Rugby and athletics produced the most drug cheats over the last year, accounting for 20 of the 30 sportsmen and women caught doping in 2014 / 2015, according to the latest SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) annual report.
Of the 30 adverse analytical findings (positive tests), 11 were from rugby, 9 from athletics, and 6 from cycling (4 road cyclists and 2 mountain bikers).
2 Powerlifters were found to have illicit products in their systems and 1 each from wrestling and judo.
SAIDS chief executive Khalid Galant said the statistics confirmed the organisation would continue to pursue a robust testing programme that served as a deterrence against drug cheats in sport.
In his CEO’s report, Galant revealed SAIDS was helping review the existing Drug-Free sport legislation.
“Among the proposed new legislation will be steps designed to address issues around the testing of high school learners for performance enhancing and illicit drugs,” Galant said in a SAIDS press release on Monday.
A total of 2 730 tests were done during the year leading up to March 2015, with rugby, athletics and cycling accounting for most of those.
SAIDS said it carried out 2019 urine tests, 402 EPO tests and 309 blood tests during the time. The majority of positive tests were for anabolic agents, typically used by athletes to bulk up.
A total of 173 urine tests were also carried out in terms of the “schools testing protocol” between SAIDS and participating schools, and 12 tested positive.
Sport24