Firefighter chief says athletes 'have nothing to worry about if they follow the rules'

Steve Roberts, a firefighter leading a team of 60 anti-doping staff at the Olympics, has said that athletes have nothing to worry about if they follow the rules.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "We apply the rules they [the athletes] agree to abide by. If they do that, they've got no worries." The friendly warning comes as scientists in some of the most extensive laboratories in Olympic history prepare to welcome thousands of athletes to London, screening 6,000 samples between now and the end of the Paralympic Games.

The Wrexham-based firefighter told BBC Wales that the buzz among the team is "phenomenal", adding that the testing is set to start within the next few days as athletes descend upon the UK capital.

He became involved in anti-doping eight or nine years ago and, and has since been involved in testing athletes across a range of sports, from football to rugby, and now athletics. After sitting several exams to become a lead doping control officer, he recently got asked to head the testing team in the stadium by UK Anti-Doping based on his experience.

"We take urine and blood samples - it can be either or both. The room that the operation is carried out is like hospital rooms, and they are very clinical," he said."The completed test is in a sealed bottle and it is then refrigerated to the end of that testing day. I bag it then with all the paperwork and it's delivered to GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) and they look at the sample."

Anti-doping has been promoted as one of the biggest priorities this year, and ample resources and staff have been deployed to handle the huge anti-drug campaign. There are over 1,000 people staffing the anti-doping laboratory, with up to 400 samples tested every day for more than 240 prohibited substances.

Posted by Lauren Steadman