– Several decades after the GDR state fed its athletes with steroids, just a few years after the disclosure of the Russian doping program, the doping scandal shook the Olympics again, the New York Times reads.
When East Germany is now Russia
East Germany wanted to keep pace with the United States and the Soviet Union at all costs. Hence, the steroid Oral-Turinabol was used on a massive scale, often given to young athletes without their knowledge or consent as “vitamins”. Without looking at the health consequences that would come years later.
– The doctor said if I were a car, you’d have to squirm, says Birgit Boese, who was throwing the bullet. Like other female athletes from the GDR, she is a victim of state doping. Like others, he has heart problems, problems with the genitals, and depression. This chapter of German history has still not been fully accounted for, we wrote
– A similar attitude seems to persist in Russia three decades after the collapse of the Eastern bloc and less than decades after the disclosure of its own state-sponsored doping system at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 – the New York Times points out.
The topic of doping will come back to the story of Kamia, the new figure skating star. In December, at the national championship, a 15-year-old Russian woman obtained a positive anti-doping test result. A result that will be known to the world only during the Olympics, after she won the gold in the team, before the soloists compete. On Tuesday, Waliyeva was the best in the short bye program. On Thursday, it was weaker in the free program, finally coming fourth.
“They have no choice”
“ Let’s be honest, too, that Russian athletes who run into doping are in many ways victims as well, ” explains Grigory Rodchenkov, a chemist who helped develop the doping system used during the Sochi Olympics. Many of them have little choice but to cheat, even if some have done so enthusiastically. Many, if not most, would prefer to compete without doping, without the constant fear of becoming overwhelmed, she adds.
The Arbitration Tribunal for Sport in Lausanne will allow Walijew to compete with the soloists. It does not, however, examine the matter on the merits. That’s what he’ll probably do after the Olympics. And then the 15-year-old may lose the medal won in Beijing.
We do not know all the circumstances of the case. Russian media reported that trimetazidine, a substance on the list of banned drugs by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), was found in the urine of teenagers. It is a heart medicine that can increase endurance in sports.
Obrocy the Russian woman claims that before the national championships she took care of her grandfather and used one cup. Did Walijewa take the drug unintentionally? It is hard to believe that a 15-year-old girl consciously doped herself. Specialists say that it was intentionally given to her by an activist, trainer or physician looking after the nutritionists.
Can mogasama bra doping?
Katarina Witt, the 1984 and 1988 Olympic champion in ice skating, wrote on Facebook that “Walijewa seems blameless and deserves sympathy.” The young people follow the advice of their trainers and the medical team, “trust that you know what is good for them and what is good for them” – pointed out Witt. In her opinion, any adult found responsible for a 15-year-old girl should be deprived of the opportunity to work in sports forever.
Doriane Lambelet Coleman, an 800-meter runner in the 1980s and now a law professor at Duke University, believes that the Russians are trying to seize the “magic moment” in Waliyeva’s career before her breasts and hips grow, which could make it difficult to make the most difficult jumps.
“Kamila Walijewa is less than 16 years old, but her career is coming to an end. And it is not just a doping mishap, which may result in disqualification. twenties “.
– Fifteen-year-olds do not dope themselves. The system is probably behind it. Probably Walijewa didn’t know what she was doing. It seems that there is a victim in all this, not the perpetrator, we should have pity on her – points out Lambelet Coleman.
It is not the end
Travis Tygart, director of the American Anti-Doping Agency, also expressed similar words. “I think we should have a lot of sympathy for these young athletes who are victims of the state sponsored system,” said Tygart.
Valiyeva began training late by eating standards in Russia – only at the age of seven. First in his native Kazan, then he moved to Moscow. She climbed to the highest level just four months ago when she participated in her first international senior competition.
She started with ballet and gymnastics. After the Olympics, she will also have to find herself in courtrooms. Rivals did not give up on whether her performance at the Beijing Olympics was legal at all.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
