What I feared from my last blog has come true. It
looks as if athletes are going to be “forced” by media (or political!) pressure
to reveal their blood passport data – well every athlete who is successful in a
high profile sport at least. In this context I was interviewed after Paula
Radcliffe on Sky News this afternoon. When I finished the interviewer thanked me,
but said it was all very complex. Such a response would normally indicate I had failed as a
science communicator. In this case I think I succeeded in getting my point across.
Interpreting anomalous athlete biological passport data is non trivial. That is
why it requires three experts to agree in a blind test (not knowing who the
athlete is). Simple analysis can work on large data sets to indicate the potential
scale of a doping problem. It can’t be done to scapegoat an individual.
