The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) is significantly closer to its goal of hosting doping-free Games in 2010 with two major announcements on the anti-doping programme and laboratory for the 2010 Winter Games.

The Anti-Doping Laboratory will be located at the Richmond Oval and Montreal’s Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)-Institut Armand-Frappier, Canada’s only World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory, will operate the state-of-the art testing programme for the Games.

“From the beginning, our goal has been to host doping-free Games in 2010 by operating the most sophisticated anti-doping programme in a fully accredited laboratory that leaves a tangible legacy after the Games,” said Cathy Priestner Allinger, VANOC Executive Vice President Sport and Games Operations. “Much time and effort has been invested over the past year to ensure we secured the optimum location for the anti-doping laboratory and the very best team to operate this critical and highly technical facility. The Richmond Oval gives us an exceptional location for the anti-doping laboratory and, coupled with the expertise provided by Dr. Ayotte and her team from the INRS, we are guaranteed to have a world-class anti-doping program in place for the 2010 Winter Games.”

The Richmond Oval space meets the multitude of WADA-mandated technical and physical attributes necessary to ensure the laboratory’s integrity, including such elements as seismic requirements, geographic location and sufficient space.  After the Games, the Oval will become an international centre of excellence for sport and wellness and its flexible design will allow it to be used for a variety of sport and community functions.

The INRS is renowned for its expertise of more than 30 years in the international testing of athlete samples from all sports. During the 2010 Winter Games, its staff will operate the anti-doping laboratory and manage the testing of urine and blood samples. Setup for the anti-doping laboratory will take place between January 2009 and December 2009 and include the installation of state-of-the-art instruments, a transfer of methods and a validation of procedures. The process will be completed by a thorough audit of the laboratory’s operations by the Standard Council of Canada and WADA to ensure compliance with the highest international standards in time for the testing of samples collected during the Games.

Under the authority and direction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), VANOC’s 2010 Winter Games anti-doping programme has two primary objectives: the implementation of a state-of-the-art testing programme at Sport Events and the 2010 Winter Games to detect and deter doping behaviour, and the execution of an extensive education programme for athletes and their support teams about their rights and responsibilities regarding anti-doping rules and procedures.

VANOC will recruit 500 volunteers to act as Doping Control Officers (DCOs), Blood Collection Officers (BCOs) and Chaperones for the implementation of the anti-doping programme. To date, VANOC has interviewed 50 potential anti-doping volunteers, who will be specifically assigned to the anti-doping programme.

For more information, please visit the official website of VANOC at www.vancouver2010.com.