Australia’s Minister for Sport has called on the World Anti-Doping Agency to prioritise its review of EPO testing to remove ambiguity for athletes, after Olympian Peter Bol was sensationally cleared following the admission from doping bodies that his first alleged failed drug test was not a failed test at all.
Anika Wells, who as federal sport minister is also a WADA committee member, said on Wednesday that athletes needed clarity.
Peter Bol.Credit: Scott McNaughton, Getty
“The case is unique, with varying expert opinions. I look forward to the outcome of WADA’s review so ambiguity of the analysis of synthetic EPO is removed and athletes around the world can have more clarity around these processes,” Wells said.
“I wish Peter Bol the very best in the upcoming world athletics championships in Hungary later this month.
“This has been a long process and I welcome the WADA review of the analysis for EPO. It’s in the interests of all athletes in Australia and around the world that any ambiguity in the analysis of synthetic EPO is thoroughly reviewed.”
Wells said she wanted “to make sure that any review conducted is prioritised and thorough”.
Bol was exonerated on Tuesday when Sports Integrity Australia announced in a statement that it had abandoned a doping violation investigation after further analysis revealed his first failed drug test should not have been returned as a positive test.
Wells defended the role of Sports Integrity Australia – whose laboratories tested Bol’s first sample and declared it a positive result for EPO – by saying they had followed WADA guidelines.
Athletics Australia has demanded urgent answers from WADA over the testing methods for EPO after Bol was left in no man’s land for seven months.
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