Testing for boosting at the Paralympic games: policies, results and future directions

Abstract

Testing for the presence of AD in paralympic athletes with SCI prior to competition has been carried out for the first time at three major international paralympic competitions. There have been no positive tests thus far. Knowledge gained during these early testing experiences will be used to guide ongoing refinement of the testing protocol and the development of further educational initiatives.

Boosting in Elite Athletes with Spinal Cord Injury: A Critical Review of Physiology and Testing Procedures

“…Indeed, the hazardous nature of boosting is compounded by its unpredictability and the inability of many athletes to control their own hemodynamic response when intentionally inducing AD [58]. Further justification for the use of the current threshold is that it was chosen to avoid false-positive results whereby athletes are hypertensive owing to the physiological effects of warm up, pre-race anxiety, and excitement [18]. In athletes with autonomic complete SCI above the level at which sympathetic innervations to the heart originates, pre-race emotions will not influence hemodynamics through cardiac SPN-or adrenal medullamediated mechanisms [54].…”

“…This research provides an understanding of opinions towards boosting and its perceived prevalence by both IPC testers, who have never recorded a positive test [18], and paralympic athletes who believe that between 27.1 % [15] and 100 % [58] of athletes in their sport practice boosting.…”

“…To investigate the incidence of boosting at international competitive events, Blauwet et al [18] tested athletes' BP discretely prior to competition at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, 2011 Parapan American Games, and the London 2012 Paralympic Games. This was the first attempt at documenting boosting among elite athletes with tetraplegia and high paraplegia in competition.…”

“…If the athletes SBP is again measured to be C180 mmHg at the re-examination, the athlete will be withdrawn from competition [17]. No athlete has ever tested positive for boosting at an IPC-sanctioned event [18].…”

“…The practice of boosting is deemed illegal by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because of not only its capacity to enhance performance and further ethical concerns, but primarily because of safety concerns surrounding the practice. Boosting is tested for at IPCsanctioned events through the assessment of a single discrete BP measurement [17,18].…”