The Line That’s Crossed …Continued

The Line That’s Crossed …Continued

Originally published July/Aug 2016 PS Magazine


My last editorial seemed to strike a major chord with a number of our readers. In fact, I received more responses than any other editorial I have written in the last 10 years. I thought that what I wrote was the apex of the controversy but I was wrong in that assumption. Despite the fact that the Russians were dealing with the meldonium outbreak, they were also dealing with accusations that their anti-doping laboratories had destroyed thousands of urine samples in order to avoid exposure to WADA investigators. The specific issue nonetheless, is that there are new witnesses and developing evidence that the Russian government officials allegedly orchestrated the entire fiasco.

Following the airing of investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt’s documentary, "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics”, on the German TV network ADR (Olterman, 2014), WADA identified Dr. Grigory Rodchenko, Director of Rusada’s (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) anti-doping laboratory, as the “lynchpin” in what they described as an “extensive state sponsored doping program” (Schwirtz, 2016). Dr. Rodchenko was forced to resign and, fearing for his safety, moved to Los Angles. Shortly after that, two top doping officials died within weeks. The first was Vyacheslav Sinev, the founding chairman of Rusada, who died on February 3. No cause of death was published. The second death was a former director of Rusada, Nikita Kamayev, 52, who reportedly died of a heart attack. Both had resigned their positions in December following the same WADA report (Kramer, 2016).

WADA shortly thereafter suspended Rusada, and the UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) moved in to test Russian athletes beginning in November of 2015. Ukad attempted to test athletes 247 times between then and May. “Attempted” is the key word, as 99 of those athletes could not be found by the agency to be tested. One athlete refused, and of the remaining samples that were tested, 20% failed! Ukad control officers reported that during the testing, Russia’s Security Services officers were present, threatening to revoke their Visas if they “showed up again” (Sean Ingle, 2016).

On April 8^th, it was reported in the New York Times, that Russia was keeping entire teams from competitions over fears that they would test positive for meldonium. Most notably was the decision to not send its under-18 to the World Junior Hockey Championships. Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, stated that the players had taken meldonium prior to the ban on January 1, 2016 (Reevell, 2016).

Days after Russia pulled its hockey team from the World Junior Championships, WADA lifted the suspensions for 14 of the 172 athletes who tested positive for meldonium. The doping agency said it could not determine how quickly the drug would clear the body. Taking meldonium on December 31, when it was still legal, would still provide a performance boost for some time. Athletes who tested positive before March 1 could be reinstated. Talk about a mixed message.

That being said, a total of the evidence, along with several key witnesses coming forward, equals the sum that someone with authority was and still is pulling the strings.

More recently, the U.S. Justice Department has opened a formal investigation. From a cocktail of steroids to meldonium, Russian athletes in figure skating, short and long track speed skating, hockey, curling, cross country, bobsledding, skeleton, track and field, tennis, cycling, and swimming have failed tests… some meldonium, and some steroids. Re-testing of B samples from previous Olympic Games are being executed. Medals will be taken.

One thing is certain, winning gold means everything to the Russian government. It appears that they will do anything above or below the line, to accomplish that.

To be continued…

 

Bibliography

Kramer, A. (2016, February 15). Nikita Kamayev, Ex-Head of Russian Antidoping Agency, Dies. Retrieved from nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/world/europe/nikita-kamayev-ex-head-of-russian-antidoping-agency-dies.html?_r=0

Kuzma, C. (2016, March 14). What Runners Need to Know About Meldonium. Retrieved from Runners World: http://www.runnersworld.com/performance-enhancing-drugs/what-runners-need-to-know-about-meldonium

Olterman, P. (2014, December 13). Russia accused of athletics doping cover-up on German TV. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/dec/03/russia-accused-athletics-doping-cover-up-olympics

Reevell, P. (2016, April 8). Russia Says Fears About Doping Results Led to Withdrawl of Teams. Retrieved from nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/sports/russia-admits-to-wider-doping-fears-amid-latest-player-withdrawals.html?action=click&contentCollection=Sports&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

Ruiz, R. R. (2016, May 17). Justice Department Opens Investigation Into Russian Doping Scandal. Retrieved from nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/sports/olympics/justice-department-russia-doping-investigation.html

Schwirtz, R. R. (2016, May 12). Russian Olympic Doping Operation Detailed by Lab Chief on the Run. Retrieved from nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/sports/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-2014.html?_r=0

Sean Ingle, O. G. (2016, May 13). Pressure to Bar Russia from Rio grows as UK anti doping team's work obstructed. Retrieved from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/may/13/pressure-russia-rio-2016-olympics-uk-anti-doping-obstructed

 

Side bar

A very clear explanation of the benefits appeared in an article on the website, “Runners World.” Many drugs boost blood flow by opening up arteries, but unlike most blood boosting medications, meldonium blocks the action of carnitine, an amino acid. Without carnitine, the body burns more sugar which requires less oxygen than when the body burns fat for fuel.

According to cardiologist Justin Trivax, M.D., medical director of the Cardiovascular Performance Clinic at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, “This drug takes a little bit of oxygen and makes a lot of energy, compared to when you didn’t have the drug—for that same amount of oxygen, you’d have less energy,” he says. “More energy is all you need to have better performance” (Kuzma, 2016).