Track and Field Group Will Conduct Year-Round Drug Tests

The International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body for track and field, plans to conduct year-round drug tests for athletes in competition and training, the organization’s medical commission announced Tuesday in Rome, site of this weekend’s World Championships.

The plan is to conduct random tests everywhere and at all times, “to chase the cheaters right into their training havens and catch them red-handed,” said IAAF Vice President Arne Ljungqvist of Sweden.

Ljungqvist, who is also the head of the medical commission, said that modern technology has launched a challenge to sporting institutions, and it was time for the IAAF to strike back effectively.

The IAAF’s fight is specifically against anabolic steroids, he said, adding that he does not yet have a report on probenecid, the steroid-masking drug first mentioned at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis.

The new IAAF rules, subject to ratification by its congress, will mean that the commission would have to impose tests in every country and at random. The commission will send its own officials to carry out the tests, mainly at big national events, Ljungqvist said.