United States Anti-Doping Agency - Testing Program

Testing Program

The USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing is consistent with the WADA Code and International Standard for Testing and outlines the organization's testing program. The organization tests athletes by collecting both blood and urine samples, both during, or in-competition, as well as out-of-competition which can occur at any time, at any location, without any advanced notice. Athletes are subject to testing 365 days a year and testing is not restricted by "off-seasons," training schedules, or competition schedules. Drug testing programs, like USADA's, that are consistent with the WADA Code, have often been referred to as Olympic style drug testing.

Athletes subject to USADA testing and that fall under the organization's jurisdiction include:

• Any Athlete who is a member or license holder of a sport National Governing Body (NGB)
• Any Athlete participating at an Event or Competition sanctioned by the USOC or an NGB or participating at an Event or Competition in the United States sanctioned by an International Federation (IF)
• Any foreign Athlete who is present in the United States
• Any other Athlete who has given his/her consent to Testing by USADA or who has submitted a Whereabouts Filing to USADA or an IF within the previous 12 months and has not given his or her NGB and USADA written notice of retirement
• Any Athlete who has been named by the USOC or an NGB to an international team or who is included in the USADA Registered Testing Pool (“USADA RTP”) or is competing in a qualifying event to represent the USOC or NGB in international competition
• Any United States Athlete or foreign Athlete present in the United States who is serving a period of Ineligibility on account of an anti-doping rule violation and who has not given prior written notice of retirement from all sanctioned competition to the applicable NGB and USADA, or the applicable foreign anti-doping agency or foreign sport association
• Any Athlete USADA is Testing under authorization from the USOC, an NGB, IF, any NADO, WADA, the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”), the International Paralympic Committee (“IPC”) or the organizing committee of any Event or Competition.

USADA maintains a group of elite athletes as part of its registered testing pool. Consistent with the WADA Code, athletes in this pool are subject to strict whereabouts requirements in which they must inform the organization of their whereabouts (specific locations) at all times. Critics of WADA Code whereabouts requirements have criticized the requirement as overly strict, while proponents claim the requirement ensure athletes cannot evade tests.

USADA determines its test distribution plan (TDP) or the determination of who, when, and where the organization tests through a combination of many factors that are consistent with the WADA IST. Tests in many cases are targeted to specific athletes, events, locations, and times. Factors for determining tests may include:

• Physical demands of the sport and possible performance-enhancing effect that doping may elicit
• Available doping analysis statistics
• Available research on doping trends
• The history of doping in the sport and/or discipline
• Training periods and the competition calendar, season
• Information received on possible doping practices
• Resources aimed at the detection of doping may be specifically targeted.

The term "random" is inaccurate, as USADA uses various factors to strategically plan when and where they test athletes. High profile or elite athletes are tested significantly more frequently than others.

Anti-doping sample collection is consistent with the WADA IST and are conducted by doping control officers (DCOs), specifically trained and employed by USADA. For tests in which blood is collected, USADA contracts with trained phlebotomists who work in conjunction with a USADA DCO.

In conjunction with the WADA International Standard for Laboratories, all samples are analyzed at laboratories that have been accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. In the United States there are only two WADA Accredited labs, the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory in Los Angeles, CA., and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory(SMRTL)in Salt Lake City, Utah. WADA accredited labs comply with the WADA International Standard for Laboratories.