International Olympic Committee says potential drug cheats at Sochi to be found out 'sooner or later'

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned potential drug cheats at the Sochi Winter Olympics that they can be caught in the future even if they remain undetected now by re-analysing test samples taken in Sochi over the next decade.

Testing within the venues and within the athletes' villages is performed by organisers of Sochi 2014, while outside Olympic grounds Russia's anti-doping agency RUSADA has been given responsibility for pre-competition tests.

According to the BBC, in total, 2453 tests will be conducted under the IOC's authority for the Sochi Games, with 1269 carried out pre-competition and the remaining 1184 tests from medallists and other athletes selected after they have competed. Head of the IOC's medical commission Arne Ljungqvist insisted that test samples taken in Sochi can be re-analysed over the next 10 years and warned potential drug cheats not to take scientists for a fool.

The IOC revealed that no positive tests have been discovered in Sochi so far from the 1,799 samples that have been collected, and Ljungqvist believes that is a signal that the IOC's anti-doping policies are proving effective. The IOC passed a resolution last year that increased the length of time that doping samples can be stored from eight to 10 years and the report said that the rationale is that samples can be re-analysed for performance-enhancing substances that were unknown at the time of competition or to allow for new testing techniques to be utilised.