Irish Sports Council reveal 2013 anti-doping results

Athletics and cycling are still the most tested disciplines of the Irish Sports Council anti-doping programme, accounting for over one-third of the total of 868 tests carried out in 2013.

Full details of the 2013 anti-doping programme were announced in Dublin this afternoon, with just three positive tests throughout the year, one each in athletics, rugby, and boxing.

There were also 14 unsuccessful attempts to test team sports, when those teams were not at the location specified, eight of which involved intercounty GAA teams.

There were 32 sports tested in total, with Irish athletes subjected to 165 tests in total, with cycling the next most tested sport with 149: then came GAA players with 89 tests, rugby with 85 tests, boxing with 61 tests, and swimming with 48 tests.

Among the three positive tests was Irish-based discus and shot putter Tomas Rauktys, a 28-year-old Lithuanian living in Dublin for the last five years, who was tested at the national championships back in 2010, which through retrospective testing was later revealed to contact the prohibited substance stanozolol. Rauktys was banned for two years.

There was also a positive case with Young Munster club rugby player John Moroney, who was given a three-month suspension after his sample revealed traces of cannabinoids, while Irish boxer Sean Turner was also banned for 12 months after missing three teams within the allowed timeframe under the whereabouts rule.

Of the 868 tests, 192 were blood tests — a 44% increase on 2012. This increased emphasis on blood testing has further developed the intelligence led approach within the anti-doping programme.

Speaking at the ant-doping report, Dr. Hans Geyer, Managing Director of the Centre for Preventive Doping Research of the German University of Cologne, highlighted some of the current breakthroughs in the war on doping in sport.

“The continued support from the Irish Sports Council is instrumental to the research conducted in the Cologne Laboratory and to the international fight against doping in sport,” he said.

“The use of the new method for stanozolol led to an increase of adverse analytical findings from an annual average of about 23 cases to 182 cases from early December 2012 till beginning December 2013. About 90 per cent of the stanozolol cases would not have been detected in the Cologne laboratory with the methods used before”

Irish Sports Council Testing Statistics 2013

Athletics: 165. Badminton: 4. Basketball: 4. Vision Sports: 16. Boxing: 61. Camogie: 4. Canoeing: 35. Cerebral Palsy Sports: 13. Cycling: 149. Fencing: 1. GAA: 89. Gymnastics: 4. Hockey: 6. Horse Sport: 15. Martial Arts: 2. Judo: 4. Ladies GAA: 4. Motorcycling: 0. Motorsport: 20. Paralympics: 0. Rowing: 11. Rugby: 85. Soccer: 46. Snow Sports: 1. Squash: 4. Surfing: 3. Swimming: 48. Tennis: 5. Triathlon: 42. Tug of War: 4. Weightlifting: 4. Wheelchair: 19. Total tests: 868