IAAF chief says ‘medal’ campaign behind doping reports

The revelation stems from a special by German broadcaster ADR/WDR, which released, “Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics”.

Bach says it is up to the World Anti-Doping Agency to investigate the allegations, including that one-third of medals in endurance races at the Olympics and world championships from 2001 to 2012 were won by athletes who recorded suspicious doping tests.

But IOC president Tomas Bach warned: “At this time we have nothing more than allegations and we have to respect the presumption of innocence for the athletes”.

Diack, who also suggested that the allegations were timed to overshadow the IAAF presidential election on August. 19 that will pit Sebastian Coe against Sergei Bubka, did not specify which countries could be interested in a redistribution of medals.

“We welcome the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to probe the allegations made”.

“We made it very clear and we agreed that WADA is our competent center in the fight against doping and they will inquire into these allegations”, Bach said at a news conference at the close of IOC meetings in Kuala Lumpur, where Beijing was selected last week as host of the 2022 Winter Games. Athletics are a central part of the Olympics, the only sporting event that rivals soccer’s World Cup in scale and which collects billions of dollars from sponsors like Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Visa and McDonald’s.

The athletics body addressed some of the specific accusations and said some athletes had later been found guilty and suspended because of investigations it had followed through on.

“No one has been destabilised, we are stronger than that”.

The news organizations have based their reports on a leaked database, held by the worldwide Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), which holds the results of 12,000 blood tests on 5,000 athletes.

Russian and Kenyan athletes featured strongly in the latest claims, with ARD and the Sunday Times saying the data was leaked by a “whistleblower”.

A large number of the “abnormal” results were from Russian athletes, said the reports.

“They are playing with the idea of a redistribution of medals”. Both have called for a tough response to doping in athletics.

The Russian Olympic Committee and Russian Anti-Doping Agency was not immediately available for comment regarding the latest allegations.

The report found that 146 medals – including 55 golds – in disciplines ranging from the 800 meters to the marathon at the Olympics and world championships were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious tests.

– The tests showed an increasing use of blood transfusions and hard-to-detect EPO micro-doses to boost red cell count and performances.

“We endorse and demand the highest possible level of testing protocols to ensure that all those who break the rules are caught and sanctioned”, he said. So many athletes appear to have doped with impunity, and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen.’.

Adam Pengilly, a British member of the IOC, said Monday that the IAAF has been “quiet” over the past year and should do more to “promote clean athletics”.

PARIS (AP) – With his federation embattled by widespread doping allegations that could lead to a reshuffle of Olympic and world championship podiums for more than a decade, IAAF president Lamine Diack defended his organization’s anti-doping record and dismissed the accusations as a “joke” on Monday.