MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP):

The world athletics championships held this month will feature the sport's most rigorous anti-doping programme to date.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said yesterday that more than 1,000 doping tests would be taken before and during the August 25-September 2 championships in Osaka, Japan.

There were 885 tests made in connection to the worlds in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005.

"The IAAF is determined to ensure that these championships highlight our ongoing and aggressive commitment to the war on doping," IAAF President Lamine Diack said.

"We know that the overwhelming majority of our athletes compete fairly, so it is for their sake that we must do all we can to chase down and sanction those who attempt to cheat and lie through the use of doping practices."

The IAAF said it had already conducted more than 1,000 surprise out-of-competition tests on athletes this year.