Full Doping Control at 5th Okpekpe Road Race

Organisers of the Fifth Okpekpe International 10km Road Race have promised that there will be full doping control during the race scheduled to hold in a fortnight at Okpekpe, Edo State.

Spokesman for the race, Dare Esan, revealed yesterday that provisions have been made for a full doping control for the event which the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has classified as the only international competition/ road race in Nigeria in 2017.

“All tests shall be conducted in accordance with the IAAF anti-doping regulations. There will be mandatory and requested tests. The mandatory tests are those that the organisers must conduct at its expense and includes the minimum four that must be done as a bronze label event (that is: two men and two women) as a mixed gender race and of course those that must be conducted in the event a world record or area record is broken,” said Esan who assured all stakeholders of the organisers’ preparedness to ensure a clean competition come Saturday May 13.

“The testing kits needed for effective anti-doping in accordance with IAAF antidoping rules have arrived. We have a doping station built in Okpekpe for the race. This is where the sample collection session will be conducted by doping control officers who have been trained and authorised by the Nigeria anti-doping agency with delegated responsibility for the on-site management of sample collection session.

“We also have Dr Akin Amao, one of Nigeria’s foremost sports medicine practitioners as the chief anti-doping officer for the race.

“We are ready for the race and those who qualified to be called elite athletes based on the times they have returned in the last 24 months are the ones open to testing. Those running for fun or charity are excluded. We have also advised athletes with illnesses or conditions that require the use of medication listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List to apply for Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) with the relevant agency before coming for the race,” said Esan.