By VANOC
Samples collected as part of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be analyzed in one of the world’s most state-of-the-art anti-doping laboratories.
The 1,350-square meter laboratory, located in Richmond, near Vancouver, is key to meeting the goal of doping-free Games set by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) under the direction and authority of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The total budget for the Games’ anti-doping programs is approximately CA$16.4 million, with $8.9 million allocated for the laboratory and $7.5 million for operations.
The Richmond Laboratory will operate during the Games as a satellite arm of the Quebec-based Institut national de la recherche scientifique-Institut Armand-Frappier (INRS). The INRS is Canada’s only laboratory accredited by WADA and is renowned for its 30 years of expertise in the testing of international athlete samples.
Starting in January 2010, the Richmond facility will have 30 INRS technicians working around-the-clock, as well as seven international scientists from other
WADA accredited laboratories using their expert knowledge to analyze samples and interpret the results. They will receive their first official samples for the Games on February 4, 2010, when pre-competition urine and blood samples will be collected. The laboratory will process an estimated 2,425 urine and blood samples taken from athletes competing at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.
“VANOC is unequivocally opposed to doping in sport,” says Cathy Priestner Allinger, VANOC’s Executive Vice President, Sport and Games Operations. “Athletes deserve to compete on a fair and level playing field and a state-of-the-art doping control program is critical to achieving this goal. This on-site aboratory is central to that program and includes the most technologically advanced equipment available and top-notch scientists, thanks to INRS.”
The City of Richmond is supporting VANOC by providing space for the laboratory at the Richmond Olympic Oval, home of long track speed skating during the Games. After the Games, the space will be used to house a sports medicine center and sport science services for the community. Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie states: “We are pleased to host such a critical facility for the success of the Games at the Richmond Olympic Oval.”
The laboratory is an exact replica of the INRS facility in Montreal right down to the equipment used and the layout of the facility to ease the transition from the
technicians’ home laboratory. It is also designed to be soundproof and free of seismic vibrations. “We are proud to partner with VANOC on delivering a world-class anti-doping program for the 2010 Winter Games,” says Dr Christiane Ayotte, Director of the Doping Control Laboratory of the INRS. “The laboratory at the Richmond Olympic Oval will utilize the finest techniques and methods vailable to detect the use of prohibited substances in blood and urine samples collected from athletes.”
Housing the laboratory within a secure sporting venue is, quite possibly, a first in Olympic and Paralympic history. Drivers transporting blood and urine samples from venues, throughout the Games region, to the laboratory, will deposit them through a secure slot, similar to what is used at a bank, sending them directly into a refrigeration unit for processing.
The laboratory will close in late March after the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games conclude. The bulk of the equipment will be purchased by INRS and used at their facilities in Montreal as a lasting legacy of the 2010 Winter Games.