(Montreal, Canada) Richard Pound, Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will hold a news conference at 11 AM, Friday, January 18, in Montreal to outline oversight of doping control and drug testing to be conducted at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, February 8 – 24.

    Pound will also cite doping/drug testing numbers and activities for the year leading up to the Games.  In Salt Lake City, over 2,400 athletes from over 80 countries are expected to take part in winter sports including biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating, and skiing.  All 35 International Sports Federations, including seven winter sports federations, are subject to WADA oversight and out-of-competition testing.

    Pound will discuss not only the number of tests, but specific steps WADA has taken and will take concerning testing, research, harmonization of standards, education of athletes, and enhancement of ethics in sports.  He will unveil specifics concerning WADA independent observers who will oversee IOC tests at the Salt Lake Games. He will also discuss the new “equal sign” logo for WADA and progress toward an athletes’ “passport” documenting doping control.

    Pound asserted, “Olympic ideals demand that we give potential cheaters no quarter.  We want athletes to know that chemical engineering with banned substances not only can destroy their health, but also will not be tolerated under the ethics of sport for which the Olympics stand.”

    A swimming finalist in the 1960 Rome Olympiad, Richard Pound is Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Chancellor of McGill University, and former Vice President of the International Olympic Committee. WADA was established in 1999 and will be moving its headquarters from Lausanne, Switzerland, to Montreal, Canada, early this year.  See  http//www.wada-ama.org