SLADA to ensure that only clean athletes are sent to world events
Dr. Seevali Jayawickrema
Sri Lanka Anti Doping Agency (SLADA) says it will ensure that only athletes, who are above board, are sent to the foorthcoming international sports events, starting with the Commonwealth Games.
SLADA Secretary General Dr Seevali Jayawickrema told the Sunday Times Sports that they are bent on a mission to send athletes worth their accolades. He said, “We started our programme in November last year and it is still ongoing. As you know, in January we identified two athletes connected to rugby, and this time Rugby is a part of the Commonwealth Games.”
“We have been conducting tests in and out of competition. In the ‘out of competition’, we identify the times and venues where the athletes are training. Other than that, we have also conducted random tests at athletic meets and cross-country races.”
He says that, not only his agency, but even the NOCSL officials are keen that Sri Lanka fields dope-free contingents for the forthcoming events. He said, “Weightlifting is one sport that has come into focus, with even organisers keeping a close tab on proceedings. Weightlifting has been a medal-winning event for the Lankans at the Commonwealth Games but, at the same time, there have been some drawbacks with the detection of positive cases in the past.”
He said, “Now they are also on to ‘target testing’. A sudden spike in an athlete’s performance may be a cause for testing. The other type of ‘target testing’ is conducting tests on information received”.
The Commonwealth Games are scheduled from April 4-15, in Gold Coast, Australia, followed by the Asian Games and the Para Asian Games in August-September and the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 1-6.