Johannesburg: The IOC says the drug-testing program for next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will be the "most stringent" in the history of the Winter Games.
IOC President Thomas Bach says there will be increase in the number of tests before and during the Feb. 7-23 Games.
Bach addressed delegates Wednesday at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in South Africa.
He said there will be 1,269 pre-competition tests for Sochi, a 57 percent increase over the 804 carried out ahead of the Vancouver Games in 2010. The IOC will conduct a total of 2,453 tests in Sochi, up from 2,149 four years ago.
Bach said "with a record number of samples and pre-competition tests, we shall be smarter and tougher in our fight against doping."
