Cowan will oversee the analysis of at least 6,250 urine samples during the period of the Olympics and blood samples from 20 per cent of competitors – more than at any previous Games, and as many as his team normally process in a year.

He told insidethegames that once results of blood tests had been passed on to governing bodies running Athlete Biological Passports, such as the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), competitors could be retrospectively sanctioned for offences at the Games, or even, in the light of previous data, for offences at earlier competitions.

"We will input the data from our tests into athletes' passports," Cowan said.

"And then it could be that we will be told 'Oh, we've got a strange result here'.

"You only know it's an elevated value when you can compare it to some lower values.

"But we may get the low value that shows up an earlier sample.

"Or it could be a later sample which shows it."

Thus an elevated result at the Games in comparison to earlier tests on the passport, which requires a minimum of five tests to create a reliable working profile, could result in a sanction.

But so could a lower result at the Games.

"If for example you were an athlete blood-tested at last year's World Championships in Daegu, and only now have we got the other sample that shows that you were positive then, that could disqualify you, although that's not for us to answer," Cowan added.

"We would not know that.

"Only the people who review the data would know that.

"But that's the difference about the passport.

"We use this as more of a lifetime control in the athlete rather than at the Olympics.

"It's actually a much better deterrent.

"Because it's not just 'don't take drugs', it's 'don't take drugs at any time'.

"And that's our business, really.

"Will we have a passport result at the Games?

"That's not determined yet.

"The mechanics are still being worked out.

"So far there have been a few passport cases which have been tested successfully.

"So we know the system works.

"But we know there is still a lot of activity on teasing out the mechanics to make sure it is used fairly."

The GSK laboratory, which will be accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), measures the size of seven tennis courts and will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, processing up to 400 tests per day.

Over 1,000 London 2012 staff will work within the anti-doping process and a team of more than 150 anti-doping scientists will carry out the testing at the laboratory.


Paul Deighton (pictured second from left), London 2012 chief executive, commented: "We have got the dream team.

"You couldn't have a better provider of laboratory equipment and facilities than GlaxoSmithKline, and you couldn't wish for a better operating partner than David Cowan and his team at King's College, London.

"We will be able to run the most effective drug-testing scheme possible."

Hugh Robertson (left), Minister for Sport and the Olympics, reflected: "This is about the integrity of the London Games.

"Anyone who is watching the Games wants to know that what they are seeing is a true and fair contest.

Doping is one of the two great threats to the integrity of the Olympic Games, and here we have the most up-to-date testing lab that exists anywhere in the world.

"It is a really powerful system to catch anybody who is contemplating cheating."

Cowan added: "When we found suitable accommodation for our testing programme at GSK it was a great relief.

"The scale-up in testing capacity is so important.

"If people ask how it is possible to have such super fast, super sensitive methods, the answer is: not by chance.

"It takes hard work.

"But I am confident we will have really reliable methods in place.

"We are going to be fast, super sensitive, efficient.

"And we are going to be right.

"Because we have to protect all the innocent athletes.

"We will run blood tests on 20 per cent [of competitors], which is above the 10 per cent required to be recognised by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

"We will also be testing for human growth hormone."


Sir Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, highlighted the recent agreement between GSK and WADA for information sharing.

"We are the first company to commit to sharing with WADA all our experimental drugs, not just what is on the market," he said.

"There are a lot of drugs in the development lab, not all of which will make it to the marketplace.

"Sharing all that confidential data with WADA will mean they have a much wider basis to develop their sensitivity tests.

"We are encouraging other companies to follow suit.

"That would really close the net on the ability of people to come up with molecules with which WADA isn't familiar.

"This is a really important legacy."

Although the projected minimum figure of 6,250 samples represents around 50 per cent of the Games competitors, it does not necessarily mean that every other athlete will be tested.

A London 2012 official confirmed that much of the testing would be targeted.

"There will be multiple tests on athletes who may be more at risk for whatever reason," he added.

"So even if you have been tested once, you may be tested again in the course of the Games."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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