The athletic characteristics of Olympic sports to assist anti‐doping strategies

Abstract

The determinants of success in Olympic Games competition are specific to the athletic demands of the sporting event. A global evaluation to quantify the athletic demands across the spectrum of the Olympic Games sport events has not previously been conducted. Thus far, the interpretation and the comparison of sport physiological characteristics within anti-doping organisations (ADOs) risk assessments remains subjective without a standardised framework. Despite its subjective assessment, this information is a key component of any anti-doping programme. Sport characteristics inevitably influence the type of substances and/or methods used for doping purposes and should be captured through a comprehensive analysis. Seven applied sport scientists independently conducted an assessment to quantify the athletic demands across six preselected athletic variables. A principal component analysis was performed on the results of the panel's quantitative assessment for 160 Olympic sport events. Sport events were clustered using the Hierarchical Density Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (HDBSCAN) algorithm. The HDBSCAN identified 19 independent cluster groups; 36 sport events remained statistically unassigned to a cluster group representing unique and event-specific athletic demands. This investigation provides guidance to the anti-doping community to assist in the development of the sport specific physiology component of the risk assessment for Olympic Games disciplines. The dominant athletic characteristics to excel in each of these individual events will highlight areas of how athletes may strive to gain a competitive advantage through doping strategies, and inform the development of an effective and proportionate allocation of testing resources.

Sustancias dopantes y su prevalencia en el deporte chileno un estudio observacional (Doping substances and their prevalence in the chilean sport an observational study)

“…En cuanto a la temporalidad, se puede apreciar que el mayor número de infracciones coincidió con los Juegos Olímpicos de Rio 2016, mientras que el segundo y tercer año con más casos coinciden con los XVII Juegos Panamericanos de Toronto 2015 y XVIII Juegos Panamericanos de Lima 2019. Estos hallazgos se coinciden con reportes recientes que sugieren la necesidad del deportista por obtener ventajas competitivas para sobresalir en cada uno de los eventos deportivos de alta concurrencia a través de diversas estrategias de dopaje (Yuan., 2021;Hayward., 2022;Okano., 2022). En cuanto a los niveles mínimos de rendimiento requeridos (MRPL, por sus siglas en inglés) se encuentran normados por la WADA, sin embargo, a pesar de esto los ejes básicos legislativos, biomédicos y psicosociales que conforman el sistema antidopaje han sido tardíos en su aparición, siendo esto apreciado en algunos casos donde un laboratorio puede detectar alguna sustancia con niveles por debajo del MRPL reportando el resultado analítico adverso producto de la confiabilidad analítica (Mercado Soberanes et al, 2019;García-Grimau, Casado, de la Vega., 2021).…”

Should We be Concerned with Nicotine in Sport? Analysis from 60,802 Doping Control Tests in Italy

“…Future research could include more detailed analysis around this matter by using, for example, a standardised framework that provides quantitative assessment of the demands across different sports that are comparable in their athletic variables (i.e. bioenergetic, neuromuscular, psychomotor and biomechanical factors) to group sports as strength and power, muscular endurance, aerobic endurance, movement agility, reaction time, psychomotor skill and accuracy [13].…”

Annual banned‐substance review—Analytical approaches in human sports drug testing 2021/2022–

“…[7][8][9] Further, discussions about and research into complementary approaches in anti-doping testing for improved sports drug testing strategies were presented. Studies ranged from structuring athletic characteristics of sport disciplines 10 and the consideration of the athlete's performance passport 11 for optimized test distribution plans and menus (as exemplified by an evaluation of weightlifting performances among two groups of athletes that were either sanctioned due to AAFs or not) to assessing the utility, advantages, and limitations of alternative matrices. Among those, the recently approved use of dried blood spots (DBSs) 12 warrants mentioning due to the growing attention and promise of DBS applications in sports drug testing, 13 but also hair 14 and exhaled breath 15 were shown to allow for complementary information, potentially qualifying for future routine doping controls and/or case-related follow-up investigations.…”