THE strides being made by Jamaica’s anti-doping programme were among the major highlights of the third anti-doping workshop at the University of the West Indies, Mona, on Saturday.

In response to earlier criticisms levelled at the integrity of the programme, Dr Warren Blake, president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), stoutly defended the efforts of the country’s sporting fraternity, noting that “the recent rise of Jamaica on the world stage parallels the rise of WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency)”.

His statement was noted by Richard ‘Dick’ Pound, a former president of WADA, whose questions about the country’s ability to properly test its athletes prompted the organisation of the workshop. However Pound gave no indication that he had changed his stance on Jamaica’s

anti-doping programme.

In support of his statement, Dr Blake provided data which showed that prior to the establishment of WADA in 1999, Jamaica gained 22 Olympic medals. The country later earned 25 medals in the three Olympics following the setting up of the world anti-doping body. Dr Blake further noted that Jamaican athletes are ranked third in the world with their main rivals being athletes from the United States of America, Russia and Kenya. Additionally, he told workshop participants that the country’s athletes are subjected to both in and out of competition testing.

Reports to the JAAA have indicated that since 2011, the country’s athletes have had less than 20 positive doping tests, including those who have been cleared. Only one athlete has been banned for life; one gold medal returned (because the athlete in question inhaled second-hand cannabis smoke) and less than 10 missed doping tests reported.

In further defence of the country’s anti-doping programme, Dr Herbert Elliott, chairman of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), said that between May 2011 and March 2013, a total of 780 anti-doping tests were conducted by that entity. Of this number, 406 were in-competition testing, while the remainder were done out of competition.

In closing Dr Blake said: “We welcome the anti-doping fight as this validates our athletes’ performance and we will always be a part of the fight against the use of drugs to enhance performance.”

In the question and answer session which followed, it was pointed out that some of the nation’s top athletes have been regularly tested at major championships, including Asafa Powell, who was said to have had five blood tests in two days, and Usain Bolt having had 12 test tubes of blood taken from him in three days. It was also reported that the nation’s juniors have been tested on the morning of their events.

It was explained that in Powell’s case, it was a mix-up between the local IOC at Beijing and WADA.

Meanwhile, with the average cost of testing each athlete in the region of US$700, Dr Elliott said he was prepared to seek funding from the private sector where necessary to support the costs involved in testing junior athletes.

And amid calls from workshop participants for assistance from WADA in addressing JADCO’s funding needs, Pound was supportive of the establishment of regional bodies in an effort to minimise administrative costs at the local level.

A call by a representative of Trinidad and Tobago’s Olympic Committee for a regional arm of the Court of Arbitration for Sports to minimise the cost of appeals in Switzerland was also noted by Pound.

The workshop was a collaborative effort of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the Norman Manley Law School and the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Jamaican Bar Association.

— EVERARD OWEN CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.