The sport of athletics is experiencing its scandal of the decade as information in the media has shown that between the years 2001-12 up to 800 athletes' blood tests showed non-standard values that implied the use of doping, with as many as 8 percent of the suspect tests concerning Slovak athletes, Hospodárske Noviny daily reports. If the information publicised by German television channel ARD and British newspaper The Sunday Times proves accurate, up to 146 athletes could lose medals from top athletic events such as the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
"It's such a large number that if it's true, the whole of athletics will be in disgrace," said Slovak long jumper Dana Veldáková. Although the media has publicised this information as fact, the athletic authorities state that it is only speculation. Slovak athletes have been cautious when commenting on the matter, but in general they think that this is a media bubble. On the other hand, they've all called for a harder stance in the fight against doping. "In my view, athletes that are proven to have used doping and have been punished shouldn't be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games," said former elite Slovak hammer thrower Libor Charfreitag. Although the checks on any cheating of this kind are very strict, experts and athletes agree that they could be tightened up further. "If the information proves to be correct, the checks and anti-doping measures in the sport will become more stringent," said Slovak Anti-doping Agency director Žaneta Csaderová.
