More doping cases to be found: IOC official -- china.org.cn

There will be more potential positive cases with the increase in the number of doping tests at the Beijing Olympic Games, said an International Olympic Committee (IOC) official overseeing the anti-doping program at the Games on Thursday.

Patrick Schamasch, director of Medical and Scientific Department of the IOC, the one quarter increase of the number of doping tests may help catch more drug cheats.

"When you look at the previous Games. More tests you do, more potential positive or anti-doping violations there will have. If you are good at math, you do the calculation," he said.

"We had 26 in Athens anti-doping rule violations with 25 percent of increase of the tests, you do the math," he added. There will be 4,500 tests carried out during the Beijing Olympic Games with 1,300 pre-competition ones. According to Schamasch, less than 100 tests have been done since the opening of the Olympic Village on July 27.

Schamasch said if more drug cheats were found, that only proved their work were effective.

"Doping has been an issue in sports. We are here to clean the Games," he said.

Beside the increase of test number, Schamasch believed improved testing method would also help.

"To detect human growth hormone, we have improve method," he said, adding that the method was based on the principles of the one used at the Athens Olympic Games. "It was not new but improved."

But he refused to go into details as what are the advantages of the improved method.

"We want to frighten drug cheats with better test but don't want them to know details. We try to do our utmost to catch more cheaters," he said.

All the tests will be carried out in the new lab located in the building of the China Anti-Doping Agency in north Beijing.

The Beijing Games organizers invested millions in updating the equipment in time for the sport gala slated for Aug. 8-24.

Schamasch was satisfied with the state-of-art lab and the 140 staff working in shifts.

"They put in place the best things ever and they have the dream team here," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)