Doping in XC skiing

[python]

pure oxygen is about to enter the sport en mass and it's not illegal. the finns don't hide they've experimented.
http://www.expressen.se/sport/langdskidor/beskedet-gasmasker-tillatet--under-tavling/

 

[Discgear]

Re:

pure oxygen is about to enter the sport en mass and it's not illegal. the finns don't hide they've experimented.
http://www.expressen.se/sport/langdskidor/beskedet-gasmasker-tillatet--under-tavling/

When I heard about this, I had to check in the calendar if it was the 1st of April, but unfortunately not.
This sport is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late sport. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, XC-skiing rests in peace.

 

[BullsFan22]

Have the American women found some 'asthma medicine' as well, or simply taking advantage of the terrible women's field?

 

[python]

Have the American women found some 'asthma medicine' as well, or simply taking advantage of the terrible women's field?

my opinion - not that sons and daughters of apple pie are sin free, but chances are it was the latter...

had the norwegians chose entering their 2nd relay team (for which they were eligible) and some strong swedish girls (nilsson, ingemarsdotter...) not ignoring nove mesto, the americans would be probably 4th imo. that said, it was also obvious that thee norwegian girls weren't as dominant finishing results wise as usual gaining 'only' 40 and 50 seconds over the 2nd and 3d teams...clearly it gave some chases for the 'lesser' teams.

quite curiously though, the insider talk is that compared to about 20-25% of ALL scandinavian fis-registered racers, practically no russians (both men and women) use the asthma meds. yet, they get caught with the other stuff more frequently than others.

if so there is a good explanation for both. true to their old schooling, any kid with breathing problems would be typically not allowed into a competitive entry level coaching. AND, more importantly, the sophisticated scandinavian dopers have greatly outstripped the old soviet methods being formerly overseen by a powerful centralized state science and now left to a myriad of outdated individuals...

 

[BullsFan22]

Have the American women found some 'asthma medicine' as well, or simply taking advantage of the terrible women's field?

my opinion - not that sons and daughters of apple pie are sin free, but chances are it was the latter...

had the norwegians chose entering their 2nd relay team (for which they were eligible) and some strong swedish girls (nilsson, ingemarsdotter...) not ignoring nove mesto, the americans would be probably 4th imo. that said, it was also obvious that thee norwegian girls weren't as dominant finishing results wise as usual gaining 'only' 40 and 50 seconds over the 2nd and 3d teams...clearly it gave some chases for the 'lesser' teams.

quite curiously though, the insider talk is that compared to about 20-25% of ALL scandinavian fis-registered racers, practically no russians (both men and women) use the asthma meds. yet, they get caught with the other stuff more frequently than others.

if so there is a good explanation for both. true to their old schooling, any kid with breathing problems would be typically not allowed into a competitive entry level coaching. AND, more importantly, the sophisticated scandinavian dopers have greatly outstripped the old soviet methods being formerly overseen by a powerful centralized state science and now left to a myriad of outdated individuals...

Why do you think so many have asthma in Scandinavia, particularly Norwegians? It's a little more humid, but certainly doesn't get as cold as it does in many parts of Russia.

 

[MrRoboto]

Well, it's very common among Swedish and Finnish skiers too. Cologna has it. And how many more we don't know. With many asthma medicines off the doping lists I guess no one really knows.

I have seen a study on cold asthma on junior skiers in a region of Norway, where they already found signs of it in a huge proportion of the skiers. If it's so rare in Russia that Välbe and Putin wants them to compete in the special olympics, I guess we should be curious what they do different. Maybe xenon gas is the way 😉

 

[python]

Have the American women found some 'asthma medicine' as well, or simply taking advantage of the terrible women's field?

my opinion - not that sons and daughters of apple pie are sin free, but chances are it was the latter...

had the norwegians chose entering their 2nd relay team (for which they were eligible) and some strong swedish girls (nilsson, ingemarsdotter...) not ignoring nove mesto, the americans would be probably 4th imo. that said, it was also obvious that thee norwegian girls weren't as dominant finishing results wise as usual gaining 'only' 40 and 50 seconds over the 2nd and 3d teams...clearly it gave some chases for the 'lesser' teams.

quite curiously though, the insider talk is that compared to about 20-25% of ALL scandinavian fis-registered racers, practically no russians (both men and women) use the asthma meds. yet, they get caught with the other stuff more frequently than others.

if so there is a good explanation for both. true to their old schooling, any kid with breathing problems would be typically not allowed into a competitive entry level coaching. AND, more importantly, the sophisticated scandinavian dopers have greatly outstripped the old soviet methods being formerly overseen by a powerful centralized state science and now left to a myriad of outdated individuals...

Why do you think so many have asthma in Scandinavia, particularly Norwegians? It's a little more humid, but certainly doesn't get as cold as it does in many parts of Russia.

quite frankly, i don't know. it would be misleading if i passed my guesses as facts. it would be a good question for a qualified medic.

some place i did read, if memory serves, that asthma incident in russia among the general population is about half the scandinavian, but the stat, even if reliable which i seriously doubt due to cultural/medical differences on monitoring and reporting, the stat would be inapplicable to elite top-level xc skiers...

btw, you probably heard a stat once leaked that something like almost 15%(if not more) of the tdf field was on various therapeutic use exemptions the majority of which was for various asthma...

i do however have an opinion on the performance enhancing of some of the asthma meds which is different from the official platitudes. some are mild but legal stimulants imo, that could go beyond (in a limited effect of course b/c the permitted amounts are strictly controlled) ...beyond fixing a breathing issue...

 

[Cloxxki]

Isn't asthma not in some cases related to nutricion? I'm becoming more and more sure it is in my case.
Norwegians and Russians eat from vastly different sources.

 

[BullsFan22]

Are the top 4 in today's men's sprint part of the 80% of Norwegian skiers who 'suffer' from asthma?

 

[BullsFan22]

Also, if we take the theory of the 'bloated face' that we heard in cycling, with guys like Ullrich, I don't think it's too far fetched to say something similar with Northug. Maybe it's not bloated like Ullrich's was, but it's noticeably different from some of the other races Northug has been involved recently. Just what I noticed.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

http://www4.biathlonworld.com/en/press_releases.html/do/detail?presse=2748

IBU provisionally suspends an athlete as of immediately due to detection of a substance that is new on the WADA prohibited list 2016

 

[Cloxxki]

Re:

http://www4.biathlonworld.com/en/press_releases.html/do/detail?presse=2748

IBU provisionally suspends an athlete as of immediately due to detection of a substance that is new on the WADA prohibited list 2016

Why even report on it? Why all this privacy for athletes lately?

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

http://www4.biathlonworld.com/en/press_releases.html/do/detail?presse=2748

IBU provisionally suspends an athlete as of immediately due to detection of a substance that is new on the WADA prohibited list 2016

German TV interviewed Jim Carrabre of the IBU and he said as you wrote, a new prohibited drug was found. It was a very short interview. The Germans and Russians are saying they are confident it's none of their athletes. Not sure who it is, nor can I speculate, but I honestly hope it's not a Russian. I am sick and tired of hearing of failed drug tests from them, particularly as it doesn't seem to do them any good on the trails. Only Shipulin and Garannichev seem to be rivaling Fourcade these days. If it isn't a big name, it again makes me wonder of protection of top athletes in sport. How talented and prepared must a top athlete be, to win races and beat doped athletes on a regular basis?

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

http://www4.biathlonworld.com/en/press_releases.html/do/detail?presse=2748

IBU provisionally suspends an athlete as of immediately due to detection of a substance that is new on the WADA prohibited list 2016

Why even report on it? Why all this privacy for athletes lately?

Agreed. They should just report AFTER the B sample is tested. If that one is also positive (it's very rarely a negative) then you have to report on it, obviously, but to report that an A sample is positive is meaningless. You have to keep it for protection. What if the B sample is negative, and that athlete has never been suspected and it was some sort of a mistake? Now that athlete is gonna have to live with that for the rest of their life. He or she will be frowned upon by his/her peers out on the trails and you know how most fans will react and the media isn't always friendly either. I totally understand keeping it anonymous for the time being. Unless of course, the IBU plan to cover everything up. I won't be surprised if that happens, to be honest.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The IBU announced its various AAFs when they had the busts back in 2013-14 too though, and we had to play guessing games to find some of them. The DSV and SBR have said that none of their athletes have been contacted, so presumably it can't be one of them. The AAF came from a January World Cup, so it must be somebody who was present at either Ruhpolding or Antholz, but as the announcement came before today's race it can't be anybody who starts a race in Canada.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

The IBU announced its various AAFs when they had the busts back in 2013-14 too though, and we had to play guessing games to find some of them. The DSV and SBR have said that none of their athletes have been contacted, so presumably it can't be one of them. The AAF came from a January World Cup, so it must be somebody who was present at either Ruhpolding or Antholz, but as the announcement came before today's race it can't be anybody who starts a race in Canada.

Which federation is SBR?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

The IBU announced its various AAFs when they had the busts back in 2013-14 too though, and we had to play guessing games to find some of them. The DSV and SBR have said that none of their athletes have been contacted, so presumably it can't be one of them. The AAF came from a January World Cup, so it must be somebody who was present at either Ruhpolding or Antholz, but as the announcement came before today's race it can't be anybody who starts a race in Canada.

Which federation is SBR?

Soyuz Biatlonistov Rossii

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

The IBU announced its various AAFs when they had the busts back in 2013-14 too though, and we had to play guessing games to find some of them. The DSV and SBR have said that none of their athletes have been contacted, so presumably it can't be one of them. The AAF came from a January World Cup, so it must be somebody who was present at either Ruhpolding or Antholz, but as the announcement came before today's race it can't be anybody who starts a race in Canada.

Which federation is SBR?

Soyuz Biatlonistov Rossii

Ok. That's what I thought, but had to make sure! I imagine it's probably a smaller team. Jakov Fak isn't with the Slovenian team, but I've heard he was sick, so that's why he didn't make the trip. I don't know if he'll be in Presque Isle for the US portion of the North American world cup. I sure hope it's not him. Just about all the top names were in Canmore, except the Norwegians. They have their B team biathletes there. They aren't saying much though. I have no idea who it might be.

 

[John de Savage]

Re:

http://www4.biathlonworld.com/en/press_releases.html/do/detail?presse=2748

IBU provisionally suspends an athlete as of immediately due to detection of a substance that is new on the WADA prohibited list 2016

Which substances were added to the prohibited list in 2016?

 

[roundabout]

This made me think

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/katushas-eduard-vorganov-provisionally-suspended-by-uci-for-doping-violation

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Unlike the last batch of positives, where we had something clear to go on (early suspicious retirements) or the time before when we could deduce (3 athletes, both genders, two nationalities) this time around it's very open, no gender, nationality or anything disclosed. And because the World Cup is taking place in North America, a lot of smaller teams are electing to either not participate or send smaller squads to save money, and some of the biggest names are absent for planned purposes and so if nothing else comes out before then we'll only know once IBU Cup startlists come up next week who else can be stricken from the list.

As things stand, the athletes who were in Ruhpolding or Antholz and therefore available for testing in competition in January, but who did not race in either the men's or women's sprint in Canmore, are:

Austria: David Komatz, Fabienne Hartweger, Simone Kupfner, Susanna Kurzthaler, Julia Schwaiger
Belgium: Michael Rösch
Belarus: Sergey Bocharnikov, Vladimir Chepelin, Dmitry Dyuzhev, Raman Yaliotnau, Dzinara Alimbekava, Nastassia Dubarezava, Irina Kryuko, Kristina Ilchenko, Nadzeya Pisareva, Nadezhda Skardino
Bulgaria: Krasimir Anev, Dimitar Gerdzhikov, Vladimir Iliev, Dimitar Partalov, Daniela Kadeva, Dafinka Koeva, Stefani Popova, Desislava Stoyanova, Emilia Yordanova
Canada: Scott Perras, Megan Tandy
China: Yuanmeng Chu, Jialin Tang, Xuehan Wang, Yan Zhang
Croatia: Krasimir Crnkovic
Czech Republic: Jaroslav Soukup, Adam Vaclavik, Jitka Landová
Spain: Victoria Padial Hernández
Estonia: Kauri Kõiv, Meril Beilmann, Grete Gaim, Kristel Viigipuu, Regina Oja
Finland: Olli Hiidensalo, Mihkel Koivunen, Sami Orpänä, Auli Kiskolä, Laura Toivänen
France: Fabien Claude, Antonin Guigonnat, Enora Latuillière, Coline Varcin
Great Britain: Lee-Steve Jackson, Kevin Kane, Amanda Lightfoot
Germany*: Andreas Birnbacher, Johannes Kühn, Maren Hammerschmidt, Vanessa Hinz
Italy: Giuseppe Montello, Alexia Runggaldier
Japan: Tsukasa Kobonoki, Ryo Tsunoda
Kazakhstan: Olga Poltoranina
Korea: Je-Uk Jun, Yonggyu Kim, In-Bok Lee, Keon-Su Kim
Latvia: Ingus Deksnis, Daumants Lusa, Aleksandrs Patrijuks
Lithuania: Karol Dombrovski, Tomas Kaukenas, Gabriele Lescinskaite
Norway: Erlend Bjøntegaard, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Tarjei Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen, Fanny Horn Birkeland, Tiril Eckhoff, Bente Landheim
Poland: Mateusz Janik, Krzysztof Plywaczyk, Kinga Mitoraj, Karolina Piton, Kamila Zuk
Romania: Stefan Gavrila, Reka Forika
Russia*: Anton Babikov, Matvey Eliseev, Ivan Tcherezov, Anastasia Zagoruiko
Slovenia: Jakov Fak, Lenart Oblak, Urska Poje
Switzerland: Jeremy Finello**, Lena Häcki, Ladina Meier-Ruge
Slovakia: Tomás Hasilla, Martin Ot'cenas, Ivona Fialková, Paulina Fialková, Terezia Poliáková
Sweden: Peppe Femling, Simon Hallström, Fredrik Lindström, Jesper Nelin, Elisabeth Högberg, Sofia Myhr, Anna Magnusson, Johanna Skottheim
Ukraine: Dmytro Pidruchnyi, Vladimir Semakov, Olga Abramova, Valj Semerenko
USA: Sean Doherty, Clare Egan

*unlikely to be either of these nations as their national authorities have confirmed they've not been told anything. This takes a couple of those that may have been considered possible out of the equation too.
**Finello was entered into the men's sprint yesterday but didn't take the start. The startlist had already been issued when the press release was made, however he would seem unlikely because of this.

With quite a lot of athletes recovering from the Junior Worlds as well as fairly big names not wanting to travel because of the upcoming Worlds, there's not a great deal to go on.

Updated after the mixed relays to remove a couple of Kazakhs and a Romanian who have now raced since the provisional suspension was enacted.

 

[John de Savage]

New additions to the 2016 prohibited list:

S4: Hormone and Metabolic Modulators

* Insulin-mimetics were added to the List to include all insulin-receptor agonists.
* Meldonium (Mildronate) was added because of evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance.

http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/major-changes-2016-prohibited-list/

 

[BullsFan22]

This made me think

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/katushas-eduard-vorganov-provisionally-suspended-by-uci-for-doping-violation

I don't get it...Are you suggesting he/she was Russian? Like Libertine and I wrote earlier, the Russians say it's not their athlete that's had the positive. Or are you suggesting something that this is a similar case where sample A was positive therefore the athlete in question is provisionally suspended? Standard protocol.

 

[roundabout]

A recent addition to the prohibited list and seems low-grade enough to be used by what seems to be a smaller name.

Could be the substance in question.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

A recent addition to the prohibited list and seems low-grade enough to be used by what seems to be a smaller name.

Could be the substance in question.

Got it. It could be the substance. Katusha seem to be using some old Russian methods and getting popped fairly easily. Either that or the UCI simply doesn't like them.