World Triathlon

This is an open letter to all National Federations and Athletes.  As 2010 is just around the corner, we wish to take this opportunity to thank you all for the efforts you have made throughout 2009 with respect to Anti-Doping matters. 

We wish to provide you with a review of the Anti-Doping topics that have affected us in 2009 and shall continue to affect all of us in 2010.

Education

Acknowledging the importance of educating all athletes, medical personnel and training personnel on Anti-Doping, the ITU has put much effort into education in 2009.
Among other regulatory mechanisms like the increase of out-of-competition testing, the ITU has enhanced its focus on education in the following ways:

• ITU’s website now includes a section solely on Anti-Doping. It contains useful information for athletes, coaches, and doctors alike. If you would like to suggest topics, please feel free to do.
• Increased communication to all Member federations and stakeholders
• Launch of the Athlete Outreach program at World Championship Series Grand Final Gold Coast
• This education booth allowed athletes and their support personnel to learn about doping in a fun and interactive way. It was such a success that another is planned for the 2010 World Championship Series Grand Final in Budapest.
• Presentations were made at Junior, Under 23 and Elite briefings.
• Thanks to the Sport Development and Event teams, Anti-Doping is a part of every course taught by ITU.

Every one of us has a role to play in educating ourselves, our athletes and everyone involved in triathlon about the dangers related to doping, the responsibilities involved with being a triathlete and the consequences of breaking the rules.  Please educate yourselves!

Revised Code and International Standards/Revised ITU Anti-Doping Rules:

On January 1 2009, a revised World Anti-Doping Code came into effect and to coincide with this new ITU Anti-Doping Rules also came into force.

The ITU Anti-Doping Rules and Anti-Doping program were both confirmed by WADA as being Code-compliant.  But we wish to note that in any and all cases of misinterpretation, the Code and International Standards shall have authority over the ITU Rules.

• In the event that WADA makes changes to the International Standards or the Prohibited List, the ITU will issue an addendum/errata to the Anti-Doping rules as soon as practicable.

2010 Revised Prohibited List

As indicated in a prior correspondence, we also wish to remind you that athletes who currently hold an Abbreviated Therapeutic Use Exemption (ATUE) should be aware that any ATUE issued by the ITU or one of its member federations that shows an expiry date in 2010 or beyond, will no longer be valid past December 31, 2009.

All athletes who currently possess an ATUE must either:

• Apply for a regular TUE (in a timely matter)
• Declare the use of the substance on a Declaration of Use Form and on their Doping Control Form at the time of testing.

The substances for which a simple Declaration of Use Form rather than a TUE may be utilized include all Glucocorticosteroids that are taken by inhalation, intradermal injection, epidural injection, intra-articular injection, periarticular injection or peritendinous injection. 

We further note that as of January 1 2010 the status of Salbutamol and Salameterol by inhalation has changed. They have been taken off the Prohibited List and therefore do not require a TUE or a Declaration of Use Form. (We note, however, that if usage exceeds a urinary level of 1000 mg/mL - a supratherapeutic dose - this could still result in an adverse analytical finding).

• We invite you to consult the 2010 Prohibited List and the New International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions on the WADA website for further clarifications. www.wada-ama.org

ADAMS. Whereabouts information and TUEs:

In 2009, all athletes who were designated as being part of the ITU Registered Testing Pool at any point in the year were obliged to start entering their whereabouts information in ADAMS or some other approved method. There were some difficulties in making this transition for everyone involved and we thank all the athletes for their efforts. 

We are told by WADA that the ADAMS whereabouts submission module will be simplified in 2010. We are hopeful that these modifications will make things easier on all ADAMS users.

We wish to note that in the course of 2010, all TUE’s will also have to be submitted via ADAMS.
Further information on how to work the ADAMS TUE module will be sent in the very near future. Guidelines for use of ADAMS for the purpose of submitting TUEs will also be posted on our ITU website in 2010. These guidelines are currently available on the WADA website.

Of course, we must repeat that the failure for any athletes to respect their obligations can result in serious consequences. These risks include a filing failure when the information is not timely entered into ADAMS, a missed test if the athlete is not available at the specified time and location and an Anti-Doping rule violation if a TUE is not properly filed and received.

• To avoid any of these consequences, we encourage you to please seek assistance to fill out the necessary forms from your NADO or the ITU.

Results Management

As you are aware, in the course of ITU results management procedures, upon receipt of an adverse analytical finding (AAF), the ITU systematically sends out a notice to the relevant member federation to inform them of the positive case and seek further information and reporting.  We thank all of you who have been prompt in replying to our inquests and in providing mandatory information and wish to commend you on your increased responsiveness to your results management obligations. 

There are, however, a few federations that are still lacking in this regard.
As such, in all cases we would still like to remind you to provide the ITU with all the information requested in our notifications. This information must include at minimum:

• Athlete’s name, nationality and date of birth
• Athlete’s age category and event
• Copy of a national level TUE where relevant

Further, for all national level cases, within 3 months, the ITU must be provided with: 

• A confirmation that you have begun your own results management/hearing process
• Prompt updates on the status of the case
• A written, reasoned decision once the national level hearing is complete.

Also, all National Federations and Event Organisers are reminded that they must send all Anti-Doping documentation to ITU so that we can keep an accurate record of the tests that have been completed. This includes all negative and Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) as well as positive tests. 

For further assistance with results management procedures, please download the WADA Results Management Guidelines at http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/rm_guide.pdf.

Final words: Cooperation and collaboration

As stated above, the ITU is aware that the continuous added responsibilities related to all Anti-Doping matters are challenging. This is why cooperation is so important. It is in all our interests to continue to work together to ensure that we fulfill all the tasks related to guaranteeing that we all comply with our many mutual obligations under the WADA Code.

And so, we are confident that the New Year will bring with it a renewed commitment by you, our member federations, to continue to collaborate with us in all doping matters.

• We thank you in advance for your timely replies and for fulfilling your reporting and results management obligations.
• We urge you to actively engage all your athletes and athlete support personnel in educating themselves on their Anti-Doping responsibilities and to take advantage of all the educational resources available.

Let’s continue to work together to achieve our common goals in trying to make 2010 a drug-free year for triathlon.