(UTV | Colombo) – A group of American athletes will provide samples for drug-testing in a “virtual session” as part of a “unique” programme being trialled by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).
Social-distancing measures have meant a reduction in traditional random sample-collection, with some countries halting testing entirely.
That has led to fears that cheats may look to exploit the situation.
But Usada’s trial will mean officials can follow the process remotely via video conference technology – with a camera placed outside the athlete’s bathroom door.
Five-time Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky, and runners Allyson Felix, Noah Lyles and Emma Coburn are among the stars who have volunteered to take part.
“We felt bad for clean athletes”, Travis Tygart, the chief executive of Usada, told BBC Sport.
“How unfair is it to be questioned just because there’s a period of time, through no fault of your own, that testing isn’t able to be accomplished at the level that it was?
“Out of that frustration the team here said ‘we have to give some solution, and have to reinvent ourselves’.”