Bach vows ‘zero tolerance’ if Olympics tainted by doping

Twenty-one athletes had test results that suggested they were in danger of having a heart attack or stroke and should have been sent to hospital to have their blood drained. “Some of these athletes risked death from the complications caused by thickening their blood”.

Though the IAAF has strongly rejected any suggestions that it was negligent, it remains unclear why it did not pursue those athletes that have now been identified as suspicious.

KUALA LUMPUR/SYDNEY Some of the readings from athletes’ blood checks leaked by a whistleblower for a report exposing suspected doping have been so extreme they have been “downright harmful”, one of many specialists cited within the report advised Reuters on Monday.

Australian doping expert Robin Parisotto and another scientist, Michael Ashendon, concluded that more than 800 athletes had recorded one or more “abnormal” results, defined as a result that had less than one chance in 100 of being natural.

Parisotto said: “Never have I seen such an alarmingly abnormal set of blood values”.

Factors such as the timing of tests, altitude and testing conditions could have led to some suspicious results.

“However there have been values that have been … fairly excessive and even making an allowance for confounding elements, there was actually no disputing what that knowledge was telling us”, he stated.

“We welcome the Wada’s decision to probe the allegations made”, said Athletics Australia president Phil Jones. “We want to look into them seriously because to say that in athletics between 2001 and 2012 we did not do a serious job with tests is laughable”.

The latest ARD program, called “Doping Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics”, was broadcast three weeks before the world championships in Beijing, which run from August 22-30.

The global Olympic Committee has previously stripped medals from athletes who have retroactively been found guilty of doping offenses dating back to the time of the games.

Athletics are a central part of the Olympics, the only sporting event that rivals football’s World Cup in scale and which collects billions of dollars from sponsors like Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Visa and McDonald’s.

The head of the worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) has promised the organization will pursue a policy of “zero tolerance” if allegations of widespread doping by track and field athletes at the Olympics are proven.

Another allegation is that more than a third of the world’s fastest times in endurance events were recorded by athletes whose tests have triggered suspicion.

Medals won could be affected if any cases of doping were subsequently unearthed using newer testing techniques that did not exist at the time. “If we need to change rules and regulations we will do it”, he said.

“But it doesn’t mean just because someone has a suspicious profile once that he was doped”.

The stories additionally come weeks earlier than a brand new IAAF president will probably be elected, with Britain’s Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka of Ukraine bidding to switch the retiring Diack.

It said it would “reserve the right to take any follow up action necessary to protect the rights of the IAAF and its athletes”.

The IAAF said in a statement the allegations were largely based on analysis of its database of private and confidential medical data, “which has been obtained without consent”.

According to reports, of the 800, 77 were Kenyan athletes. Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko has said the allegations had “nothing to do with Russia” and that they reflected a power battle before the IAAF leadership vote. “A exceptional 80 % of Russia’s medal winners recorded suspicious scores sooner or later of their careers”, the Sunday Occasions stated.

For example, they may point to measures to improve the ability of blood to carry oxygen, giving athletes an advantage in endurance events like long and medium-distance cycling or running.