Statisticians Introduce Science to International Doping Agency: The Andrus Veerpalu Case

摘要

In March 2013 the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) made an unprecedented deci- sion.The case involved Andrus Veerpalu, an Estonian Olympic Gold Medalist in cross-country skiing who tested positive for human growth hormone (hGH) and was deemed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to be a doper. As a consequence, Veerpalu was barred from competition for three years by the International Ski Federation (FIS). He appealed. CAS reversed the FIS decision and Veerpalu was acquitted of all charges. The court's rationale was not the test itself, but the faulty use of statistics in interpreting the test results.This was the first and remains the only doping case WADA has had reversed, despite the many other appeals by athletes, some of which included statistical as well as technical and biological challenges.