MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Over 3,100 doping tests, both in-competition and out-of-competition, were carried out during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in its statement on Tuesday.
"On the back of a record targeted pre-Games anti-doping testing program, doping control was intensified during the Olympic Winter Games to strengthen the integrity of sport and provide a level playing field for all clean athletes," the statement from the IOC reads.
"In total, 3,149 anti-doping tests were conducted during PyeongChang 2018, making it the most robust anti-doping program in the history of the Olympic Winter Games," according to the IOC statement. "Of these tests, 1,393 were in competition, and 1,756 were out of competition."
The IOC also stated that the anti-doping program in PyeongChang included smarter and more targeted testing based on an improved and intelligent system.
"For the first time at the Winter Games, we made use of video surveillance, with the Seoul lab being monitored by 24/7 video surveillance," IOC Medical and Scientific Director Dr. Richard Budgett was quoted as saying in the statement. "The footage is being kept for 10 years after the Games."
The world’s governing Olympic body added that "the samples from PyeongChang 2018 will be kept for 10 years and may be tested retroactively as new detection technologies become available."
The 23rd Winter Olympic Games were held in South Korea’s PyeongChang between February 9 and 25, 2018.