authors.Financial & competing interests disclosureThe authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 4, No. 13 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics History Published online 26 July 2012 Published in print July 2012 Information© Future Science LtdKeywordsanalysischeatsdopingsportsDisclaimerThe opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the opinions of the organizations of affiliation of the authors.Financial & competing interests disclosureThe authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.PDF download
Referência(s)