Doping in Sport - Bi-Weekly Press round-up #124
Jannik Sinner returns from his suspension in Rome, WADA is embroiled in another scandal and the Spanish anti-doping agency collaborates with a federation who employs a controversial head coach.
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Every Monday and Thursday, I send a newsletter to your inbox with the URLs to all the major doping stories in the press over the past seven days.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has defended itself after it recently emerged that the Court of Arbitration for Sport took three years to impose a suspension on the Ethiopian 800m runner Mo Aman, who won the 2013 World Championships. In 2021, Aman sped off in his car after doping control officers arrived to test him. “WADA repeatedly followed up with the CAS Office seeking the decision and/or an explanation for the delay, to no avail,” (link). You can read more about the case in a second article by Letsrun here (link).
The Brazilian marathon record holder Daniel do Nascimento has been suspended for five years after testing positive for three anabolic steroids before the Paris 2024 Olympics. “Do Nascimento’s personal best of 2:04:51, set at the 2022 Seoul Marathon, remains the South American marathon record. Beyond his record, he gained international attention for an infamous porta-potty stop while leading the 2022 New York City Marathon. He had set a blistering pace through 30 km before collapsing and failing to finish the race” (link). Nascimento did not contest the case, and you can read the full decision here (link).
The Kenyan police, in co-operation with the country’s anti-doping agency, arrested an Indian national in the running town of Iten on suspicion of trafficking doping substances, including human growth hormone. “The presence of intravenous (IV) paraphernalia, including IV bags, syringes, and needles — both used and unused — further pointed to possible doping practices,” (link).
The Kenyan marathon runner Brian Kipsang was banned for two years after testing positive for the corticosteroid triamcinolone. “However, his fifth-place finish at the 2024 Toronto Waterfront Marathon will stand. A source from the organizing committee confirmed that Kipsang was tested at October’s event. He earned C$3,000 for his performance that day, finishing two spots ahead of Canada’s Justin Kent,” (link). You can read the full decision here (link). Athletics Illustrated reports that 25 Kenyan athletes were suspended in April (link). Hardloop Netwerk writes that the dominance of Kenyan athletes could be attributable to their diet (link).
The Moroccan runner Kader Al Gham, who is based in Spain, has been suspended for three years after testing positive for ‘exogenous steroids’. “An athlete who had begun competing with Beste Iruña this season and is well-known in the Navarrese athletics world for his ties to the federation,” (link).
Inside the Games reported on the sports apparel brand ON Running’s decision to subject its sponsored athletes to more doping controls, in collaboration with the Athletics Integrity Unit and the ITA (link).
The director of the Athletics Integrity Unit explained, in a video, the difference between the haematological and steroidal Athlete Biological Passports (link).
The Colombian former Astana cyclist Miguel Ángel López, who was found in possession of the growth hormone menotropin, has lost his appeal against a four-year doping ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “The UCI said López was caught in the Operation Ilex investigation led by Spanish authorities concerning a doctor who worked in the sport, Marcos Maynar,” (link). You can find the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) press release here (link). Last week the former Astana cyclist Vincenzo Nibali said, “now there is clean cycling I think it is also thanks to us,” (link). The Spanish anti-doping agency is yet to sanction any Spanish athletes or doctors, such as Marcos Maynar, who were involved in the doping network (link).
The director of the Spanish anti-doping agency (CELAD) signed a collaboration agreement with the President of the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) to strength anti-doping. “It's essential that CELAD work alongside the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation, as this allows us to carry out joint actions so that cyclists can develop their sporting careers in a safe environment, with equal opportunities and free of doping,” (link). The RFEC currently employs two senior officials who were caught doping during the infamous Operation Puerto scandal in 2006 (link). The Spanish anti-doping agency has never sanctioned any of the riders implicated in the case.
The 2004 Giro d’Italia winner Damiano Cunego, from Italy, says that doping by his competitors cost him a further 50 victories during his cycling career. “I raced on bread and water, and that's how I won the Giro. Doping took away maybe 50 victories from me. Today's cycling, on the other hand, is credible, clean,” (link). The full interview can be found in Gazetta dello Sport (link). In 2013, Cunego was indicted on doping charges, which he was later cleared of at a criminal level (link).
The 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu says that she is nervous about inadvertently consuming prohibited substances following the recent doping scandals in tennis. “I don't want to take anything even if the doctors are saying you should take this - just out of risk of contamination. Even if it's not prohibited on the anti-doping list, you don't know if it's contaminated by another product. It can show a green tick, but if it's contaminated you will still get screwed over,” (link). Raducanu is currently represented by the agent Max Eisenbud who represents Iga Swiatek (link) and Maria Sharapova (link) who both failed doping tests but were cleared of intent to cheat (link).
The two-time grand slam champion Victoria Azarenka implied she is not fully against tennis leaving the WADA system. “We’re still under the WADA umbrella, which makes it harder to implement some of the rules. Otherwise, we’d have to take ourselves out of the Olympic pool, which I don’t necessarily think a bad idea,” (link).
The world number one Jannik Sinner, who will return from a three-month suspension at the Rome Masters this week, says he is disappointed several players did not show him support during his case. “At the start of the suspension I received some surprising messages from some players, whereas there were others who I would have expected to hear from that didn’t send anything. But I’m not going to name names,” (link). You can find an interview with Sinner in Rome here (link). The BBC (link), Relevo (link), Ouest France (link), La Depeche (link), Blick (link), Suddeutsche Zeitung (link), RTVE (link), The Guardian (link) and the New York Times (link) and Sports Illustrated (link) all reported on Sinner’s comeback.
The French Open finalists Casper Ruud (link) and Jasmine Paolini, from Italy, are relishing Sinner’s return to competition; “Contamination is frightening because we have no control over everything we come into contact with. WADA said it would change the rules in 2027: perhaps it should have done so sooner” (link). Paolini was also interviewed on Sky (link)
Sinner’s racquet sponsor Head, who were criticised for supporting Maria Sharapova’s during her doping ban (link), wrote on Instagram this week, “The comeback we’ve all been waiting for — welcome back, Jannik” (link).
The former British tennis player Naomi Broady said on BBC Five Live Sport that Sinner received preferential treatment during the management of his case. “It's even the fact that you can come to an agreement for how long your banned [should be]...the goalpost shouldn't move if you've tested positive, that's your ban, I don't know why you should be able to negotiate,” (link). You can watch the clip here (link).
The American horse veterinarian Dr. Louis Grasso, who was imprisoned on drug charges, has lost his New Jersey veterinary license. “In 2019 alone, the indictment stated, Grasso submitted false prescription information for drugs containing erythropoietin (EPO) to more than 10 pharmacies in at least seven states. Just for one trainer, Grasso is said to have ordered 4,000 units of EPO. He was caught on wiretap talking about horses who may have died because they were ‘over juiced’ by a trainer,” (link).
The Paulick Report reviewed the sports book ‘Death of a Racehorse’ about the US federal doping case involving Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, and the career of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who was suspended for three years after five of his horses failed drug tests. “It also references a report written by Tim Harrington, recording that a source had told him in August 2017 that they had once seen multiple cases of 200 mg tablets of something called quinidine sulfate in Brown’s barn. Quinidine sulfate is a banned substance in racing, but it is prescribed in horses to treat irregular heartbeats. Five Stones investigators came to believe that it was possible that Brown was using quinidine to help counteract the blood thickening effects of EPO,” (link).
The PFL MMA fighter Zebenzui Ruiz, from Spain, has been suspended for six months by the US Anti-Doping Agency. “Ruiz, 30, tested positive for drostanolone and its metabolites,” (link).
The former British world champion boxer Carl Froch told fans to forget the recent doping case involving his countryman Conor Benn, who fought Chris Eubank Jr. last month in a much-acclaimed fight. “It's all old news, it’s boring now for me. And there are many fighters before Conor Benn that failed drug tests that have gone on to win world titles and become massive legends and become Hall of Famers. So just leave Conor Benn alone, shut the f*** up about his drug test,” (link). Benn’s doctor at the time of his two failed drug tests for the female fertility drug clomiphene is currently under investigation by the General Medical Council (link).
The Georgian Olympic wrestler Iakob Kajaia, who won a silver medal at Tokyo 2020, has been suspended for two years for missing three drug tests. “The athlete could not be located based on the whereabouts information he had provided,” (link). You can find the official press release here (link).
The 19-year old Russian swimmer Maria Gorskova was banned for five years. “Gorskova was found to have traces of stanozolol metabolite (S1.1), an anabolic steroid, and meldonium (S4.4.1), which can be used to treat cardiovascular and neurological conditions,” (link).
La Verdad Noticias reported on the recent contamination case involving the US Olympic swimmer Bella Sims who won a silver medal at Tokyo 2020. “The ruling in Sims' favour could inadvertently encourage more athletes and their legal teams to more aggressively explore the "supplement or drug contamination" option as a priority line of defense. While contamination is a real possibility and a legitimate defense under the Code, its increasing frequency could be met with increasing cynicism from the public and other athletes,” (link). Last month, I reported that the International Testing Agency (ITA) reported the contaminated medication that led to Sims’ positive drug test to the US Food and Drug Administration; “Sims, an Olympic silver medallist, is based at the University of Florida under the Men’s and Women’s Swimming team head coach Anthony Nesty, which is also home to the swimming superstars Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel” (link).
The Italian police uncovered a doping network in the town of Ferrara after the death of an Italian fisherman, and gym goer, who was suspected to have taken anabolic steroid. “The Carabinieri, starting from what was found in the computer devices after the first seizures, discovered the trafficking of anabolics and drugs used to alter sports performance, discovering, for example, a Telegram channel used to negotiate the purchase of those substances, paid for with bank transfers and shipped via express courier. Among the subjects involved was also a pharmacist who procured drugs useful for doping purposes and sold them without a prescription. Among those under investigation is the owner of the gym frequented by Ricci,” (link). Il Fatto Alimentare published an article on the rise of anabolic steroid use by social media influences. (link). Il Resto del Carlino also reported on the drug bust (link).
The Neueste Nachrichten reports that two German school students interviewed a former East German athlete, who admitted to doping, as part of a research project on how drugs were used in East and West German before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. “The students learned in the interview that this was done more systematically in the centralized sports system of the GDR than in the autonomous western sports clubs. The doping led to drastic long-term consequences for many athletes. Neumann also remembers that during his time at the sports school he was given coloured pills that were declared as vitamins,” (link).
ESPNcricinfo uploaded a video about the recent doping case involving the South African cricketer Kagiso Rabada titled ‘Was it right to term Rabada's absence due to doping ban as 'personal reasons'?’ (link).
The former Tusker FC footballer Teddy Osok, from Kenya, claims to know the source of the anabolic steroids found in his doping sample which consequently led to a four-year suspension. “During the game, in the fifth minute, an opponent fell on my knee, which already had an injury, and I got injured again. The team doctor came, injected me, and I was removed from the pitch. That night, I barely slept,” (link).
The Indian police registered a case based on a complaint filed by an international-level judo player who alleges that he was falsely implicated in a doping case (link).
The Swiss broadcast SRF published a German-language video titled ‘The Urine Cartel»: Giacobbo's parody of a 1992 doping scandal’. “In the section ‘Do you remember?’ we look back at a satire on doping abuse,” (link).
The Australian anti-doping agency called for contributions to research ‘unintentional doping'. “The Call for Contributions is a short 15 question survey that includes questions like: What percentage (%) of anti-doping rule violations do you believe are the result of unintentional doping?” (link). Between 2021 and 2023, it has previously been reported that there were zero supplement contamination cases in Australia (link).
Qatar approved a draft of its proposed national anti-doping law (link).
The Japanese anti-doping agency has provided additional funding of $196,000 to WADA (link).
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has partnered with the ITA to oversee the independent management of its entire anti-doping programme (link).
UK Anti-Doping’s ‘Clean Sport Week’ will be held from 19th to 23rd May 2025 (link).
WADA says it say a 49% increase in social media engagement on its ‘Play True Day 2025’ (link).
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