Sochi to have toughest anti-doping programme: IOC

Sochi will impose the toughest anti-doping programme at an Olympic Winter Games, International Olympic Committee (IOC) communications director Mark Adams said.

The IOC executive board met with officials from Sochi 2014 and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Sunday to discuss updates on hosting a "clean Games", reports Xinhua.

"The Sochi Games will have the most stringent anti-doping program in the history of the Winter Olympics," Adams said.

"There will be 2,453 tests carried out in total with 1,269 being carried out pre-competition, which is a 57 percent increase from the (2010) Vancouver Olympics."

There were 2,149 tests carried out for the Vancouver Games, 14 percent less than the total tests to be carried out in Sochi.

For Sochi, 1,184 post-competition tests will be carried out with a focus on "higher risk" sports and team sports including ice hockey.

A total of 1,944 urine and 509 blood tests will be carried out in Sochi. There will be 572 extra tests done for urine EPO detection.

The Vancouver Games saw 1,742 urine tests, with 507 focusing on EPO detection.

As a further deterrent, the samples will be kept for 10 years, allowing future re-testing should technology improve.

The process started Jan 30, with 98 tests carried out, including 70 urine tests and 28 blood tests.