Written question asked by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Wednesday, 19 December 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 January 2002. It was answered by Richard Caborn (Labour) on Thursday, 10 January 2002 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Dept for Culture Media and Sport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions UK Sport has had with the International Triathlon Union about drug testing; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions UK Sport has had with the International Triathlon Union about drug testing; and if she will make a statement. [25530] Mr. Caborn: UK Sport works in partnership with the national federations in the UK to deliver testing programmes both in and out of competition. There are a small number of events in the UK which fall under the international federation's responsibility and on these occasions UK Sport liaises with the international federation direct. The last such event was the London Triathlon in September 1998. In 2000-01 triathlon was introduced to the Olympic Games in Sydney. The focus of the testing programme was on the pre-Olympic testing of UK triathletes both in the UK and in Australia. This programme was arranged in partnership with the British Triathlon Association. In 2001-02, so far two triathlon events in the UK have been tested and one World Class Squad Training Day making a total of 37 tests to date. Discussions are on-going about triathlon introducing an out of competition testing programme for individual triathletes, and the British Triathlon Association have been actively working towards increasing their anti- doping efforts.

Secondary information