AIU Uses Okagbare’s case to explain why Whereabouts are essential in catching drug cheats

The Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU, says the role of Whereabouts is very crucial in the fight to rid the sport of track and field of drug cheats and protect the integrity of the sport.

Whereabouts is a system used by anti-doping agencies to monitor athletes and ensure they are available for unannounced drug testing, especially those who are on World Athletics’ Registered Testing Pool, RTP.

The athletes, wo are usually elite-level competitors, are required to provide detailed information about their location for certain time periods. This includes where they’ll be training, competing, and even staying overnight.

Athletes must specify at least a one-hour time slot each day during which they will be available at a particular location for testing.

If they fail to be present during this designated time, it is considered a “whereabouts failure.” Repeated failures or missing tests can result in penalties or even suspensions.

This system is a critical part of maintaining fairness in sports, helping to detect and deter the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The AIU says on its website that ‘providing accurate and up-to-date whereabouts is about protecting your right to clean sport. Whereabouts information gives the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) the ability to locate athletes with no notice, which is vital for testing athletes who choose to cheat themselves by doping.’

To explain the efficacy of the Whereabouts system, the AIU used the case of Nigerian sprinter, Blessing Okagbare to illustrates its point.

The AIU wrote: ‘Before the Tokyo Olympics, Blessing Okagbare evaded sample collection by refusing to respond when a DCO arrived to testher at the location filed in her Whereabouts calendar for her 1-hour time slot and overnight accommodation.

‘Evidence of this was obtained when Okagbare’s phone was imaged by the FBI. In text messages to therapist Eric Lira, Okagbare admitted not answering the DCO so she could avoid a drug test,’ wrote AIU and provided the text message the Nigerian wrote to Lira.

‘So, I took 2000iu of the E, yesterday, is it safe to take a (drug) test this morning?” This was her message to her ‘naturopathic’ therapist, Eric Lira, when a DCO came to test her in June 2021.

Lira had provided her with Prohibited Substances prior to the 2020 Olympic Games in 2021.

AIU says ‘Whereabouts allow us to conduct no-notice tests, catching those who seek to manipulate the system.’