Athletics governing body to test FEWER athletes at World Champs

In what would appear to be a massive PR own-goal, it's emerged that the IAAF is to abandon its policy of drug-testing every athlete during the upcoming world championships in Beijing.

Every competitor at Daegu in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013 were required to provide at least one blood sample during the Championships, but the Guardian reports that only a third of this year's competitors will have their blood taken for examination.

The world governing body says that it has established a better system that will allow them to target the testing at elite athletes and that its "core testing" for the world championships had started six months ago.

Despite the recent news that 28 athletes were to face retrospective punishment after re-testing of samples taken during the 2005 and 2007 worlds, the IAAF says that between 600 and 700 athletes will be blood tested in Beijing - instead of the expected 1,900 competitors.

[IAAF HQ]
"Someone leaked our blood test data. It's a disgrace."
What do we do, boss?
"We'll show them we're serious. We'll test even LESS."

— Andy McGeady (@andymcgeady) August 18, 2015

In the wake of the recent revelations by the Sunday Times and ARD in Germany, this latest revelation is likely to be another major embarrassment for the governing body, which is set to elect either Seb Coe or Sergei Bubka as its new president in the early hours of tomorrow morning.