Cheaters: 30 Vancouver Winter Olympic Athletes Busted and Banned

Before the Vancouver Winter 2010 Olympics  even go on its way, 30 athletes were nabbed by drug testers. At a pre-Olympic press conference, the President of the World anti-Doping Agency (WADA) stated that the probability of cheaters being caught in these games is higher than in any other game in history. John Fahey noted that drug testing is much more advanced now and there is improved cooperation between law enforcement and sports agencies to nab dopers.

Many athletes converging on the Olympic site found an unusual welcome; they were required to drop their pants and /or  roll up their sleeves in the interest of doping control. And once may not be enough. It is highly likely that some athletes may be required to go through these motions again and again for the duration of the Olympics. This means that an athlete intent on cheating need not think that he or she can get away with it after the initial testing comes out negative.

The intent of dope testing before the start of the games is to catch cheaters before they even have a chance to compete.  By the end of the Olympics  in Vancouver, the IOC and the VANOC will have conducted some 2,000 tests with Olympic athletes in all sports selected for testing, anywhere and anytime during the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. WADA is the on-site doping agency with the most sophisticated doping control laboratory in the game’s history.

Many of the dopers caught so far are reportedly competitors in the cross country and long distance skiing events and the biathlon. The WADA says that it will not announce the names or nationalities of dopers in the interest of fair play until all avenues of appeal available to the athletes have been exhausted. However, Jacques Rogge IOC President did announce that concerns were raised with Russian President  Medvedev  because 11 anti doping cases involved Russian athletes over the past year.