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                   Athletics Roiled by Reports of Mass Doping

   by VOA News

   The world of international track and field was reeling Sunday after
   reports that 146 medals at the Olympics and World Championships between
   2001 and 2012 were won by athletes with suspicious blood test results.

   The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Sunday it was "very alarmed"
   by the reports in two European media outlets.

   German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times newspaper in Britain said
   they obtained access to the results of 12,000 blood tests from 5,000
   athletes. The files came from the database of the International
   Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and were leaked by a
   whistleblower.

   The news organizations showed the data to two experts, who concluded
   distance running was in the same state as cycling had been when Lance
   Armstrong won the seven Tour de France victories of which he has since
   been stripped.

   The reports said more than 800 of the athletes recorded one or more
   "abnormal" results, defined as a result that had less than one chance
   in a 100 of being natural.

   Russia tops list
   Between them, the athletes accounted for 146 medals at top events,
   including 55 golds.

   Russian athletes had by far the most suspicious results, followed
   distantly by Ukraine, Morocco, Spain, Kenya, Turkey and others.

   Anti-doping scientist Robin Parisotto, who reviewed the data from the
   11-year period along with blood doping expert Michael Ashenden, said
   many athletes appeared to "have doped with impunity, and it is damning
   that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen.''

   Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko suggested there was an ulterior
   motive to the allegations and Athletics Kenya said it was considering
   legal action against ARD and The Sunday Times.

   Both media reports were released just three weeks before the world
   championships in Beijing, which run from August 22-30.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/athletics-doping/2895822.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/athletics-doping/2895822.html