By Emily Goddard

The International Gymnastics Federation is looking into introducing athlete biological passports ©FIGMarch 21- The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) is due to examine a proposal that could see it introducing the use of the athlete biological passport system to detect possible doping.

Michel Léglise, a FIG vice-president and President of the organisation's Medical Commission, has said his team will finalise the blueprint for the biological passport at its meeting at the end of April.

The proposal will then be presented to the world governing body's Executive Committee at their next meeting in Kuwait City on May 6 to 8, before the FIG decides how to pursue the matter.

The passport system takes various samples of an athlete's biological data and monitors it for abnormalities in normal biological levels that could indicate doping, as opposed to testing for individual substances.

Luiza Galiulina received a two-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance at the London 2012 Olympics ©Getty ImagesLuiza Galiulina received a two-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance at the London 2012 Olympics ©Getty Images


The passport itself is an electronic document which alerts officials when significant changes occur.

The system is already in use in athletics, tennis and cycling - disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong claimed it deterred him from doping further after it was introduced in his sport.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said last year it had identified a total of 36 violations since the athlete biological passport system's introduction in 2009.

While cases of doping are generally rare in gymnastics, the most recent incidents involved Russian former trampoline world champion Andrey Krylov and Uzbekistani artistic gymnast Luiza Galiulina.

Both were banned for two years.

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