Biological passport

The biological passport (inaccurately often also called blood passport ) is an individual electronic document in which data from medical controls of an athlete is collected, which serves as the basis for indirect detection procedures for doping in sport , especially in cycling .

Procedure and limits

With the help of the biological passport, the classic detection methods for prohibited substances or methods should be supplemented. In the biological passport, the results of urine and blood samples from training and competition controls are combined to form a biological profile of the athlete. Values that represent a deviation from the expected profile should not provide direct evidence of how manipulated - which substance, which method - was, but indirect evidence that it was manipulated. The haematological and steroid profilesalso provide information about the individual normal ranges of the measured parameters (“individual lower limit” - “individual upper limit”). In this way, abnormal deviations should be recorded much better than with the conventional method of defining statistically fixed normal ranges and " false negatives " or " false positives " can thus be excluded with greater certainty in the test evaluation.

Cycling

The basis for the introduction of the biological passport is a provision introduced by the World Cycling Association UCI at the beginning of 2008 in response to the Fuentes doping scandal , according to which additional individual blood and hormone profiles must be drawn up as part of doping tests ( urine / blood tests) in order to ensure reliable To receive information regarding unauthorized performance-enhancing manipulations by the athlete. Participation in the Biological Pass program is a prerequisite for licensing a cycling team as a UCI WorldTeam or UCI Professional Continental Team .

First, in 2009, doping procedures were opened against five cyclists based on their biological passport, which also led to the conviction of the drivers: Pietro Caucchioli , Ricardo Serrano , the former road world champion Igor Astarloa , Ruben Lobato Elvira and Francesco De Bonis . In 2010, Franco Pellizotti , Jesus Rosendo Prado and Tadej Valjavec were added three more cases.

According to the report of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission at the beginning of 2015, the introduction of the biological passport in cycling has made the fight against doping much more successful. However, the report also refers to the apparently practiced possibility of circumventing the indirect detection procedure by regularly administering EPO microdoses throughout the year. According to witnesses , the controversial physician Eufemiano Fuentes is still busy with the "care" of professional cyclists. Earlier increases in performance due to EPO doping of 10 to 15% are no longer possible due to the current test procedures; the benefit of EPO doping is 3 to 5% during the period of the investigation. A report by the French broadcaster France 2 in May 2015 also referred to a scientific study according to which significant increases in performance could be achieved through microdosing EPO, growth hormones and corticoids and autologous blood transfusions without any manipulation through the biological passport being detectable.

Other sports

A similar program has the International Triathlon Union for pro - triathletes , the world IAAF and the skating's world governing body ISU introduced. The doping process for speed skater Claudia Pechstein was carried out on the basis of an indirect verification process. In March 2013 the international tennis association ITF announced the introduction of the biological passport in the current calendar year.