Cathal Dennehy: how much is too much to spend in anti-doping?

Is it worth it? The €6.3m spend since 2021 to catch two guys taking cocaine looks a pitiful return, but it’s worth remembering the chief goal in anti-doping is not detection, but deterrence.

Michael O’Reilly tested positive for methandienone, an anabolic steroid, before the Rio Olympics. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach / Sportsfile

I STILL wonder why he cared. Several years ago, I was at the Irish Athletics Indoor Championships in Abbotstown, and shortly after a breakthrough performance by an up-and-coming sprinter, I tracked the athlete down for a chat, looking to mine some quotes.

Alongside him was a doping control officer (DCO), whose job it is not to let such athletes out of their sight after a race and then accompany them somewhere private to watch them pee in a cup. It’s not the most enviable job in sport, but it is one of the most important. Any clean athlete will tell you that.