LONDON, March 26: Every British athlete going to the Beijing Olympics will be drug tested at least once in the run-up to this summer’s games.

UK Sport announced plans on Wednesday for the country’s most comprehensive pre-Olympic testing program, with more than 1,500 tests set to be administered on the athletes competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The programme started on Jan 1 and will last until the opening of the Olympic village in Beijing on July 27, 12 days before the opening ceremony.

From July 27, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will supervise tests on all athletes in conjunction with the Chinese organising committee. About 4,500 doping tests will be carried out during the Aug 8-24 games in line with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) zero-tolerance policy.

“The tests will be planned using our intelligence-based testing approach which focuses the allocation of tests around where they have a maximum impact in terms of detection and deterrence,” said John Scott, director of drug-free sport for Britain’s national anti-doping organisation.

“Obviously those in high-risk sports or disciplines can and will be tested more often. There is no limit to the number of times

we might test an individual

athlete.”—AP