WHILE Jamaica’s junior athletes have produced spectacular times and performances at local meets, prompting queries about whether or not they should be drug-tested, in a world of limited resources, out-of-competition testing of elite athletes is the priority, says the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Track and field’s world governing body was responding to recent queries made by the Observer.

“It is more a question of resources; when they are finite, the bigger priority is to test out of competition elite senior performers,” IAAF communications director Nick Davies replied via e-mail to the Observer’s question of whether or not the IAAF believes student-athletes at locally run competitions should be tested.

Recently, North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) president and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Area Representative Neville ‘Teddy’ McCook, told the Observer that if athletes are serious about competing at the world level where they will definitely be tested, then they should be prepared to be tested at the annual Boys & Girls Athletic Championships.

“They have to be tested at the world level, at World Junior Championships and World Youth Championships, and if you are going to participate at that level, then I see no reason why they can’t be tested,” said McCook, who is also a former president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA).

However, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Commission Member Dr Herb Elliott expressed concern about the legal ramifications of testing athletes who are under 18 years old.

Elliott said while when they are overseas they are under the legal care of team managers, which makes it easier, but he sees a problem testing athletes at the Champs level if they are under the age of consent.

“I have no problem if tomorrow we can work out a legal framework for testing them (but) testing young athletes who are under age without permission is a no-no go,” Dr Elliott said.

Davies may have been alluding to the high financial costs associated with drug testing. According to Dr Elliott, one test can run between US$250 and US$350, plus the cost of the kit and sending them overseas to an accredited laboratory for testing.

All drug tests carried out by local authorities are currently sent to the WADA-accredited lab in Montreal, Canada, as there is none currently located in the Caribbean.

In 2009, the IAAF conducted at least 85 out-of-competition (OOC) drugs tests on 31 elite Jamaican athletes including, double world record-holder Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Simone Facey, Sherone Simpson, Danny McFarlane, Shelly Ann Fraser, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell, who were each tested more than four times.