My email to the British Europort commentators.
Dear Patrick, Mike and David,
As a long-time follower of your biathlon and XC broadcasts, I feel I cannot remain silent anymore on the matter.
Every time a Russian athlete (most of them until now to be presumed clean), some strong insinuations and disdain are shared.
When it's about Norwegians, there seems to be another standard.
Let's not run around bush. Sundby makes a habit of over-dosing asthma medicines for which he never got a medical waiver. He gets it administered on the much-lauded second floor of the wax trailer. Nebulized even, which is the non-standard for of administration. 1600ug gram of Salbutal are allowed, but 200ug already tends to sufffice for most sufferers, like myself. I can't walk to the supermarket almost without needing a hit. The same 200ug hit suffices for all-out cold start running. Despite dilution with lots of water, Sundy managed to be way above 1600ug. This is not an accident. This is the result of using, daily, a many times over anabolic dose of what actual patients need only a tiny bit of. Dosage is of course measured very conservatively.
Sundby lost a few results, but not a single race. Not a word from the commentator team over the magnitude of his doping, the obvious anabolic benefit he got, from a state-run "I can't believe it's not doping" program. Talking about secret rooms to taint samples...Norway has a secret room for taking illegal dosages of stimulants with so happen to be allowed up to a very high dosage for asthma sufferers, without paperwork.
Johaug, the blatant lies, backpedaling and obvious disregard of protocol, the arrogance with which she and the team handled her case, seems to get a total thumbs up pass from the British commentating team also. As if her dosage is possible with a lip balm. As if the required criminal levels of disregard exist for both a team doctor and atlete to miss the bolded "DOPING" sign on the least conspicuous medicine container they were able to come up with. Does it need to be spelled out to you? Norwegians take any steroid which theoretically is on the market as a balm or something, and because of lax testing (Therese is not exactly used to being tested off-season, she's above all suspicion, of course...), they slipped up, and didn't have the right container on hand, didn't fiile paperwork for it, and had to act stupid. Does this stupidity exist, do you believe that in your hearts? From such a dominant skiing nation?
Do you honestly believe that the huge 2nd world skiing country that is Russia needs to dope its athletes to the gills just to finish close to the ultra-cclean Norwegians? With all your sports knowledge, you are then looking away from the VAST effect that doping has. It is so huge, that it overcomes basically all talent and training deficiency, certainly at World Cup level. If Russians were the only doping country, and doping hard, they'd be doing to the field what the Norwegian women do in theirs. It's simple science and logic, rather than western politically correct retoric.
Have you forgotten Lance Armstrong, deemed cleaner than clean, casually beating all the EPO topped up Italian and Spanish superclimbers, having been a classics specialist until deathbed? What have commentators learned from that?
You have a sport to comment on, but bashing Russians just because it's the popular thing to do, it doesn't suit you. It's an insult to viewers who have read up a bitt on the matter, and it doesn'tt help the sport keep the likes of Norway to the same standards.
As a long time fan of the three of you, I am deeply disappointed by the tone and content of your words on the matter.
And this is coming from a hobby skier/racer who is a Norway fan. Used to idolize little Therese. Is actively learning the language preparing for getting a fflat or cabin there. Truth just needs to be told, and I feel you've been doing truth a disjustice. You do know bettter, and your audience deserves better.
Regards,
Jan Gerrit Klok
The Netherlands
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