>Anti-doping at the Rio Olympics was branded the “worst” ever at a Games on Wednesday night after the process of sample collection was compromised by a wave of no-shows and walkouts by volunteers and testers, as well as a series of security lapses.
>The integrity of the entire process was under threat due to major staff shortages, with barely half the volunteers recruited to help run the event reporting for duty and several doping control officers drafted in from overseas walking out after being pushed to breaking point trying to fill the void.
>Organisers also admitted that unauthorised individuals had gained access to restricted areas during the drug-testing process, although they denied failing to ensure that anti-doping at the Games was beyond reproach.
>One senior figure in the war on drugs with experience of several major events said of the sample-collection system in Rio: “This is by far the worst I’ve seen.”
>One source said that only “very resourceful” doping control officers from countries such as the UK had prevented the integrity of sample collection being compromised.
>Another said large numbers of volunteers had picked up their uniforms at the start of the Games never to return, with others reporting for duty each day only to “walk out after being served their free meal”.
telegraph.co.uk