The Line That’s Crossed
The Line That’s Crossed
Originally published May/June 2016 PS Magazine
“Everyone is allowed their own opinion but no one is allowed their own facts” Unknown
In December of 2014, the first part of investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt’s documentary, "Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics“, screened on the German TV network ADR making allegations of a state-sponsored doping programme in Russia and a cover-up involving IAAF [International Association of Athletics Federations] officials. The documentary led to an independent investigation by WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency].
I bring this up because I believe it is relevant to the current rash of positive tests for meldonium. Neither corruption, extortion, nor doping surprise me. We had and will have athletes in the United States that will use performance enhancing drugs (PED), but the massive scope of use in Russia is mind boggling.
Quite honestly, I’m not sure what to think. We have a huge number of Russian coaches who are members. Were they offered special “vitamins” when they were athletes in Russia? If yes, were they even told what they were taking and if there were long term health consequences? Were they punished or excluded if they didn’t participate. The media reports that Russian track and field athletes were coerced by their coaches into taking drugs and extorted by officials to keep positive tests quiet.
Anyway, I have selected a plethora of material and excerpts on the subject that was reported in both print and electronic media:
“After carrying out an investigation into modern doping practices before the Sochi games, Seppelt [Hajo Seppelt, Investigative Journalist] was contacted by two whistleblowers from within Russian sports: Yuliya Stepanova (nee Rusanova), a former 800m runner now banned for abnormalities in her biological passport[1], and her husband, Vitaliy Stepanov, a former official at the Russian anti-doping agency, Rusada.”
“‘You have to dope, that’s how it works in Russia,’ Stepanov said. ‘Functionaries and coaches tell you very clearly that you can only get so far with your natural skills. In order to get medals, you need help. And that help is doping.’“
Excerpts from the 325 page report
…The mandate of the IC [Independent
Commission] was to examine into the allegations made on the television programs
aired by ARD German television, with particular reference to athletics in
Russia and the IAAF. While there are reliable indications that sports in
Russia, other than athletics, are affected by doping, the IC considered this to
be outside its Terms of Reference.
…The fight against doping in sport
is properly characterized as a fight, since it almost always involves
deliberate cheating – conduct known to be contrary to the rules of sport (and
contrary to the criminal law in certain countries) and in violation of the Code
[World Anti-Doping Code].
…In addition, evidence exists that
confirms that coaches have attempted to manipulate or interfere with doping
reports and testing procedures. They are also the source and counselling of
athletes’ use of PEDs. The coaches are supported in their doping efforts by
certain medical professionals. Moreover, it is particularly alarming that there
appears to be a collective disregard for the athletes’ current or future state
of health.
…The findings in this Report
include: 1. A Deeply Rooted Culture of Cheating – The investigation indicates
that the acceptance of cheating at all levels is widespread and of long
standing. Many of the more egregious offenders appear to be coaches who,
themselves, were once athletes and who work in connection with medical
personnel. This ‘win at all costs’ mentality was then passed to current
athletes, whether willing to participate or not. An athlete’s decision not to
participate is likely to leave him or her without access to top caliber coaches
and thus the opportunity to excel. This acceptance and, at times, expectation
of cheating and disregard for testing and other globally accepted anti-doping
efforts, indicate a fundamentally flawed
mindset that is deeply ingrained in all levels of Russian athletics. The
mindset is “justified” on the theory that everyone else is cheating as well.
Excerpts from theguardian.com regarding “a state-sponsored doping programme”:
Following an 11-month review forced
by revelations in an ARD documentary in Germany, Pound’s commission
found evidence of “interference with doping controls up to middle of this year”
as well as “cover ups, destruction of samples [and] payment of money to conceal
doping tests”.
It found that the head of the
Moscow lab [Rusada approved testing lab], Grigory Rodchenko, admitted to
intentionally destroying 1,417 samples in December 2014 shortly
before Wada officials were due to visit.
The report found the London 2012
Olympics were “sabotaged” by the “widespread inaction” against Russian athletes
with suspicious doping profiles by the world athletics governing body and the
Russian federation.
It outlines a culture of cheating
in which Russian coaches were “out of control” and expected the anti-doping
agency to protect their athletes rather than catch them. Athletes were left
with little choice but to participate in doping programmes if they wanted to
make the team.
The report recommended that five
middle-distance runners and five coaches be given lifetime doping bans. Two of
the athlete were the gold and bronze-medal winners in the 800 metres in 2012,
the Olympic champion Mariya Savinova and the bronze medalist Ekaterina
Poistogova.
Pound said it was inconceivable
that the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, was not aware of the scale of
the problem. “It was impossible for him not to be aware of it. And if he’s
aware of it, he’s complicit in it,” he said.
“It would be naive in the extreme to conclude
that activities on the scale discovered could have occurred without the
explicit or tacit approval of Russian governmental authorities,” the report
concludes.
“The US Anti-Doping Agency said: ‘If
Russia has created an organized scheme of state-supported doping, then they
have no business being allowed to compete on the world stage. The world’s
athletes deserve better, and all who love clean sport must rise up and confront
this threat. We will continue to fight on behalf of all clean athletes to ensure
that clear and decisive action is taken to sweep out anyone who has been
involved with this scheme.’” (Riach, 2015)
Meldonium was added to the list of banned substances on January 1, 2016, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) finding “evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance”. USA Today author, Christine Brennen, wrote that WADA had been monitoring the drug since October of 2014.
According to Craig Reedie, current president of WADA, “For the World Anti-Doping Agency it’s a big concern because it’s clear that people are abusing the drug and it is one that was being monitored by us last year. It was officially put on the banned list at the start of this year with more than sufficient notice to all the relevant bodies on the basis that the evidence suggests it is performance-enhancing.”
Tennis star Maria Sharapova failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open. The test was positive for meldonium.
Ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, 2013 World Bronze medalist, failed a doping test by testing positive for the heart medication, meldonium, at the 2016 European Figure Skating Championships, ruling her and her partner, Dmitry Soloviev, out of the world championships in Boston.
The reigning 100 meter breaststroke world champion, Yulia Efimova of Russia,
tested positive in two out-of-competition tests in February while training in
Los Angeles. One was administered by swimming governing body FINA and the other
by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Efimova received a ban in 2013 after testing positive for
7-keto-DHEA, a steroid. Efimova stated in
an interview that she had taken meldonium for unspecified medical reasons, but
stopped before Jan. 1, when the substance officially joined the list of those
prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).Tass news reported that
Efimova denied having known that the substance
was added to WADA’s list of prohibited substances. (Race, 2013)
Dmitry Dorofeev, the coach of five time world champion speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov, says the athlete failed a doping test for meldonium.
Olympic short-track speed skating gold medalist Semion Elistratov tested positive for the drug meldonium.
Sports Integrity Initiative, a blog dedicated to investigating allegations of fraud in sports, notes 17 percent of a sample of 4,316 Russian athletes tested positive for meldonium in 2015.
Sharapova had been taking meldonium since 2006 on the advice of her doctor for health issues including magnesium deficiency, an irregular heartbeat, and a family history of diabetes.
Bobrova said her failed test was "a big shock for all of us" because she had been careful to avoid products containing banned substances and had been specifically warned about meldonium, which became illegal on Jan. 1.
“The Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said the drug, which is manufactured in Latvia, was popular among the country’s athletes. ‘This medicine used to be allowed, it does not do anything major, it just helped a lot of people with their recovery times; it did not offer any unfair advantages.’”
“’Mildronate (meldonium) was akin to taking Vitamin C,’ Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko said to Russian-24 broadcast network according to USA Today.”
Mildronate is an anti-ischemic drug developed in Latvia. Mildronate is actually used in several countries in cardiology, neurology and other branches of medicine including sports medicine. The effects of mildronate are extensively investigated; there are 158 reports in PubMed (PubMed comprises more than 25 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books):
Mildronate lowers consumption of
fatty acids in the cells and increases utilization of carbohydrates for
production of energy that results in optimization of oxygen consumption in
cells and adaptation of the cells to ischemic conditions. Mildronate decreases
levels of lactate and urea in blood. Mildronate favors economy of glycogen:
level of glycogen and neutral fats increase in the cells during the
long-lasting loads. Mildronate increases endurance properties and aerobic
capabilities of athletes (such as, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers,
judokas, canoers, rowers and volleyball players). Mildronate improves
functional parameters of the heart activity, the drug increases physical work
capabilities, increases the rate of the organism rehabilitation after maximal
and sub-maximal loads, hyper-loads, it activates CNS [central nervous system] functions, and
protects against stress. Mildronate is usually administered to athletes
perorally in dose 0.5-1.0 g twice a day before training, as 14-21 day course
during training period and 10-14 days before competitions. Mildronate is
recommended for use as pharmacological remedy that increases physical work
capabilities of athletes. (Maija Dzintare, 2012)
"Pasha (Pavel Kulizhnikov) had no reason to take the illegal drug, he was the best anyway," said his father Alexander Kulizhnikov.
Pavel Kulizhnikov’s coach, Dmitry Dorofeev, told Tass news agency Kulizhnikov had used meldonium while it was legal and “hasn’t been taking it for a year”. Kulizhnikov served a doping ban between 2012 and 2014 after a positive test for methylhexamine.
Sabotage is to blame for a string of recent failed doping tests for meldonium in Russia, the country's skating federation said Wednesday. "In our specific case, there is a very high probability, and we will prove it, that the banned substance was planted on three athletes deliberately," skating federation president Alexei Kravtsov said. "According to our information, it was done by their teammates.”
“Until the fall [2015], Russian teams had used the drug regularly and openly, viewing it as a remedy for fending off exhaustion and heart problems. Most team coaches would keep a supply, administering it along with other standard vitamins. ‘I’ve been working for 20 years; we could never imagine that it would be included as a doping substance,’ said Sergei Sheremetiev, a physician with Russia’s ski-jumping team.”
“The Russian Ministry of Sport attempted to distance itself from the new allegations. ‘We have done everything possible over the past five years’, said Russian Minister for Sport Vitaly Mutko in a statement. ‘We do not claim that there is no problem with doping in Russia. In athletics, not even in all but in some of its disciplines, we have some problems. But understand that the imposition of sanctions on certain persons and control over their use is the task of the relevant anti-doping organizations, and not the State.’ In an interview, he said that the new allegations were a deliberate attempt to make sure that Russia cannot compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. ‘This is all leading up to making sure that we do not compete in the Olympics’ he told Reuters. ‘There is very little time left. I believe this is a political request from the Americans. The USA controls politics and sport. At the 2013 World Championships, Russia won seven gold medals. If we are banned, then all these medals will go to the USA and Great Britain.’”
"It is
obvious that our national anti-doping legislation needs to be seriously
improved, if we have such setbacks, and it is necessary to punish those who
prompt athletes to use banned preparations," said Russian President Vladimir
Putin. "Our sports leadership demonstrated lack of understanding of
relevance of these issues, did not update on time the relevant lists that were
presented by corresponding international structures, did not update our
stop-lists, did not inform on time athletes and coaches about the decision of
the World Anti-Doping Agency to ban several substances." (Tass Russian News Agency, 2016)
There are several points of
this whole crisis that make me feel exceedingly uncomfortable. How
do so many Russian athletes across so many sports test positive for a drug that
is on WADA’s banned list? While it shows a total lack of leadership by Russian Minister for
Sport, Vitaly Mutko, it reminds me of something attributed to former
Oakland Raiders coach and owner Al Davis who said, “If you ain’t cheatin’, you
ain’t tryin’.” There are several
athletes who have tested positive for meldonium that have been banned before
for other PED’s. Their credibility is far from believable. In 2013, WADA
reported that Russia led all countries with 225 violations.
And finally, while the fact that ice dancer Ekaterina
Bobrova has tested positive for meldonium is disturbing, it is even more
concerning that Evgeni Plushenko said that taking meldonium is like taking
vitamins. I understand that meldonium was not banned until this past January. I
also understand that meldonium was never approved for use in the U.S. The
Latvian company who makes it in fact never submitted the drug for FDA testing
citing the cost of clinical trials. WADA’s ban will cost the drug company even
more. For the athletes, coaches, and the governing bodies, it’s money too.
Medals equals money. For the Sochi games, Russian athletes were paid US
$122,000 bonuses for gold, US $ 76,000 for silver, and US $46,000 for bronze (Redrup, 2014) . Russian Sport Minister Vitaly
Mutko said in February of 2015 that Russian coaches were doping child
athletes in order to earn extra cash from winning bonuses at junior events
[Track & Field]. (Ellingworth, 2016)
We debate how IJS changes the sport, the lack
of figures too. Maybe we were wrong and it’s all about the money.
Concerns, thoughts, comments, and questions can
be sent to me at jsantee@skatepsa.com
References
Andy Brown, I. W. (2016, March 8). Analysis:
Maria Sharapova Tests Positive for Meldonium. Retrieved from
www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com: http://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/analysis-maria-sharapova-tests-positive-for-meldonium/
Associated Press. (2016, March 8). Russian speed
skater Pavel Kulizhnikov has failed meldonium test, says coach. Retrieved
from www.theguardian.com: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/08/russian-speedskater-tests-positive-meldonium
Associated Press. (2016, March 7). Top Russian
ice dancer Bobrova fails doping test - report. Retrieved from
www.DailyMail.com: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3480506/Top-Russian-ice-dancer-Bobrova-fails-doping-test--report.html
ATHLETE BIOLOGICAL PASSPORT. (2016, March 17). Retrieved from www.wada-ama.org:
https://www.wada-ama.org/en/athlete-biological-passport
Brennen, C. (2016, March 10 Thursday). Confidential
2014 Tip on Meldonium led to world doping agency's ban. USA Today, p.
5C.
Ellingworth, J. (2016, March 8). Skaters lead
rush of meldonium cases after Sharapova’s test. Retrieved from
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Gibson, O. (2015, November 9). Russia accused of
‘state-sponsored doping’ as Wada calls for athletics ban. Retrieved from
theguardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/09/wada-iaaf-russia-dick-pound-banned
Maija Dzintare, I. K. (2012). Mildronate Increases
Aerobic Capabilities of Athletes Through Carnitine-Lowering Effect. 5th
Baltic Sport Science Conference - Current Issues and New Ideas in Sport
Science (p. 59). Kaunas, Lithuania: Lithuanian Academy of Physical
Education.
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
Race, L. (2013, March 21). EFIMOVA MAINTAINS
INNOCENCE, HOPES TO COMPETE IN RIO. Retrieved from www.swimswam.com:
https://swimswam.com/efimova-maintains-innocence-hopes-to-compete-in-rio/
Redrup, Y. (2014, February 10). Sochi’s
millionaires: The richest competitors at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Retrieved from www.smartcompany.com.au:
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/people-human-resources/professional-development/41060-sochis-millionaires-the-richest-competitors-at-the-2014-winter-olympics/
Reedie, C. (2016, March 9). Maria Sharapova:
We’ve been monitoring meldonium and it is a problem for us, says Wada
president Craig Reedie. Retrieved from www.independent.co.uk:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/maria-sharapova-we-ve-been-monitoring-this-drug-and-it-is-a-problem-for-us-says-wada-president-craig-a6919856.html
Reevell, P. (2016, March 9). Meldonium Ban Hits
Russian Athletes Hard. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/sports/tennis/meldonium-russian-athletes-maria-sharapova-doping.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-2&action=click&contentCollection=Tennis®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=artic
Reuters. (2016, March 8). Meldonium detected in
Russian speed skaters Elistratov and Kulizhnikov - R-sport. Retrieved
from Reuters.com U.S. Edition:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tennis-sharapova-russia-skaters-idUSKCN0WA1JP
Riach, J. (2015, November 9). London 2012
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http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/09/london-2012-sabotaged-russia-wada-doping-report
Richard Pound, R. H. (2015, November 9). INDEPENDENT
COMMISSION REPORT #1. Retrieved from World Anti-Doping Agency:
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against politicizing doping scandal involving Russian athletes. Retrieved
from www.tass.ru: http://tass.ru/en/politics/862834
Tribune News Services. (2016, March 9). Russian
skaters hunt saboteurs after meldonium positives. Retrieved from
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USA Today. (2016, March 9). More Russians Test
Positive For Banned Drug. USA Today, p. 2C.
Walker, S. (2016, March 9). Russians warn more
athletes could test for Maria Sharapova drug meldonium. Retrieved from
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[1] The
fundamental principle of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) is to monitor
selected biological variables over time that indirectly reveal the effects of
doping rather than attempting to detect the doping substance or method itself. (ATHLETE BIOLOGICAL PASSPORT, 2016)
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