Drug testing for the 2012 London Olympic Games started on Monday with estimates that over half of all the athletes, and every medal winner, will be tested. A team of 150 scientists will take more than 6,000 samples between now and the end of the Paralympic Games in September in an effort to ensure the Games are not tainted by cheats. Experts say the drug testers will be using much faster, more extensive and more precise procedures than before.
Kerry O’Callaghan, Head of Global Brand Communications at Glaxosmithkline, said, "Testing is happening throughout the whole period and we are going to be testing 6000 athletes across the Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than at any other games. And that means that over half the athletes will be tested, and anyone who stands on a podium. And our role is to provide the ability and the mass production to get such a high level of testing done in such a short length of time - but it has to be done right, and that’s where our expertise and scientific credibility really comes to the fore. All of the testing that we take during the Games will actually be kept for eight years so if there is any test or chemical that is found in the future that wasn’t known at the moment then those athletes can be brought back, called to attention, later on."