Australian Olympian Jessica Fox has shocked fans by revealing the power drug-testing has had over her life for the past 12 years.
For more than a decade, the 29-year-old canoeist has had to log where she was every day so drug testers could find her.
“It blows my mind that I’ve been doing this for the last 12 years,” Fox said in a TikTok video as she logged her whereabouts for the next three months.
“For the last 12 years I have logged my whereabouts for every single day of the year: where I’ll be sleeping, where I’ll be training and provide a one hour window every day where a drug tester could come test me at home or wherever I’m staying around the world.”
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Fox explained that if an athlete was not where they said they were going to be in that 60-minute window, they get a strike against their name.
“If you get three strikes, you get banned. It’s an anti-doping violation,” she said.
A drug tester can also show up unannounced for a random test outside of that 60-minute slot.
Fox said an athlete must provide a urine or blood sample, depending on the test.
“If you were heading out to go to the shops or you had somewhere you had to be and they turn up and they see and they notify you, you’ve got to drop everything and do your drug test,” she said.
Shocked fans described the rules as both “intense” and “fascinating”.
“I mean, on the plus side, you could never be accused of a crime, your alibi is solid,” wrote one person, gaining hundreds of likes.
Others claimed it was just another reason why they could never be an athlete.
Fox answered questions in the comments, explaining that when travelling she has to log her flight details and it was done through an app or website.
She can update the log but must do it at least one hour before the 60-minute testing window.
Fox said the most times she had been randomly drug tested at her home within a year was about five or six.
One time she said she had a drug tester show up at 10pm when she was already in bed.
Many asked what would happen if the tester showed up and she had just been to the toilet.
Fox explained they had to wait around but during her testing window she usually tried to wait until the end of the hour to go to the toilet for that exact reason.
One person asked what would happen if she was at a friend’s house and fell asleep on the couch.
Fox said she would need to set an alarm to be home before the testing hour or change the time of it or her location.
“If they come to your house and you’re not there, they call you in case you’re close by,” she said.
Fox said she usually puts her 60-minute testing slot at 5am or 6am because she will most likely be at home in bed.
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the “Whereabouts” rules are “one of the most powerful means of deterrence and detection of doping”.
The strict rules apply to a limited number of top-level athletes in a Registered Testing Pool.
They need to provide their home address, an address for overnight accommodations, training information and locations, competition schedules, the locations and times of regular personal activities such as work or school, and one 60-minute time period a day where they will be available for testing.
Athletes can be tested at any time, any where but a “missed test” is only recorded when they are not available during the 60-minute window.
Fox was asked whether she thought the rules were reasonable, to which she responded: “I think it’s a bit annoying and inconvenient but I’m happy to do it for clean sport and to protect athletes.”
