Doping in Sport - Bi-Weekly Press round-up #127
Sir Bradley Wiggins regrets condemning Lance Armstrong, the US government accuses WADA of 'blatant corruption' and a national football team faces two doping cases.
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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.
In case you missed it yesterday, I listed eight ways in which the three-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar could demonstrate that he is ‘clean’ after the general manager of a World Tour cycling team called on him to dampen suspicions around his dominant performances. “As the leader of his sport, Pogačar could raise awareness about the problem and acknowledge that doping is still obviously prevalent in the sport. Instead, the Slovenian rider has suggested that doping is now uncommon in elite cycling. However in 2019, a member of his own team, Kristijan Đurasek, was caught blood doping as part of an Austrian police investigation in 2019,” (link).
Sir Bradley Wiggins told the Cycling Magazine Podcast that he regrets condemning Lance Armstrong for doping shortly after the British cyclist won the 2012 Tour de France. “It was hard, you know, because I was representing Sky. I had to say everything that they wanted me to say on that issue. And I wish I'd have been able to have my own voice on that,” (link). You can find the full episode here (42.00) and Wiggins’ original comments from 2013 here; “I thought, 'You lying bastard',” (link). Wiggins is now openly friends with Armstrong (link). During their careers, the pair both controversially obtained medical exemptions to take the powerful corticosteroid triamcinolone during the Tour de France. “The abuse of cortisone in cycling goes back at least to the 1970s. Lance Armstrong tested positive for triamcinolone during the 1999 Tour de France but got off after a doctor’s note was concocted after the test,” (link).
The British-based Lithuanian swimmer Rūta Meilutytė, who won gold at London 2012 when she was 14 years old, told BBC Panorama that she was subjected to public ‘weigh-ins’ by one of the UK’s most successful swim coaches. Swim England took no action against the coach, Jon Rudd, despite being informed that swimmers had suffered harm as early as 2012. “One of Plymouth Leander's most successful swimmers was Antony James, who won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and represented Team GB at the 2012 Olympics. He was jailed for 21 years in February for raping two girls he had met at the club,” (link). You can watch the full documentary here (link). In 2020, Meilutytė was banned for two years for missing three drug tests although she was no longer training under Rudd (link).
The US government’s Consumer Protection Subcommittee accused the World Anti-Doping agency (WADA) of ‘blatant corruption’ after the agency closed 23 doping cases involving Chinese swimmers before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. On 22nd May, the US committee will hold a hearing on the matter titled ‘WADA Shame: Swimming in Denial Over Chinese Doping’. “The World Anti-Doping Agency has allowed Communist China and Russia to lie, cheat, and steal, putting American athletes at risk. When Congress used its oversight authority to investigate WADA’s blatant corruption, they acted like they were above the law. When the federal government investigated WADA’s inaction, they tried to strongarm the United States and threaten our hosting of the Salt Lake City Games. As one of the largest financial contributors to WADA, the United Sates deserves answers. My colleagues and I refuse to be silenced in our mission to make certain WADA does not turn a blind eye to corruption,” (link).
The Global Times reported on the Chinese national swimming championships which included performances from the Olympic champion Sun Yang, as well as some of the swimmers who also tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine before the Tokyo Olympics. “Sun, who served a four-year ban due to anti-doping rule violations that also barred him from making the national team, is still trying to prove that he is among the world's elite swimmers. After finishing third in that 400m free final, Sun's reaction spoke volumes about continuity,” (link).
The Bolivian national team player Boris Céspedes, who plays in the Swiss Super League for Yverdon, has failed a doping test for the diuretic acetazolamide. “It was a medication prescribed by a doctor approved by the Bolivian Football Federation. There was no reason to question it,” (link). The president of the Bolivian Football Federation has highlighted that acetazolamide is a drug used to cope with the side effects of living at altitude (link).
Meanwhile, another Bolivian national team footballer, Ramiro Vaca, who also recently failed a doping test (link), says that a hearing in his case will be held today (link).
The Croatian national team footballer Luka Vušković, who will join Tottenham Hotspurs this summer, commented on his brother Mario’s doping case. “Surprisingly, Mario is handling the whole situation as if nothing’s happening. He trains every day and can’t wait to return. I felt sorry at the start because I know how much he loves the sport, but when I saw how strong he is mentally, it was immediately easier for me,” (link). Mario Vušković is currently serving a four-year suspension after testing positive for the blood doping agent EPO in 2022 (link).
The Indian tennis player Yash Chaurasia was banned for twelve months after he tested positive for the asthma drug terbutaline. “Although he claimed the substance entered his system unintentionally through a cough medicine called Brozeet, which he bought without a prescription, the ITIA upheld the suspension,” (link). You can read the full decision here (link).
The world number one tennis player Jannik Sinner’s ex-physio Giacomo Naldi, whose actions led to him twice testing positive for clostebol, was present at the Rome Masters 1000 working with another player. “Giacomo helped me with my rehabilitation. I have to thank him because I came back in pretty good shape. As for the rest, we'll see. But I'm very motivated to continue with him,” (link). You can find a photo of Naldi attending one of Sinner’s training sessions here (link). I recently published an investigation on whether Naldi was aware of the risks of clostebol sprays before Sinner’s case; “On the other hand, Luis Horta, the former director of the WADA-accredited laboratory in Lisbon, has previously raised concerns that Trofodermin may be used as a doping agent” (link).
The Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios told The Changeover Podcast that he does not believe the contamination defence put forth by Sinner and Naldi. “Do you really believe he's going to hire a physiotherapist who carries a scalpel without a cover in his bag, accidentally cuts himself with it, and then gives him a massage without protection?” (link). You can watch the episode here (link).
At the trophy presentation during the Rome Masters final between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish player publicly welcomed Sinner back to the sport after his three-month doping suspension. “You’ve been out from the tour for 3 months. I can't imagine how tough. I can't imagine how tough and difficult it was for you, your family, your team... and coming back to tour here at your home, a really special tournament for you I know it. Making such a great performance the whole tournament, making the tournament here. I have to congratulate you because it's amazing what you've done with your team,” (link). The Women’s Doubles event was won by the Italian players Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani (link), who failed a doping test in 2017 after her mother purportedly dropped her breast cancer medication in her fettucine (link). Before the tournament Paolini raised concerns about contamination; “I think what happened scared everyone a little, because we are subject to anti-doping controls all year round and contamination is scary,” (link).
The Philadelphia Phillies baseball player José Alvarado, from Venezuela, has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for testosterone. “Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the positive test was caused by a weight loss drug Alvarado took during the offseason. Dombrowski said Alvarado accepted the suspension and did not appeal,” (link).
A USA Today journalist is concerned that former steroid users will be eligible for the Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame now that the organisation has decided to rescind life bans for deceased players. “The fear now by this decision is that it opens the floodgates for everybody; for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez who had a year-long drug suspension,” (link). You can read more about this decision by the MLB in The Guardian; “Rose accepted his ban in 1989 after an MLB investigation found he bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Jackson and seven other White Sox players were banned for life in 1921 for allegedly fixing the 1919 World Series. Rose died in September at age 83; Jackson passed away in 1951,” (link).
The director of the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA), which remains ‘non-compliant’ for corrupting the global anti-doping system, still plans to run for the WADA presidency. “Apparently, the current head of the World Anti-Doping Agency has no competitors now, no one wants to compete with Banka for this post. I believe that I am ready to compete with him, but so far I do not have such a legal opportunity, since RUSADA does not yet have the status of compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code,” (link).
The UFC legend Rampage Jackson says that the organisation’s CEO Dana White suspected him of anabolic steroid use prior to UFC 86. “He said, ‘Are you on steroids?’ I was like, ‘Dana, really? You think I’m on steroids?’ He said, ‘Only when people are on steroids, they blow up like that.’ He had me tested months before your fight - he’s never done that before and never done that since,” (link).
The Norwegian anti-doping agency has defended its recent social media campaign aimed at reducing the ‘normalisation’ of doping amongst young athletes. “There you can see, among other things, a sloppy video of boys peeing on each other in a training locker room, as well as a session where one of the boys does so-called helicopter with the pee,” (link).
USA Today published an article titled ‘Risk of ‘contamination’: Is it safe for youth athletes to take supplements?’. “Most children take caffeine, whether or not they're doing it as a supplement, so it’s not that we think kids shouldn’t have any caffeine, but some of the energy drinks that have really high doses, there’s been emergency room visits over taking too much of it,” (link).
A bodybuilder was left in a coma fighting for his life after spending $1,000 per month on an anabolic steroid protocol. “He was put into a medically-induced coma for seven days, and he was diagnosed with ‘likely provoked seizures in context of multiple drugs’. His distraught family was told by medical staff to prepare for the worst, but after a torturous week, Wilkinson pulled through,” (link).
The Nepalese outlet Ratopati reports that the country’s anti-doping agency has no employees in part of a longer article on the widespread prevalence of doping in professional sport. “The government has allocated Rs 5 million for this fiscal year as well. However, due to legal problems, that amount has not been spent. The regulations have not been formulated yet,” (link).
WADA revoked the license of Africa’s only accredited doping control laboratory. “An Analytical Testing Restriction (ATR) for the Gas Chromatography / Combustion / Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analytical method was imposed on the Laboratory in September 2023,” (link). Meanwhile, WADA added Iran to its non-compliance ‘watchlist’ (link).
The WADA vice-president Yang Yang, from China, has become a recognised supporter of the UN Refugee Agency. “She began supporting UNHCR in 2021 by creating and amplifying Chinese social media content highlighting the power and potential of sport to transform the lives of people forced to flee conflict and persecution,” (link).
The anti-doping representative of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association was interviewed during the CARIFTA Games 2025 (link).
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority seized a large quantity of selective androgen receptor modulators, more commonly known as SARMs, from a home in the city of Utrecht last week. “The main suspects in the investigation have Dutch nationality, but live in Belgium. The Belgian police therefore searched a house in Turnhout at the request of the NVWA-IOD. Among other things, company administration was seized,” (link).
Doc Check published an article titled ‘Collagen doping for the meniscus?’. “Eight indices were assessed and seven practical functional tests were conducted and evaluated in all subjects before and after eight weeks. The results: In the active treatment group, there were statistically significant positive effects on pain, quality of life, kinesiophobia (fear of physical activity), foot function values, and leg strength,” (link).
Two scientific papers have been published titled ‘Transforming Anti-Doping Education with Web-Based Interactive Programs and Applications: A Scoping Review’ (link) and ‘Growing Trend of Novel or Experimental Substances Not Approved for Human Use Sold as Consumer Products Poses Threat to Athletes, Service Members, and Public Health’ (link).
WADA held a five-day workshop as part of its ‘Intelligence & Investigations Capability and Capacity Building Project’ in New Delhi, India (link).
The Italian Institute of Health has launched an anti-doping awareness campaign aimed at young peopled called ‘No substance is stronger than you’ (link).
You can find the schedule for UK Anti-Doping’s ongoing ‘Clean Sport Week’ here (link).
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