The 2024 Summer Olympics, formally known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and branded as Paris 2024, will take place in France from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
And just like that, we’re back to a revolving door: doping.
Not long ago, it appeared that the Olympics were winning the war on drug cheats.
However, retests of samples from past Olympics have resulted in more than 100 medalists being disqualified for doping.
On March 26, 2024, at Iten Law Courts, Basille Samuel David Moreillon, a 29-year-old Swiss national, pleaded guilty to the charge of conducting scientific research without a licence from the National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation, a violation of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Act.
Mr Morellion was supposedly undertaking a scientific study by collecting blood samples from both athletes and non-athletes.
To anti-doping sleuths, this raised the potential of blood doping returning.
Blood doping is the modification of the body to increase red blood cells, allowing the cells to deliver more oxygen to a human’s muscles, resulting in an increase in energy, which boosts performance and stamina while also increasing an athlete’s recovery.
Blood doping can occur through the use of medications such as erythropoietin or via direct blood transfusion.
The transfused blood can either be returned to the original donor or given to another athlete.
While the benefits may seem appealing, the potential risks include heart attacks, strokes, and sepsis.
To prevent blood doping, the World Anti-Doping Agency implemented the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) in 2019 to monitor athletes.
By tracking biological indicators over time, the ABP can identify the impacts of doping on an athlete’s body.
For example, a rise in an athlete’s haemoglobin level may indicate an intentional increase in the number of red blood cells.
For optimal results, the ABP guidelines propose three tests per athlete per calendar year: during training, competition, and off-season.
To prevent doping at the national level, the Sports Disputes Tribunal hears cases involving athletes, support workers, and sports federations.
The broad reach is beneficial since, in the fight against the epidemic, it is critical to crack down on not only athletes but also proponents, sympathisers, and suppliers of prohibited substances.
The Anti-Doping Authority of Kenya (ADAK) leads the battle against doping.
On June 4, 2024, it suspended 33 athletes for anti-doping rule violations. Between 2004 and 2018, 86 percent of Kenyan athletes were flagged for doping during in-competition testing.
This highlights the low testing numbers when our athletes are at home and the need for ADAK to spearhead an uptake in testing.
As Kenya sends an 83-person team to the 2024 Olympics, these athletes must undergo pre-competition testing to defend the integrity of sports.
It would benefit the country to know that our athletes’ achievements are the result of hard work, devotion, and training, rather than pills, injections, and transfusions.
The writers are advocates of the High Court of Kenya.
