CWG 2018 raise bar of anti-doping

The Gold Coast 2018 High Integrity Anti-Doping Partnership got underway for Commonwealth athletes on Sunday as the Athletes Village for the XXI multi-sport games officially opened.

The partnership will prioritise the rights of clean athletes and ensure fairness-first, values-centered culture at the Games, which runs from April 4 to 15 in Gold Coast, Australia.

The partnership brings together the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the Gold Coast 2018 Organising Committee (GOLDOC) and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA); and aims to set the standard for international major multi-sports event anti-doping programmes through its innovative tri-partite partnership model.

Commonwealth Games Federation President, Louise Martin said, "Athletes and sports fans rightly expect Commonwealth Sport to be a beacon for fairness and integrity on the field of play - indeed these ideals are the very fabric of what our Commonwealth of Nations represents. That is why the CGF and its Medical Commission will leave no stone unturned in its dogged pursuit of fair play in the lead-up to, during and post-Gold Coast 2018."

"Athlete and public confidence in clean sport has been shattered in recent times and so, we, the Commonwealth Sports Movement, must lead by example and reassure clean athletes that we back their rights to legitimate, fair competition, and we must reassure sports fans across the Commonwealth and beyond that what they are witnessing on the field of play is honest, legitimate sport," added Martin.

Announced in August 2017, the partnership is a rigorous anti-doping programme designed to protect the integrity of the Games.

This includes the establishment of the first ever formal pre-Commonwealth Games Taskforce to ensure that athletes around the world have been tested before they even set foot in the village and is supported by the first-ever sample storage and reanalysis program post Games.

The programme is designed to be fully compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and will serve as "Anti-Doping Rules" to support a level playing field for the 4,600 athletes at the Games. This standard sets out the rules for the selection of athletes, sample collection procedures and the process for adverse and unusual analytical findings and other anti-doping rule violations.