Triathlon’s commitment to clean sport has been recognised with The World Anti-Doping Agency officially confirming the ITU is in full compliance of its world anti-doping code.
ITU president Marisol Casado welcomed the news from WADA.
“I’m very excited to share this news with the triathlon family, as we have always believed an anti-doping programme is integral to our organisation’s success, as it allows all of our athletes to compete in a fair environment,” Casado said. “I would particularly like to thank ITU staff and Leslie Buchanan, the Director of our anti-doping department for her work in obtaining this official recognition.”
Buchanan, also a member of the WADA Education Committee said the WADA ruling showed the ITU is on the right path.
“We feel this validates ITU’s commitment to the fight against doping. We’ve invested time and resources into this to make sure that triathetes compete on a level playing field and ensure there are policies in place to deter all triathletes from attempting to take advantage of the system,” Buchanan said.
“We also know that while it is great our programme complies with the WADA Code, we cannot afford to let our guard down and we will keep working on new initiatives to keep triathlon at the forefront of anti-doping.”
The ITU anti-doping department was established with the goal of committing substantial time and resources to curb doping in triathlon. This year’s anti-doping protocols include: intelligent testing for ITU events and athletes that is also more efficient, a commitment from National Federations to test and report their testing, and comprehensive education programme. That includes actively engaging member federations through regular anti-doping content, helping everyone involved in triathlon understand the importance of a clean sport for not only participants’ health and fair results, but for the sports legacy.
ITU is a signatory of the WADA Code and to be an affiliated member of ITU, National Federations must commit to comply with the WADA Code and ITU Anti-doping Rules.