Above all, it highlighted the importance of closer engagement for the BIU with athletes and coaches. As a result of this work performed under challenging conditions, the BIU identified many areas of improvement, not least ways and means of ensuring greater visibility for the BIU. Where possible under Covid-19 restrictions, the BIU sought to engage face to face with athletes and support personnel (and where not possible, via virtual sessions) to better understand their needs, and also to build relationships that would help better protect biathletes’ rights. On the ground, the BIU put its energies into fact finding and assessing the suitability of facilities to conduct the anti-doping programme – such as anti-doping stations – and also the performance of testing service providers such as National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs). Numerous difficulties such as national lockdown rules and biosecurity measures were overcome in this essential pre-season planning phase. Despite the Covid-19 global pandemic, the BIU, determined to ensure fairness would prevail, looked at a more adaptable and intelligence-led anti-doping testing plan. ![]() ![]() Prior to the 2020/2021 season’s start (in November 2020), the BIU was focussed on planning for a rigorous integrity programme. The first international biathlon season with the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) in place has now drawn to a close, with the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon ending yesterday in Oestersund, Sweden.
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