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Accurate and effective doping control procedures are essential to maintaining fairness and integrity in sport. For these reasons, there are specific steps to be followed by the athlete, the Doping Control Officer (DCO) and any other party who is involved in a doping control process, which are the following:

  1. Notification
  2. Reporting to Doping Control Station (DCS)
  3. Sample collection vessel selection
  4. Sample provision
  5. Sample kit selection
  6. Sample splitting
  7. Sample sealing
  8. Specific gravity measurement
  9. Doping Control Form (DCF) completion
  10. Sample shipment to laboratory

1. Notification

The notification of an athlete starts when the Doping Control Officer (DCO) initiates the notification of the selected athlete and ends when the athlete arrives at the Doping Control Station (DCS). The DCO shall ensure ‘No Advance Notice Testing’ and the continuous observation of the athlete after notified.

After locating the athlete, the DCO shall identify himself and confirm the athlete’s identity, informing him that he has been selected to provide a sample and about his rights and responsibilities.

Finally, the notification shall be properly documented.

2. Reporting to Doping Control Station (DCS)

After being notified, the athlete must immediately report to the Doping Control Station (DCS). However, the DCO may allow a delay in reporting under certain circumstances and/or leave the DCS temporarily after arrival if deemed appropriate.

3. Sample collection vessel selection

The DCO shall ensure that the athlete is offered a choice of sample collection vessels for collecting the sample. After this, when the athlete selects a collection vessel, the DCO shall instruct him to check that all seals on the selected equipment is intact and it has not been tampered with.

4. Sample provision

When the athlete is ready to provide the urine sample, he shall be accompanied by the DCO of the same gender to the toilet.

Immediately before opening any of the equipment, the athlete must wash their hands without soap. Then, the DCO shall instruct the athlete to remove or adjust any clothing which restricts the DCO’s clear view of sample provision.
 

A minimum of 90 ml of urine shall be collected to have a full sample.

5. Sample kit selection

Once the volume of urine provided by the athlete is sufficient, the DCO shall instruct him to select a sample collection kit, which contains ‘A’ and ‘B’ bottles.
 
After this selection has been made, the DCO and the athlete shall check that the selected equipment is intact and it has not been tampered with, but also that all sample code numbers match and it is recorded accurately by the DCO on the Doping Control Form.

6. Sample splitting

First, the athlete shall pour the minimum suitable volume of urine for analysis into the ‘B’ bottle and then pour the remainder of the urine into the ‘A’ bottle.
 
After this, the DCO shall instruct the athlete to ensure that a small amount of urine is left in the collection vessel, explaining that this is to enable the DCO to test the residual urine afterwards.

7. Sample sealing

The athlete shall seal the ‘A’ and ‘B’ bottles as directed by the DCO. After this, the DCO shall check, in full view of the athlete, that the bottles have been properly sealed.

8. Specific gravity measurement

The DCO shall test the residual urine in the collection vessel to determine if the sample has a suitable specific gravity for analysis.
 

This residual urine sample shall only be discarded when both, the ‘A’ and ‘B’ bottles, have been sealed and the residual urine has been tested.

The athlete shall be given the option of witnessing the discarding of any residual urine that will not be sent for analysis.

9. Doping Control Form (DCF) completion

The athlete and the DCO shall complete the DCF by declaring any medication or supplements taken during the last 7 days, providing details of any Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and adding any comments about the doping control process
 

Then, the information on the Doping Control Form (DCF) shall be confirmed by both, the athlete’s and DCO’s signatures, ensuring that the laboratory copy of the DCF does not contain any information that will identify the athlete.

Finally, the athlete shall receive his copy of the DCF and leave the Doping Control Station.

10. Sample shipment to laboratory

All collected samples will be packaged and sent to a WADA-accredited laboratory for analysis. The transportation will be monitored by Chain of Custody procedures to ensure the integrity, security and traceability of the samples.

To learn more about the doping control process, you can consult the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI) of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).