WADA rejects appeals from Russia

[Sam-Skwantch]

This! And it's even more stupid to potentially punish innocent people for the mistakes of others. In my opinion, IOC should be even more severe when they caught someone cheating (i.e. stripping them of ALL their medals and titles, awarding the medals to runners-up and banning the cheaters for life from all sport activities - competitions, coaching, judging, sport institutions (ditto for cheating judges!) - but they should recognize that each athlete has the right to compete and be considered innocent, unless proofs of cheating behaviour are found.

Don't forget WADA and IOC. Which members of these bodies are being held responsible for the lack of oversight which has lead us to this point? Who were those in charge of monitoring the games from an international standpoint and what cosiquences are they facing? Do they really just turn over the keys to the hosting nation and hope for the best and don't face scrutiny themselves?

 

[Barb]

by the way this seems so convenient to do this only two months before the games, leaving so little time to the federation and especially the athletes affected to react. Simply reading this kind of news surely affects their training, when they should be focused only on their training and performances, not on whether they will be allowed or not to participate.

 

[Ares]

Problem with meldonium is that there is no evident study it can enhance performances of athletes. The results we've got so far are not satisfying and actually if athlete drinks few strong coffees before the run it will have similar effect.

RE Simone Biles: In my opinion if drug is forbidden it should be forbidden for everyone. Sure we can talk that therapeutic dozes don't give doping effect but therapeutic dozes can vary. People with asthma are taking their drugs (some of them forbidden by WADA) to breath and live and it's good and right. BUT the same drug would allow me, healthy person, to get better scores and TBH nobody would be able to tell if I'm really sick as athletes are under control of doctors in their country. I'm saying I think Simone is a doper or people with chronic diseases should be banned. It's just cases like this cause controversies and it doesn't help especially as the information about ADHD athletes seemed to be confidential and uncovering it really pissed WADA off.

By the way Norwegians recommended their cross-country skiers to use inhalers without any evidence of asthma and I don't see WADA knocking on their doors. Turkish athletes are infamous of using doping and I've never read about proposition of banning them

These two Turkish women received bans & their results were invalidated. I remember being shocked by their result then and I thought there is something fishy in that ... I immediately suspected doping, this sort of sudden improvement seemed unprecedented esp. in the case of Gamze Bulut who improved her PB by whopping 15 seconds in one season 4:18 to 4:03. It turned out that I was correct when their doping evidence resurfaced.

Aslı Çakır Alptekin - Gold Medallist - 2012 London Olympics 1500 m - DSQ - stripped of Olympic title, that was blood doping that bowled her out . What's even worse (but not too shocking) is that she
(... ) received a two-year ban from the track in September 2004 due to positive testing for illegal substances (...) already before.

Gamze Bulut - Silver Medallist - 2012 London Olympics 1500 m - DSQ

The other issue is that many of their opponents also were caught on doping in some point of their career so you can't feel ethical rewarding them medals.

Two different non-Turkish athletes also caught on doping regarding this specific race. Utter mess.

 

[moriel]

With all due respect, I'd like to disagree.
Simone Biles, for example, has publicly acknowledged that she has ADHD and takes medication for that, and that that IOC allows that medication to be used.
If you say that people who take medications can't participate, that is so discriminating, especially since many medical conditions are genetic or hereditary or ones that cannot be prevented. If you say, well just stop having them take it during the games, that's potentially life threatening, to come off of such a medication, especially at the most important athletic competition of their lives.

For me its pretty simple, if you have a health issue requiring constant medication, maybe you should not do top level sport. Simple. Because 1, not everybody can participate in the Olympics, for one reason or the other. 2, top level sport IS NOT HEALTHY, and if you already have health issues, it would be actually better to stay out of it. I personally believe that TUEs should not be allowed, period. For nobody.

Said that, I have a hereditary health issue which required a surgery at the age of 30.

 

[lappo]

Don't forget WADA and IOC. Which members of these bodies are being held responsible for the lack of oversight which has lead us to this point? Who were those in charge of monitoring the games from an international standpoint and what cosiquences are they facing? Do they really just turn over the keys to the hosting nation and hope for the best and don't face scrutiny themselves?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Same old, same old!

 

[concorde]

if I remember it correctly a british or Paris lab is doing the testing for the Russians since they got suspended. i may be wrong though

Not sure if this is related but on 3 Nov, WADA suspended the WADA accreditation of the Laboratory of the Agence Francaise De lutte control le Dopage in Chatenay-malabry, France (Paris Laboratory) for a period up to 6 months. This suspension was imposed due to analytical issues self-reported to WADA by the Laboratory.

This is from WADA's website.

So if Russia is using this lab to do their testing, they need a new lab.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

For me its pretty simple, if you have a health issue requiring constant medication, maybe you should not do top level sport. Simple. Because 1, not everybody can participate in the Olympics, for one reason or the other. 2, top level sport IS NOT HEALTHY, and if you already have health issues, it would be actually better to stay out of it. I personally believe that TUEs should not be allowed, period. For nobody.

Said that, I have a hereditary health issue which required a surgery at the age of 30.

I would say that maybe you shouldn't generalize all chronic conditions. Really, there is no reason why someone with ADHD or anxiety should not be allowed to participate because they use approved medication.

 

[concorde]

For me its pretty simple, if you have a health issue requiring constant medication, maybe you should not do top level sport. Simple. Because 1, not everybody can participate in the Olympics, for one reason or the other. 2, top level sport IS NOT HEALTHY, and if you already have health issues, it would be actually better to stay out of it. I personally believe that TUEs should not be allowed, period. For nobody.

Sometimes participation in the sport causes the medical condition. Not sure if most fans are aware of this but many elite ice skaters have exercise induced asthma (triggered are cold dry air) which require the use of inhalers.

 

[exerym]

Not sure if this is related but on 3 Nov, WADA suspended the WADA accreditation of the Laboratory of the Agence Francaise De lutte control le Dopage in Chatenay-malabry, France (Paris Laboratory) for a period up to 6 months. This suspension was imposed due to analytical issues self-reported to WADA by the Laboratory.

This is from WADA's website.

So if Russia is using this lab to do their testing, they need a new lab.

No, all antidoping tests in Russia is held by UKAD since RUSADA being suspend in 2015.

 

[Sam L]

Please tell me Russia will still be at the Olympics.

 

[plushyfan]

With all due respect, I'd like to disagree.
Simone Biles, for example, has publicly acknowledged that she has ADHD and takes medication for that, and that that IOC allows that medication to be used.
If you say that people who take medications can't participate, that is so discriminating, especially since many medical conditions are genetic or hereditary or ones that cannot be prevented. If you say, well just stop having them take it during the games, that's potentially life threatening, to come off of such a medication, especially at the most important athletic competition of their lives.

We didn't know about her ADHD. When a Russain hacker team publiced it we learned it..hm.. And the medicin was a big advantage from her childhood.

 

[gmyers]

Please tell me Russia will still be at the Olympics.

Can’t! IOC seems ready to go forward without Russia participating anymore.

 

[Mattieu]

Can’t! IOC seems ready to go forward without Russia participating anymore.

Let's wait until the 5-7th December for the IOC's decision before we proclaim Russia out of the Olympics

 

[plushyfan]

I thought the sticking point is Russia won’t admit to state sponsored cheating but they do admit to cheating by their testing lab director, who was the original whistleblower.

WADA now has the leaked electronic testing files, which Russia refused to turn over, further confirms their belief of state sponsored doping. Yet Putin now blames the mess a US retaliation and meddling with Russian presidential election. Illogical much.

What’s really troubling to Russian athletes’ participation is they have not been tested or sufficiently tested this year during their preparations for the Olympics, and their top athletes are said to have zero or one test only this year. And now due to the failure of RUSADA to get reinstated, those who got tested will not deem to be reliable and counted. Without continued, early, multiple and random testing history, athletes would be suspected of doping months earlier but stop now. It’s unfair to other clean competitors. I fear chances are not good for Russian athletes get to compete in the Olympics.

I'm sure the Russian athletes were tested more than anyone else since 2014. The tester wasn't RUSADA I think but any other international anti doping agency.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Let's wait until the 5-7th December for the IOC's decision before we proclaim Russia out of the Olympics

I agree...in order to justify its role in all this the WADA must take this stance. IOC on the other hand doesn't need to appease the desires of the largest and most vocal of the NADA's which happen to represent the largest financial supporters of the WADA. Politics and all...heck...some are even double dipping and involved with both IOC and WADA affairs. It's interesting if nothing else

 

[Tulipstar]

If Russia doesn't compete, I won't be watching. Would be the same if any country likely to medal would be banned to compete without proof that the skaters themselves doped.

It would be a different thing if a small country like my own would be banned (if they had anyone competing), but taking out one of the biggest ones like Russia, Japan, US, Canada or even Kazakhstan or Spain with some chance of medaling would make the competition worthless to me.

Win fair and square against all possible competitors please.

 

[Purv]

If Russia doesn't compete, I won't be watching. Would be the same if any country likely to medal would be banned to compete without proof that the skaters themselves doped.

It would be a different thing if a small country like my own would be banned (if they had anyone competing), but taking out one of the biggest ones like Russia, Japan, US, Canada or even Kazakhstan or Spain with some chance of medaling would make the competition worthless to me.

Win fair and square against all possible competitors please.

You re not a patriot , thats for sure

 

[Tulipstar]

You re not a patriot , thats for sure

I don't blindly follow a flag and start shrieking madly if someone even point at it, that's true. Do you?

 

[sross43]

Honestly, I wouldn't mind too much if the entire Russian team was banned. The level of state-sponsered doping that took place is staggering. And before someone flags me for heresay, the head of the anti-doping lab admitted to switching urine samples and provided detailed lists of the names of the Russian athletes on the doping program, going back like 12 years. If they are still not complying with the rules in place, I don't see why the IOC has any basis to take them at their word.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life...documentary-russian-doping-scandal/523785001/

 

[Purv]

I don't blindly follow a flag and start shrieking madly if someone even point at it, that's true. Do you?

You dont have to blindly follow a flag to not feel sorry and not be regretin that some small federation would be banned, especially if is your own.. People dosnt care about some small countries ? Federations there also have athletes, who work hard. And you dont care about it, only for russia or usa? You wouldn be watching Olympic without japan or Spain?Weid thinking