Security is the top focus for the laboratory that will conduct doping exams at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the lab's director said on Friday, amid global scrutiny following the recent scandal surrounding Russian athletes.
Citing major breaches that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) described at a Russian laboratory, chemist Francisco Radler said the lab must ensure that cheating, through infiltration by outsiders or other efforts to manipulate testing, is "impossible."
In an interview outside the new laboratory, a remote five-story building on the island campus of the Federal University of Rio, Radler said a security force of about 50 people, including military police and private guards, will guard the nearly 200 local and international scientists and technicians who will conduct Olympic testing.
He said the laboratory is fully operational and ready for testing once the Games begin.
Given the hardware and know-how that will be on hand, Radler says the lab's goal is not just to show technical proficiency but to prove that it can safeguard the integrity of testing.
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