92% of Milano Cortina athletes were tested before the Games. The 8% is the story

The pre-Games anti-doping programme for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 closed when the Olympic Villages opened on 30 January, and the International Testing Agency published its preliminary numbers on 3 February [s1]. At least 92% of athletes were tested a minimum of one time during the six-month window, through more than 7,100 doping controls conducted on over 2,900 shortlisted athletes [s1].

That headline figure is the one the ITA leads with, and it is a large number by the standards of winter sport. It represents a testing increase of around 90% compared with the previous six-month period on the same athlete population [s1]. The agency says the result is in line with the outcomes of the Beijing 2022 pre-Games programme, which at the time was the most comprehensive ever implemented for an Olympic Winter Games [s1].

The more informative figures are further down the release.

What "high risk" means in practice

The ITA classified every discipline into defined risk categories, each tied to a minimum level of recommended testing, using data-analysis frameworks and risk factors developed over successive editions of the Games [s1]. Among athletes in high-risk sports and disciplines, 91% were tested at least once and 66% were tested three times or more [s1].

Then the qualifier: of the 8% of athletes not tested at all, 28% belong to high-risk disciplines [s1]. The ITA says careful attention will be placed on these athletes during the Games themselves [s1].

That sentence carries most of the weight. A pre-Games programme is not a testing service the ITA runs directly for everyone. During the preparatory period, which began in August 2025, responsibility for actually collecting samples stayed with the relevant International Federations and National Anti-Doping Organisations [s1]. The ITA's role was coordination, strategic support and monitoring — issuing targeted recommendations aimed at closing testing gaps, then tracking whether those recommendations were implemented [s1].

Some were not. The agency states plainly that the project "identified some testing gaps where a number of actors did not fully implement the testing recommendations" [s1]. It does not name them. A detailed report is promised after the Games, with conclusions intended to feed into future pre-Games programmes [s1].

The division of labour is visible in the numbers: NADOs implemented 63% of pre-Games controls and International Federations 37% [s1]. The ITA implemented the pre-Games recommendations directly only for the four winter federations whose year-round programmes it already runs — the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, the International Luge Federation, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation and the International Skating Union [s1].

The Games-period programme

The operational plan for the competition period was set out on 28 January [s2]. Approximately 2,200 doping controls are planned, producing around 3,000 urine, blood and dried blood spot samples, collected in-competition and out-of-competition across the Games period [s2]. Around 150 international doping control officers certified under the ITA's own programme will work alongside approximately 400 chaperones, with roughly 20 ITA staff leading on-site operations from 23 doping control stations spread across competition venues and athlete villages [s2].

Samples will be analysed at the WADA-accredited laboratory in Rome and tested against the WADA 2026 Prohibited List [s2]. Results management will be conducted independently by the ITA, and the programme will be observed by a World Anti-Doping Agency Independent Observer team [s2].

Two operational details matter beyond the Games. First, all samples collected under the testing authority of the IOC go into the ITA's centralised long-term storage facility and may be re-analysed for up to ten years [s2] — the mechanism that has repeatedly produced cases years after a Games has closed. Second, the geographical spread of Milano Cortina across several venue clusters is described by the ITA as a defining feature of these Games, addressed through a centralised coordination model intended to hold standards consistent across locations [s2].

Intelligence and investigation work will run in cooperation with Italian law enforcement and customs agencies [s2]. The ITA also continues to conduct controls on Russian and Belarusian athletes who may compete as individual neutral athletes, using independent doping control officers, for the sports it is responsible for [s2].

How much a testing percentage can tell you

"At least 92% tested at least once" is a coverage statistic, not a cleanliness statistic. It describes whether a sample was collected, not whether the collection was timed, targeted or analysed in a way likely to detect what an athlete might have used. The ITA's own framing is consistent with that: it emphasises that the recommendations combined quantitative and qualitative components, and that the point of a risk-based approach is to concentrate testing where the physiological rewards of doping are highest [s1].

The figures are also explicitly preliminary. The ITA notes that the statistics pertain to preliminary results and that pre-Games datasets are still being finalised [s1].

"Pre-Games testing is one of the most decisive phases in protecting clean sport at major event," said Benjamin Cohen, ITA Director General, adding that the project "has identified further areas for improvement that must be addressed in order to continue strengthening the effectiveness of pre-Games testing" [s1].

What to watch

Three things. Whether the promised post-Games report names the categories of actor that fell short on implementation, rather than describing the shortfall in aggregate [s1]. Whether the roughly 2,200 planned Games-period controls are delivered, and how they are distributed across the disciplines the ITA has flagged as high risk [s2]. And, on a much longer horizon, what the ten-year re-analysis window eventually returns from the Rome samples [s2] — a question that, by design, cannot be answered while these Games are being contested.

Sources

1. [s1] The ITA concludes Milano Cortina 2026 pre-Games anti-doping program, reports that at least 92% of athletes were tested ahead of the Games. International Testing Agency, 3 February 2026. https://ita.sport/news/the-ita-concludes-milano-cortina-2026-pre-games-anti-doping-program/
2. [s2] The ITA ready to deliver independent and comprehensive anti-doping program for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. International Testing Agency, 28 January 2026. https://ita.sport/news/the-ita-ready-to-deliver-independent-and-comprehensive-anti-doping-program-for-the-olympic-winter-games-milano-cortina-2026/