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Saturday 9 November 2019

World Anti - Doping Agency (WADA) World Conference on Doping in Sport 2019: Day 2 Review


Hi Everyone



I hope all is well


This is a review post of my time spent at the World Conference on Doping in Katowice, Poland 5-7th November. 



Hope you find this useful


Enjoy!



























-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use**
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I journeyed to Poland for the 5th annual Doping conference hosted by the city of Katowice and organised by the WADA. This has always been a goal of mine to attend a conference or event such as this, due to my passion for anabolic steroids, body image, image drugs and doping in sport. Since my A - Levels, I have been taking courses and workshops relating to doping and anti doping to understand it more. Which has led me ultimately to my fascination with the use of performance enhancing drugs (not just within competitive sports). 


For those that are interested, I have linked below related research papers and blog posts that you may find relevant to the content I will be discussing. These cover the areas of doping, anti - doping, body image, anabolic steroid use and other image and performance enhancing drug use; 





Now to get into the conference content, see image below;



Outline for the whole Conference Itinerary 










































Recap of Day 1 of World Doping Conference (Click Here)



Sessions for the Event are shown below; 



Olympic Medal Reallocation Program 































Many athletes have had medals stripped, some years after the Olympic Games, after anti-doping sample re - testing from past games uncovers positive tests. This session looks at this new program. 



Goldie Sayers who came 4th in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, discusses her thoughts on her experience getting her Bronze medal 11 years later. The original medallist had their samples re tested which came up positive. Goldie had her re allocation medal ceremony was at the 2012 Olympic Stadium during the Anniversary Games.



Adding to this was Anita Włodarczyk, 2 time Olympic Champion in 2012 and 2016. Again had her silver from London 2012 upgrade to gold this year (2019) after re testing of samples. Not only her upgrading to a gold, this meant the bronze athlete got to silver and 4th place got Bronze. Huge knock on effect. 

































Examples where athletes can have their medal reallocation ceremony; 
  •  Olympic Headquarters
  •  Next Olympic Games
  •  National Sporting Event (same as athletes sport)
  •  Private event 
  •  Their nations Olympic Committee hosting an event 



International Standard for Result Management (ISRM) 

The ISRM is a new international standard which is being proposed to establish mandatory standards for minimal anti doing organisations (ADOs) must follow in respect to the results management and hearing processes of potential ADRV. 
































Key Points 

  •  Ross Wenzel stresses that this is a boring section (thanks mate for validating my choice to attend your session lol......) 
  •  Aims for ISRM - fair, efficient, timely and harmonised
  •  Aim ISRM - realistic and achievable - balancing exercise in creating them 
  •  Minimal but mandatory obligations - focus on core requirements
  •   Due processes rights clear. Sometimes written submissions sufficient 
  •  Often a panel of lawyers available to athletes if they can't afford them 
  •  Timely decisions rendered. Aim standardisation in terms of details of content awards 




Panel information below;



































International Standard for Education (ISE) 



This session will give an overview of the main components of the new ISE, its impact on the World Anti - Doping program and more generally, its implications for the promotion of clean sport. it will also cover how WADA will support its implementation in cooperation with its stakeholders. 
Guiding Principles

  1.  Education First 
  2.  Majority of Athletes are clean
  3.  Positive Language and Messaging 
  4.  Clarity on what is mandatory 
  5.  Streamline efforts
  6.  Not one size fits all 

Key Points 


  •  Education programmes must address 4 key points (1) Information, (2) Vaues Based Education, (3) Anti Doping Education and, (4) Awareness. 
  •  All education activities must be planned, implemented and evlauted 
  •  Partnerships with academics encouraged to support evaluation of education activites 
  •  Knowledge sharing on education activities encoruaged to minimise duplication and maximise effectiveness
  •  Cooperation and Recognition steps, (1) Consult when planning education activities, (2) Agree on event based education roles and responsibilities (3) Share, education plans and finally (4) Acknowledge the education programs of others signatories  


International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE) 

The ISTUE is in place to ensure the process of granting TUEs is harmonized across sports and countries. 


Was not at this session so could not comment as some sessions ran parallel with each other. 










































International Standard for Testing and Investigation (ISTI)

The ISTI establishes standards for the implementation of an intelligent and effective In and Out - of - Competition testing program. In addition, the ISTI also establishes standards for the efficient and effective gathering, assessment and use of anti - doping intelligence and the conduct of investigations into possible anti - doping rule violations. 
Main Themes of this session

































  1. Sample collection equipment
  2. Specific gravity 
  3. Athletes whereabouts 
  4. Sample collection process
  5. Sample collection personal 

Key Points 

  • Susan Ahern - Barrister from Ireland is the Lead Drafter from this session and section to the ISTI 
  • Long term storage of samples and further analysis by the IOC has resulted in over 140 adverse analytical findings with more than 50% are from athletes who had won at games! Great work. 
  • Greater collaboration between IFs and NADOs to decide together which athletes organizations will be primarily responsible for putting in a whereabouts pool and who will be responsible for collecting whereabouts. 
  •  Article 5, 6, 7 had updates 
  •  Next Generation of ADAMS - Stuart Kemp, Principle ADAMs

































  •  New ADAMS dashboard system for monitoring and implementation of testing 
  •  New application - Athlete Central 
  •  Paperless Doping Control Application 










Anti - Doping Charter of Athlete Rights 

The goal of the Anti - Doping Charter of Athlete rights is to clearly articulate the rights that are important to athletes and to outline what they are and where they are, connecting athletes to the relevant articles of the World Anti Doping Code and International standards.











Key Points; 

  • Wake of Russian scandal - athletes felt betrayed and not heard. Athletes rights had never before been articulated. 





























  • Single document for athletes to access the rights that exist for them in anti - doping. Based on broad stakeholder consultation. inclusive of all signatories. 
  • Process took place between 2017 - 2019
  •  Athletes Anti Doping Rights Act 
  •  Stressing importance of rifght to education 
  •  Sample collection rights - real concern for athletes. Big step forward to have these rights here in one place. 
  •  Received very well by all members and bodies at event 


Athlete Charter being passed at the conference below; 


































International Standard for the Prohibited List 

The International Standard for the list of Prohibited Substances and Methods is the most consulted of all the documents produced by WADA. it is reviewed revised and published annually. Its structure is complex as it aims at combining scientific and medical, educational and legal considerations to cover the needs of a broad variety of stakeholders. 


I was not at this session so missed it



International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) 

The ISL was one of WADA's first standards adopted in March 2003 in Copenhagen along with he first version of the World Anti Doping Code. Its implementation was effective as of 1st Jan 2004, just a few months before he summer games in Athens, Greece. Over time, the standard has evolved in response to changes in the Code, technical development in anti doping laboratories and science , as well as due to legal decisions. 




I was not at this session so missed it




International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information (ISPPI) 

The ISPPI provides a set of mandatory rules and standards to ensure that appropriate and effective privacy protections are applied to personal information processed for anti - doping purposes, regardless of whether such protections are required by applicable laws. These protections are essential to maintaining the confidence and trust of athletes and other persons involved in organized sport who are required to furnish their personal information for anti doping purposes. 




I was not at this session so missed it




International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS)

The  purpsose of ISCCS, which came into effect on 1st April 2018, to ensure that strong, World Anti - Doping Code compliant anti - doping rules and programs are applied and enforced consistently and effectively across all sports and countries. The ISCCS outlines in particualr the rights and responsibilties of Code Signatories; the ways WADA supprts signatoriees in achiveing, maintaining and , where applicable, regaining Code compliance; a priocess for determining non - compliance and consequances; as well as a range of gradedm predictable and proportionate bsanctions for cases of non - compliance. 

































I was at this session but it was mainly for the nations to state comments and issues they may have.





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Summary of Day 2 (or the TLDR version) 

This is the short version if you didn't want the detail. My main takeaway points from the day;



  • Paperless ADAMS system

  • Athletes Rights Act being accepted 

  • Education a key theme and tool for tackling Doping 

  • Athlete medal re allocation program in full effect






























Future Events and or Conferences 

There are two notable events coming up in 2020. They are;











and


































Other Sources

I have suggested two great Twitter accounts to follow if you want more information and uip to date doping and or anti - doping news. They are;



  •  Dr Ian Boardley, his Twitter is @ mdsportex





  •  SportsLawUK, their Twitter is @ sportslaw_uk







Thank you very much for reading my recap of Day 2 of the World Doping Conference here in Katowice!




Kind regards



Andrew









--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog





















I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 
Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  


My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.


My most recent publications: 


My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 
Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 
I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 
























I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 
I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 
in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 



Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 



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Location: Katowice, Poland

Tuesday 5 November 2019

World Anti - Doping Agency (WADA) World Conference on Doping in Sport 2019: Day 1 Review



Hi Everyone



I hope all is well



This is a review post of my time spent at the World Conference on Doping in Katowice, Poland 5-7th November. 



Hope you find this useful



Enjoy!



























--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use**
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I journeyed to Poland for the 5th annual Doping conference hosted by the city of Katowice and organised by the WADA. This has always been a goal of mine to attend a conference or event such as this, due to my passion for anabolic steroids, body image, image drugs and doping in sport. Since my A - Levels, I have been taking courses and workshops relating to doping and anti doping to understand it more. Which has led me ultimately to my fascination with the use of performance enhancing drugs (not just within competitive sports). 


For those that are interested, I have linked below related research papers and blog posts that you may find relevant to the content I will be discussing. These cover the areas of doping, anti - doping, body image, anabolic steroid use and other image and performance enhancing drug use; 






Now to get into the conference content, see image below;



Outline for the whole Conference Itinerary 





































Sessions for the Event are shown below; 

I have put the session titles in italics and numbered key points from each session.






Welcome Session






















Welcome was very long, so long it meant the conference itself over ran by 40 minutes with speeches from the Polish Prime Minister, Polish Minister of Sport, Mayor of Katowice, WADA outgoing President Sir Craig Reedie, and WADA celebrating it's 20th birthday. There was a lot to get through. Despite what may seemed a lot of repetitive thank yous and welcomes. It was interesting enough to say the least. 

See short snippet of WADA birthday celebrations below;






Onto the first session!




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Reflection on the Past 20 years and the Vision for the Future

Line up for Session 2 






















 Before I go into Session 2, it should be mentioned that Alan Abrahamson kept a tight rope on the time and asked great questions not only here. Also in Session 3, making the whole process very interactive. Great work Alan!
Main points from this session;

  •  Gene Testing to be used to detect blood doping. If approved, could be used as ealry as Tokyo 2020 Games
  •  WADA wants "cheaters to never feel safe" regarding their aproahc to testing 
  •  Testing at Olympics and Competitions to be done by independant bodies not by host nations
  •  Support of Governments needed to sanction atheltes entoruage fully. Power to snaction theme severly limited without this support presently 
  •  Dry Blood sampling new method of testing. Could revolutionise testing (likelihood its just an update to the athlete biological passport)
  •  Sir Craig Reedie; "If he says one regret it was spending too much time making sure everyone was code compliant as opposed to operationally compliant". 
  •  WADA can't run on a budget of $40 million dollars a year
  •  Ask panel for suggestions on money; 1% from every nations budget for sports goes to them to combat doping. 

My personal fav of the session was seeing Munashe Dangare from Zimbabwe say they hadn't heard about WADA until the conference. 

That ladies and gentlemen is a PR fail 




Onto Session 3

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Vision of the Anti - Doping Community for the Future 

Line up for Session 3 



This was by the far the most interesting session covering testing, criminology, trafficking, doping stories and more!

  •  WADA needs more funding to "level up" in its testing and research
  •  Frank Schwarzenbacher said; Athletes known to have doped who have not been caught             through testing shows there is a gap in the system
  •  Health risks are far lower now in dopers than back in the 1990's 
  •  Combined work of WADA/National Anti - Doping Agencies and local police to crack down on doping rings. 
  • Peter Van Eenoo says; many athletes have blood passport profiles which raise alarm bells.
  •  Unpredictable in Testing needs to be implemented to stop athletes getting comfortable



Brett weighing in his thoughts in Session 3 





  •  Loop holes are there to allow cheating. Example is the two missed tests (whereabouts) 
  •  Corruption is at all levels in less developed countries when it comes to Anti - Doping protection of athletes. 
  •  Clenbuterol x 100 
  •  Athletes only learning about WADA arriving at the conference. Better education and awareness is needed. 
  •  3x as many tests in horse racing (on horses) than on other sports. 
  •  Doping is a crime in some nations and needs to be a crime globally 
  •  1% of all nations sporting funding to go towards Anti - Doping funding. 
  •  Costs of testing is an issue 
  •  Chair of meeting asked about "can sport become clean sport instead of having 2 negative connotations. "Anti (1) and Doping (2)". 




My answer to the last bullet point is NO



Humans are flawed creatures and corruption/greed manifests in all of us even the best of us. Also in others, they don't see another option and have to take the apple from the snake in the tree (using Adam and Eve analogy) to get where they get to. Others may use drugs as its part of the sport and fitness industry be very hard to remove it. 







The rise of WADA has risen the rise of dopers. Their very presence invites challenge from scientists and doctors to beat the system! 



Using the above example I paraphrased it from Avengers Civil war where Vision talks to the team about their presence and number of incidents since their inception.






Onto Session 4



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Overview of the World Anti - Doping Code Review 


Members of the Exec explain new updates to the Code 
























2021 Code General Overview; 

  1.  Stakeholders' feedback was that the 2015 Code has worked well 
  2.  Unlike prior Code revisions, less stakeholder feedback on major principles and more on pratcial applications
  3.  Tradeoff between complexity and length vs harmonization and clarity 



How does the 2021 Code address the current elephants in the room? 


Role of the International Testing Agency (ITA)

IAAF and the Russian Doping Scandals

Positive Results from IOC sample re - analysis 

Prohibited Susbtances which are also Substances of Abuse 

Product Contamination Issues 















Over 3200 revisions made to the new Code!





































Delegated Third Party (Introduction and Article 20)


  1.  Delegated Third Party is a new defined term
  2.  Signatories are responsible for all aspects of Doping Control but may delegate any or all aspects to Delegated Third Parties 
  3.  Signatories remain responsible for ensuring that delegated aspects of Doping Control are performed in compliance with the Code and International Standards 
  4.  Certain officials and employees of Delegated Third Parties must agree to be bound by the Code or comparable Signatory Regulations


Anti - Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) 

Slight updates to; 

  1.  Tampering (article 2.5)
  2.  Attempted Complicity (Article 2.9)
  3.  Prohibtied Associated (Article 2.10) 
  4.  New ADRV which is Whistleblower Protection (Article 2.11) 
4 refers to the following; 



The Prohibited List and Technical Documents

Slight updates to;

  1.  Atypical Findings
  2.  Threshold Substances (Decision Limits) and Non - Threshold Substances (Reporting Limits)
  3.  Specified Methods 


WADA's right to Take Possession of Samples and Data (Article 6.8) 



 WADA may, in its sole discretion, at any time, with or without prior notice, take physical possession of any Sample and related analytical data or information in the possession of a laboratory or Anti - Doping Organization. 



Results Management (Article 7)

  1.  Detail moved into the International Standard for Results Management (ISRM). Important Principles, particulary those which address realtionships between stakeholders, remain in the Code
  2.  WADA may require an Anti - Doping Organization (ADO) to conduct Results Management (Article 7.1.5)
  3.  Decisions by a Signatory (with limited exceptions for Major Event Organization) are automatically given worldwide effect. 





Code will be published soon, all information is shared here with the intent of informaing best practice and supporting the Anti Doping Committee.

Should be noted here the effort and time dedicated to making such vast improvements to the document. I didn't event state all the updates. Just ones I felt where appropriate.





Final Sessions 5 and 6 


 
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World Anti - Doping Code Review (Interventions)









The following image below show the members of the WADA Exec committee who ran the Intervention Sessions (5 and 6);




































This was when nations gave their thoughts and comments on the above 2021 code updates


I feel these are the stand out rule changes below;







Essentially rewarding athletes who dope with a lenient sentence when they admit to doping









ADRV regarding Whistle Blowing outlined below;








Yes there was stuff on Caster Semenya/Transgender Sport


But for a slide. That was it, pretty disappointing, maybe more tomorrow!








Great Speech delivered by the representative from World Rugby admitting they have to tackle the issue of Doping in their sport through the under utilised tool of education from the grass roots game and up!


Representative of World Rugby delivering a great speech on their Anti - Doping Movement 

























--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Summary of Day 1 (or the TLDR version) 

This is the short version if you didn't want the detail. My main takeaway points from the day;

  •  WADA pledging more money to combat doping ($10 million to be exact)

  •  WADA calls for support from national governments for extra funding and support

  •  WADA developing new testing measures to combat doping (some to be ready by Tokyo 2020 Games) 

  •  Over 3200 revisions made to previous WADA Code 

  •  WADA  pushing for independent testing using approved labs separate from nations hosting events. In light of the RUSADA (Sochi Winter Games scandal in Russia

  •  New ADRV added and is to do with threatening or intimidating a whistle-blower will now count as breaking an ADRV. Whistle blower section added to 2021 code. 



































Future Events and or Conferences 

There are two notable events coming up in 2020. They are;











and



































Other Sources

I have suggested two great Twitter accounts to follow if you want more information and uip to date doping and or anti - doping news. They are;



  •  Dr Ian Boardley, his Twitter is @ mdsportex




  •  SportsLawUK, their Twitter is @ sportslaw_uk




Thank you very much for reading my recap of Day 1 of the World Doping Conference here in Katowice!



I will do the same for Day 2 tomorrow.



Kind regards



Andrew









--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog





















I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 
Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  


My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.


My most recent publications: 


My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 
Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 
I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 
























I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 
I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 
in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 



Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 



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Location: Katowice, Poland
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