New anti-doping testing method makes official debut at Beijing Winter Olympics

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- China joined the development of an innovative testing method to detect banned substances in dried blood as it will make its formal appearance at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, said Chinese anti-doping head.

The dried blood spot (DBS) testing, used at last year's Tokyo Olympics for trials, only takes a few drops of blood from the athlete's fingertip to dry on a blotting paper, which will allow the scientists to analyze certain substances.

China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) director Chen Zhiyu said the new method was born from a joint international effort and has great potential to aid the fight against doping.

"The DBS was jointly developed by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Testing Agency and CHINADA as well as USADA, among others," said Chen.

"It is the first time that China has taken part in the full process of an innovative project in the anti-doping area. We are part of the decision-making body to set up rules and join researches for testing technology and equipment," he said.

China conducted more than 400 DBS tests ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and used this method at last year's National Games in Shaanxi.

"We carried out over 300 DBS tests on our Winter Olympians during our preparation for Beijing 2022," he said.

"It is both innovative and revolutionary in the fight against doping," Chen added.

WADA has already hailed the testing method as a "very valuable addition to the testing program" as it is much less invasive than the traditional blood tests and easy for storage and transportation.

"It can be used to complement current anti-doping practice, in particular, to facilitate the analysis of unstable compounds and to expand on the number of athletes that can be tested in more remote areas of the world from where traditional blood samples are difficult to transport," said WADA President Witold Banka after WADA Executive Committee approves Technical Document for DBS last year.