On June 19, 2021, Sha’Carri Richardson runs 100 meters during the Olympic trials at 10.86. Such a result gives her a real chance for the Olympic gold in Tokyo. Dawa, but the 21-year-old American did not compete at the Olympics. A few days later, it turned out that marijuana was detected in her body.
Controversy over the Tribunal’s decision
Now Richardson has reacted to Kamia Waliyeva’s doping blast. Trimetazidine was detected in the body of a 15-year-old Russian woman. The inspection took place in December during the Russian championship. We did not know the result until the Beijing Olympics. Walijewa already then won gold in the team competition.
When it was discovered that the 15-year-old tested positive, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) suspended the competitor immediately. Several hours later, however, the temporary suspension was lifted by RUSADA, after Walijewa was questioned by Russian officials. In response to the Russians’ decision, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Olympic Union (ISU) appealed to the Lausanne Arbitration Tribunal for Sport (CAS) to reinstate the temporary suspension of Welsh, which would exclude it from the competition. soloists.
CAS, in an extraordinary session, allowed the 15-year-old to take part in the soloists’ competition, in which he finally took fourth place. The judges argued that not allowing her to compete individually could prove to be “irreparable harm” in the event that the nutritionist later turned out to be innocent.
– The decision of the Arbitration Tribunal in this case is very unfortunate. To put it bluntly, it is unequivocally in favor. It constitutes a breach in relation to the previous decisions that have been made in matters relating to temporary suspensions, says Micha Rynkowski, head of the Polish Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA).
Richardson outraged
Richardson is outraged by the fact that Walijewa could compete for soloists at the Olympics, when it was already known that she had obtained a positive result. – Can we get an honest answer about the difference between our situations? My mother passed away and I couldn’t start even though I was a favorite for the medal in Tokyo. The only difference, for a viewer, is that I am a black women mod, Richardson wrote on Twitter.
The story of the American woman was extremely harsh. She had consumed marijuana when her biological mother died. She found out about this from one of the reporters during an interview a few days before the performance, from which her result was finally erased. – I’m only human. Emotions, anguish and pain that was hidden inside me choked on me. I knew I couldn’t hide from the world, so I hid the pain within myself. This pain was something I have never experienced in my life, she explained in an interview for CNN.
Richardson believes that there were double standards in allowing Walijewa to compete with soloists in Beijing and at the same time disqualifying her before the Tokyo Olympics. “It’s about the color of the leather,” she added.
The difference between an American and a Russian
– The difference between them is primarily that the laboratory result of the American woman was released before the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the Russians during the Winter Olympics in Tokyo. Richardson has been suspended and automatically cannot compete in Tokyo. On the other hand, we found out that Walijewa was “positive” with a delay, when he had already entered the team competition in Beijing, explains Rynkowski.
As IOC spokesman Mark Adam points out, the sample was taken from Richardson on June 19, on the day of the competition. The American Anti-Doping Agency coordinated the process and nine days later the result of the check was known. From June 28, the 21-year-old’s disqualification period began.
It was different in the case of Walijewa. The feeder was inspected on December 25 during the Russian championship, and the sample was sent to a laboratory in Stockholm. Much longer was waiting for the result. – WADA emphasizes that RUSADA should request that priority be given to samples taken from competitors going to the Winter Games in China. So that their status would be clear before leaving for Beijing. Then it would be possible to avoid the situation which, unfortunately, happened in the case of the 15-year-old girl, Rynkowski points out.
American professionalism and Russian incompetence
The Russians showed incompetence. They should point out, when submitting samples to the Swedes for examination, that in the case of a few athletes going to Beijing, the result of the inspection is to come off sooner than in the case of the rest of the competitors tested. – There is no rule that requires a National Anti-Doping Agency to control Athletes entering the Games on a specific date. But this is a practice in the anti-doping world that we also use in Poland. This is nothing extraordinary, says Rynkowski.
“We did what anti-doping agencies, WADA and the IOC expect to do – to abide by the rules,” said US Today, Travis Tygart, director of the American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), commenting on the Richardson case. USADA made sure that there was no doubt about the cleanliness of the American sportsmen going to Tokyo last year.
– In the last seven years we have seen many times that the Russians cannot be trusted. If they do not follow the rules by which the rest of the world lives, they should not take part in the games – replies Tygart when asked about Walijew.
– But the IOC will never allow it. The IOC and WADA are playing a sophisticated game of pretense, blaming each other so that no one has to be held accountable and Russia can still avoid punishment, US Today said.
Marijuana is on the WADA banned substance list – as is trimetazidine. The latter is a drug for heart disease that can increase endurance in athletes.
Richardson’s suspension just ahead of the Tokyo Olympics sparked a wave of criticism in the United States. Some US states allow marijuana in limited forms. WADA announced in September that it would review the list of, among others, just for marijuana.
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.
