WADA Releases Report On Testing Figures For 2022

2022 Report includes an executive summary and sub-reports categorised by laboratory, sport, testing body, and Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) blood analysis. It includes data on urine samples, blood samples, ABP blood data, and Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) and Atypical Findings (ATFs). The number of testing samples analysed increased for the second consecutive year following the COVID era.

WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said: “WADA’s Annual Testing Figures Report is the most comprehensive overview of all doping control samples analysed and reported by WADA-accredited and WADA-approved laboratories around the world.”

“Used in conjunction with values-based education, intelligence and investigation, and other strategies, testing is an important detection and deterrence method that helps protect athletes and keep sport clean,” he continued.

“The Testing Figures Report is an important tool for cooperation among anti-doping organisations. The valuable data and information contained in the report provides Anti-Doping Organisations with a key resource for evaluating strategies and for identifying potential patterns, best practices and areas for improvement,” Niggli concluded.

Some of the doping cases in 2022 include Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak; 2021 Boston Marathon winner Diana Kipyogei aand the Kenyan cases in athletics or, in the football world, Sevilla’s Papu Gómez, who tested positive before the World Cup. One of the most recent athletes to fail an anti-doping test was football player Paul Pogba, sanctioned in February 2024.

There was a 6.4% increase in the total number of samples analysed and reported in Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) in 2022 compared to 2021, reaching 256,770 samples.

There have also been an increase in the overall percentage of Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) year-on-year, as well as an increase in the total number of samples analysed by most WADA-accredited laboratories.

There was an increase in both the total number and percentage of non-ABP blood samples and dried blood spot (DBS) samples analysed in 2022, along with a 1.4% increase in the number of ABP blood samples analysed. Lastly, there was an increase in the total number of AAFs and the percentage of these results for various tests, including ERAs, GHRFs, and GC/C/IRMS tests.