體壇英語資訊：IOC to run over 2,000 doping tests during Vancouver Games

More than 2,000 samples will be taken during the Winter Olympic Games slated for Feb. 12-28 and will all be frozen for eight years, said senior medical officials of the IOC at an anti-doping press conference here on Tuesday.

"The number of samples we'll take during the Games is going to be increased a little bit, maybe 25 to 40 percent," said Arne Lungqvist, head of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission.

More than 1,200 samples have been taken at the Turin 2006, and this time in Vancouver, the number will be over 2,000 from both inside and outside of the Olympic venues, including about 450 blood and 1,600 uraine samples.

Lungqvist said the IOC will fight the anti-doping war with a tight hand.

"The message is very simple. If you get away today, you may be identified tomorrow...Those who dope have no place in competitive sport," he said.

The IOC's medical expert, who's been in the medical field for 40 years, further emphasized that targeted samples can be retested for banned substances that may have gone undetected first time around, as new science becomes available.

"We're not in hurry. We have eight years," he said.

Six athletes, including the cycling silver medalist David Rebellin, tested positive and were banned, after the IOC ordered to retest nearly 1,000 samples taken during the Beijing Olympic Games as new tests for Cera and insulin were developed.

Christiane Ayotte and her team from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) in Montreal, which is Canada's only World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory, will operate the testing program for the Vancouver Games in Richmond, home to the speed skating competitions.