Sutcliffe backs UK drugs crackdown in Vancouver

SPORTS Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has voiced his support for the stringent drugs testing of British athletes by UK Anti-Doping ahead of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

DRUG TESTING: Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe insists UK Anti-Doping's stringent testing of British competitors in Vancouver is vital to the integrity of the competition (Getty Images)

British athletes will have to undergo at least one drugs test before being allowed to compete at the Games, while the IOC are set to carry out a further 2000 during the event.

With even Russia cracking down on their recent poor record of failed tests, the Vancouver Olympics look set to be the strictest yet.

And Sutcliffe insists this hard line approach is the only way to ensure competition remains fair.

"We want to lead the world in anti-doping," Sutcliffe told the BBC. "We have the team and infrastructure to make that happen.

"Athletes and fans must be confident that sport is clean and that everything is being done to catch drug cheats."

British athletes will have access to a 24-hour telephone helpline, manned by UKAD, and an online reference site, while posters and advice cards have also been distributed to prevent a repeat of the situation in 2002 when Alain Baxter was controversially stripped of his bronze medal.

The Scottish alpine skier failed a drugs test at Salt Lake City after purchasing a nasal inhaler over the counter in America which contained different ingredients to those sold in the UK.

After seven positive tests in Salt Lake City, this number was reduced to two in Turin four years later but the Games were stained by the police raid on Austrian athletes who were found to be using illegal blood transfusion equipment.

And as new science becomes available, targeted samples can be retested for banned substances that may have gone undetected first time around.

Six athletes - including cycling road race silver medallist David Rebellin - were caught and banned after the IOC ordered the retesting of nearly 1000 samples taken during the Beijing Olympics, after new tests for Cera and insulin were developed.