Following a widespread doping scandal, athletics world records set before 2005 could be rewritten under proposals from European Athletics.
Russian athletes are currently banned from international competition until they can satisfy "strict criteria" to prove to officials they are clean and more than 100 Olympic athletes who competed at the 2008 and 2012 events have been sanctioned. These bans relate to drug doping, but there are other forms of "doping".
Last year, a Belgian cyclist was banned from competing after being found guilty of "technological fraud". Femke Van den Driessche was said to have a concealed an electric motor in her bike during the Cyclocross World Championships and was fined £14,000 alongside her ban.
But what is this so-called "mechanical doping" and how is it detected?
Motors are hidden inside a bike's frame – either inside fake water bottles, underneath the seat or inside the frame itself. Riders can activate the motors via Bluetooth by flipping tiny hidden switches in the handlebars.
Motors like this are available to buy, even for non-professional riders – though in that case, they are used to provide a small boost when carrying heavy bags or getting up steep hills. Even these relatively rudimentary motors can provide a 200-watt boost while weighing just 2kg.
Hidden motors aren't the only way riders can boost their pedalling power. Electromagnetic wheels have been described by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport as "the new frontier of mechanical doping". The system works by using tiny electromagnetic coils inside the structure of the wheel to propel the bike.
Like traditional doping, mechanical doping provides riders with a distinct advantage during races. Electromagnetic wheels can add up to 60 watts to pedalling power, and motors hidden inside water bottles or underneath seats can boost speed by up to 5kph. Although the motors have limited battery power and can only last around an hour, this boost can prove vital to cyclists, allowing them to recoup energy to give them the edge over tired competitors.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has used a number of techniques to detect motors in bikes. For several years, the organisation used X-ray machines and ultrasonic machines to identify internal motors. Thermal cameras have also been used to detect the motors in action. It initially used random testing but is now taking a more rigorous approach.
It now claims that the "most cost effective, reliable and accurate method has proved to be magnetic resonance testing". This uses a tablet app to test the frame and wheels of a bike in "less than a minute".
UCI president Brian Cookson has said the organisation had invested "considerable resources" to improve its scanning technology. "This case is a major victory for the UCI and all those fans, riders and teams who want to be assured that we will keep this form of cheating out of our sport."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
