Drug czar: Samples could be tested years later
“If there’s a new drug out there that scientists are saying there’s no test for… a couple of years down the line when there’s a test for it, we’d have the ability to test.”
In June of 2012 the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused cyclist Lance Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs. He was dropped by all sponsors, losing a reported $75,000,000 in a single day.
After USADA’s report, all of Armstrong’s sponsors dropped him. He reportedly lost $75 million in a day. The accusation was based on witness testimony, and blood samples from years before in 2009 and 2010.
New UFC VP of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky was behind the takedown of Armstrong. And he appeared recently on The Joe Rogan Experience and explained that samples taken from UFC fighters will be frozen and stored at World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratories for years, and retested as new testing technologies become available.
Even if there’s a new drug out there that scientists are saying there’s no test for, potentially, a couple of years down the line when there’s a test for it, we’d have the ability to test for that, said Novitzky, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. Now, maybe that athlete’s no longer with the UFC or no longer competing, but there’s legacy and reputation at stake.
On 27 March 2012 Italian rider Giampaolo Caruso was tested out of competition, using available protocols. He passed.
On Tuesday the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that it had notified Caruso of an Adverse Analytical Finding of Erythropoietin (EPO). The sample had been stored and was reanalysed in light of new scientific developments.
Caruso is believed to be facing a ban of up to four years.