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Out-of-Competition Testing

Meaning

Out-of-Competition Testing (OOC) is a crucial, unannounced, and unpredictable component of the anti-doping program in high-performance sports, where biological samples are collected from athletes at any location and time outside of a formal competition period. In the context of hormonal health, this testing strategy is designed to detect the use of prohibited substances with longer half-lives, such as chronic micro-dosing of testosterone or the use of growth hormone-releasing peptides. The clinical relevance is that it provides a longitudinal view of an athlete’s physiological and hormonal baseline, deterring long-term, systemic manipulation of the endocrine system.