Question: Around how many athletes cheat in the olympics each year, by taking drugs?

Chris Cooper answered on 15 Mar 2010:

This is a very interesting question (and difficult to answer). About 1 in every 1,000 athletes fail a drug test at the Olympics. But the number “cheating” is probably much more. Tests are not done on every athlete – only those who win medals and a random sample of others. Not all drugs can be detected and sometimes athletes use them “off-season”. Anabolic steroids and EPO make you stronger and able to run for longer, but don’t need to be taken at the games. You can stop taking them long before. So you have to be tested before the games.

Not all countries are careful to test their athletes before the Olympics. And some athletes are good at avoiding testing. Many use a ‘duck and dodge’ technique. They repeatedly call their own mobile until the message capacity is full. This way they athlete can claim to the testers that they didn’t get a message to go to a test. If this doesn’t work they just lie as to where they are. They can only do this twice, however. They stop taking drugs after they fail to appear for two tests (at a third missed test they are banned).