May 9 - There should be an increase in testing for Erythropoietin (EPO) in higher risk sports, such as biathlon, at the next Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 rather than targetting ones like curling, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recommended to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).


The proposal was made by a group of observers who oversaw the drug-testing programme at the Vancouver Olympics earlier this year.

"The doping control programme at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games was well run and very effective," said Richard Young, one of the observers, when he presented a report to the WADA's ExecutiveCommitte meeting in Montreal.

"While all urine samples collected in sports such as cross-country skiing and nordic combined were analysed for EPO, in other sports such as biathlon and long track speed skating, only half of the urine samples were analysed for EPO.

"In sports such as these it may be advisable to increase the number of EPO analysis."

The report also recommended "that the IOC consider reallocating some tests that were conducted in low risk sports such as curling to other higher risk sports.

"Conducting tests during every round of a curling event may not be necessary; some of these tests may be better used as target tests for other higher risk sports," the report said.