December 02, 2010 (Ottawa, ON) – When Canadian athletes are notified for doping control, they may be asked to provide something in addition to urine – a small sample of blood – to help prevent doping in sport. While many performance-enhancing substances are detectable in urine, other substances such as human growth hormone (hGH) and methods such as blood doping are only detectable through blood analysis. To keep pace with these new doping strategies and to support intelligent testing, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) is increasingly using blood analysis and has begun reporting blood testing statistics this quarter.

“With the first hGH sanction in North America earlier in 2010, CCES remains at the forefront in the fight against doping in sport,” said Paul Melia, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CCES. “Athletes can expect blood samples to be taken regularly throughout the course of their career, and can rest assured that blood collection personnel are highly-trained and certified. We believe that blood testing will act as a powerful deterrent – supporting clean athletes and maintaining the integrity of sport.

“Building on our increased capacity for blood collection, the CCES is now implementing the World Anti-Doping Agency’s new athlete biological passport rules,” explained Mr. Melia. “The biological passport monitors levels of selected variables over time to determine what is normal for a particular athlete – and what is abnormal.” More information will be released shortly.

Anti-Doping Stats: July-September 2010
– Domestic tests – urine: 606
– Domestic tests – blood: 71
– Fee-for-service tests – urine: 359
– Fee-for-service tests – blood: 105
– Anti-doping rule violations: 12
– TUE applications processed: 53
– Substance inquiries (email/phone): 182
– Substance inquiries (GlobalDRO): 16,454

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