A new iteration of doping laboratory bottles is being scrutinized as a possible risk to sample integrity, per Reuters. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was reportedly informed on January 19th that doping protocol bottles set to be used at the Winter Olympic in Pyeongchang less than a month from now, have a notable flaw.
The accredited laboratory in Cologne, Germany reported to WADA that the security bottles produced by Swiss company Berlinger Special AG and used to store athlete doping control urine and/or blood ‘may potentially be susceptible to manual opening upon freezing of a sample.’ Based on article 6.3.4 of the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI), sample collection equipment systems must, in addition to other criteria, have ‘a sealing system that is tamper-evident.’ Of the 2 samples taken during a doping test, typically just the B sample is frozen and only analyzed if the A sample has tested positively for a banned substance.
“This situation, if confirmed, will raise concerns and questions,” WADA said in a statement. “We wish to reassure athletes and other stakeholders that WADA is resolutely committed to following up with Berlinger until the matter is resolved, and that we will keep stakeholders apprised as the situation evolves.
Berlinger Special AG, told WADA it was unable to replicate the issue when the bottles ‘were handled per the product’s instruction.’
You can read WADA’s statement in its entirety here.
They have 0 days to fix this as the pre Olympic window is open & athletes are already on their way . Time has run out so who can they bring in to brain storm ? Let me guess …….0 points for Canadians of course , maybe one of their sneaky up to no good neighbours.
I mean, all bottles are potentially susceptible to manual opening, but the whole point of these bottles is that it’s detectable that the bottles have been opened. That it seems like they didn’t specifically mention that is weird, right? (Idk, I might have read it too quickly.)
And if that is the case, the company saying that they couldn’t replicate it when following proper procedures isn’t really proof of anything. People are tryna cheat your bottles, man! They’re not gonna follow your instructions, they’re gonna do something shady to replace the samples.
Right!? Am I missing something? I feel like I have to be missing something.