London 2012: Anti-doping laboratory gets green light

The anti-doping laboratory to be used during London 2012 has been given the official seal of approval.

The <link> <caption>World Anti-Doping Agency</caption> <url href="http://www.wada-ama.org/" platform="highweb"/> </link> (WADA) has accredited the facility which will test athletes for banned substances.

The laboratory, based in Essex, has been tested over two years to make sure it is up to international standards.

"Ensuring athletes come to London with confidence in the anti-doping programme is very important," said Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards.

The move comes as the British Olympic Association (BOA) <link> <caption>awaits a decision</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/17781706" platform="highweb"/> </link> over the right to continue imposing lifetime Olympic bans on British athletes who have served suspensions for taking performance-enhancing drugs.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) is expected to rule this week.

The BOA challenged a ruling from WADA that its by-law was unenforceable.

The by-law was introduced more than 20 years ago and has kept a number of British athletes out of past Olympics.

If it is revoked it could mean that banned athletes - sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar - would be eligible for London 2012 selection.

Green light

The facility in Harlow, operated by <link> <caption>King's College London</caption> <url href="http://www.kcl.ac.uk/index.aspx" platform="highweb"/> </link> , is estimated to be the size of seven tennis courts and will carry out more tests than at any previous Olympics.

It will operate 24 hours a day during the games, ensuring that every medallist and more than half of all competitors will be tested.

Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has donated and equipped the lab, which it says is the major part of its £20m contribution to the games.

"The WADA accreditation is a green light signal that the lab is ready," said Jonathan Harris, head of anti-doping at Games organisers Locog.

The laboratory underwent a series of rigorous tests including several site visits from WADA's science department and accrediting body ISO/IEC.

Assessments focussed on the facility, equipment, procedures and staffing during three formal inspections and dummy sample testing.

Over 1,000 Locog staff and a team of 150 anti-doping scientists will test up to 6250 samples during the Games.

WADA president John Fahey said that accreditation meant the laboratory would operate to the highest standards during the Games.

"Doping athletes must know that there is a very good chance they will be tested this summer," he said.

"Everything scientifically possible - and with the assistance of growing intelligence - will be done to make sure that their efforts to cheat are detected by the experts."

The facility will be led independently by Professor David Cowan from King's College London.

"We have demonstrated that everything is in place and we are well prepared to deliver robust testing for the Games," he said.

"This accreditation provides recognition of our ability to operate an effective laboratory."

In 2011 GSK signed a long-term agreement with WADA to share information about medicines in development with a view to developing early detection methods.