Hayward Field, the site of 2022 World Championships, art by Eugene Register-Guard
The Athletics Integrity Unit posted this release recently. Many athletes consider that this time will be the time that some will try and take advantage of the situation. The AIU consider that in this release.
ATHLETICS INTEGRITY UNIT UPDATE REGARDING COVID-19
26 March 2020, Monaco: The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) conducts anti-doping testing in more than a hundred countries around the world. Under the current conditions of the global pandemic, many of these countries have social distancing restrictions or guidelines in place, these differ from country to country and in turn are all changing very rapidly.
As a result, there is no doubt that our anti-doping program will be severely disrupted in the short term, however we will still conduct our priority testing missions in those places where it is feasible and safe to do so. The AIU is reviewing its testing plans day by day to ensure we are appropriately balancing considerations of public health and the health of athletes against the need to conduct anti-doping tests.
In this respect, we note that all World Athletics Registered Testing Pool athletes must continue to fulfil their ‘whereabouts’ obligations. We further note that stringent hygiene and safety protocols will be in place for any test that is conducted on behalf of the AIU.