JADCO ups the ante
Anti-doping group to ramp up athletes’ testing at ‘post-COVID’ Champs
Published:Sunday | April 3, 2022 | 12:13 AMRobert Bailey - Gleaner Writer
THE JAMAICA Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) says it will be ratcheting up testing at this year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships, which will be held at the National Stadium from Tuesday.
JADCO had scaled down the testing of the country’s junior athletes at last year’s championships, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, but things have changed since.
Alexander Williams, chairman of the JADCO, told The Sunday Gleaner that his organisation would be out in its numbers at this week’s five-day championships, with the intention to conduct a lot more testing than they did in 2021.
“There is a full list of events at which JADCO will be testing,” said Williams.
“I suspect that there will be a lot more testing, now that things are more relaxed,” he said.
“There will be appropriate testing because, every year, there is a schedule and the executive director knows what she is doing and we leave that up to her discretion, once she follows the WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] guidelines,” Williams said.
EXCELLENT RELATIONSHIP
He pointed out that his organisation has had an excellent relationship with the junior athletes and their coaches over the years at the championships and therefore he expects no fallout from the increase.
“I can’t recall us having any problems when it comes to testing our athletes at Champs,” Williams said.
“I expect that it will be smooth sailing. Everybody knows what they are to do, everybody knows what they are about and we do not expect that there will be any issues.”
According to Williams, the JADCO has been receiving positive feedback from the WADA for the work it has done during the pandemic.
“Anti-doping continues, and we continue to be subject to WADA guidelines, and we have been doing a pretty good job over the years, even through the pandemic,” said Williams.
“We have followed the guidelines that have been set out by WADA, even without certain protocols as to how we are to go about it in that scenario,” he added. “We have not had any complaints from the athletes of any sporting organisations as to how we go about testing, and so we are very pleased with that. As a matter of fact, WADA itself has commended us about our work and they are pleased with what we are doing.”