Posted: May 1, 2005

Athletics: Track & Field Remains Most Tested Sport By USADA

by Bob Ramsak
(c) 2005 TRACK PROFILE REPORT, all rights reserved

Track & Field remains the most tested sport by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), according to first quarter figures for 2005 released by the agency yesterday.

Of the 1,767 domestic doping tests carried out by the agency in the first three months of the year, 359, or 20 percent were conducted on track and field athletes. Swimming was next with 178 tests, accounting for 10 percent of the totals, while cycling was the third most tested sport, with 105 tests conducted, or 5.9 percent.

The latest figures correspond with the totals reported for 2004, when track & field athletes accounted for 21.1 percent of all tests conducted.

Out-of-Competition (OOC) testing, typically occuring at the athlete's home or training facility with little or no advance notice, comprised approximately 60 percent (1,057) of domestic tests. In track and field, 188 out-of-competition tests and 171 in-competition tests were conducted.

An additional 57 tests were administerd on U.S. and non-U.S. athletes in the United States on behalf of other anti-doping organizations, a total not reflected in the overall figures.

In all, six anti-doping rules violations were reported by the agency, including one suspension for the use of an anabolic steroid, two suspensions involving recombinant human erythropoietin (r-EPO), two suspensions involving stimulants and one test refusal. Of the six, two were track athletes: distance runner Deeja Youngquist for EPO, whose arbitration appeal was rejected in early March; and long jumper Erick Walder, who tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine at the adidas Oregon Track Classic in Portland last June. Both received two-year suspensions.

In the first quarter of 2004, USADA administered 1,866 tests of which 433 were conducted on track and field athletes. Of those, 240, or 55.4 percent, were out-of-competition tests.

69 Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American sports are under USADA's testing jurisdiction. Athletes in many other professional sports in the United States, including baseball, football and basketball, are not subject to testing by independent agencies.