Bobrova and Soloviev out of Worlds

[marbri]

When is the deadline for substitutions to be named for Worlds? How long will it take for B results to get back?

I do think this sheds a bit of light on why Bobrova waived her B sample, knowing the result would be the same, and why Dima said what he did. They must know or have a very good idea who some of the others are who are having their B samples tested.

 

[MsZem]

Updates:
ISU confirms positive A-samples for other skaters. Cases will be disclosed If B-samples analysis positive.
http://www.isu.org/en/news-and-events/news/2016/03/statement-adverse-analytical-finding

This is going to be a mess - and not just in skating. How could so many athletes have been so stupid as to take a substance that has just been added to the banned list? Did they think that it wouldn't be tested, or that they wouldn't be caught?

The only innocent explanation I can think of is that this drug stays in the body much longer than originally believed. I doubt it, though. I'm not disappointed about the doping so much as I'm disappointed that people would be so stupid and reckless.

 

[kittyjake5]

It sure is a mess. Worlds is in less than 3 weeks. From what I understand from
ISU statement if the "skater" who tested positive agreed to a B sample even
though they tested positive no action or disclosure by the ISU will be taken
against said "skater" until the B sample is completed.

 

[BittyBug]

From bad to worse.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

He was the doctor of team Mozer, right? I want to see Tatiana so bad in Boston. Skategods, don't do that to me!

 

[missing]

Breaking News.com reports that speed skater Ekaterina Konstantinova also is reported to have used it, and that Olympic wrestling silver medalist David Modzmanashvili of Georgia faces a lifetime ban for a second doping violation.

And here's its big news item:

Up to 490 athletes may have taken meldonium during Baku 2015 European Games, research from the British Journal of Sports Medicine claims.

 

[MsZem]

I started a new thread, since it looks like this story will extend well beyond Bobrova's positive test.

 

[marbri]

Might be a bit premature for a new thread as we don't know names or have B sample results to discuss.

 

[bronwynsings]

Also, the other skaters could be speedskaters. There already has been a Russian speedskater who tested positive.

 

[millyskate]

wow, I was wondering about the other skaters having received the same injections. This could be a major earthquake.

 

[Tesla]

Did you read her interview?

Yes, I did. I believe, hope, she is innocent of taking it deliberately at Euros, but my point still stands. She took it last year knowing it was going to be banned. And she never said she needed it for a heart condition. Again, I ask, why take would she take something that she didn't need?

 

[levineismine]

I wonder how long it will take for the B analyses, and in what state of panic are all the other skaters that are taking/have taken anything... Everyone must be checking accurately starting from simple supplements.

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

I wonder how long it will take for the B analyses, and in what state of panic are all the other skaters that are taking/have taken anything... Everyone must be checking accurately starting from simple supplements.

And at a time when perhaps some of them will need/want to be preparing for Boston.

I wonder how long all this takes.

 

[millyskate]

Yes, I did. I believe, hope, she is innocent of taking it deliberately at Euros, but my point still stands. She took it last year knowing it was going to be banned. And she never said she needed it for a heart condition. Again, I ask, why take would she take something that she didn't need?

I'm not sure if you follow athletes on social media - but those from the US / UK are increasingly frequently getting sponsored by supplement companies, selling products that are anything but natural. They are taking all kinds of products promoted as performance enhancing. They're not packaged as medication, but it's about how these things are presented: in some countries, people go down the pharmaceutical route, in others they put the stuff in a box that's called something like "healthy natural booster". It does seem to be widespread and accepted for athletes to be taking supplements, it's just that depending on the culture one comes from these take slightly different forms.

 

[Xela M]

Yes, I did. I believe, hope, she is innocent of taking it deliberately at Euros, but my point still stands. She took it last year knowing it was going to be banned. And she never said she needed it for a heart condition. Again, I ask, why take would she take something that she didn't need?

No. She was taking it up to September last year and stopped taking it when she was notified that it will be banned (she was notified in September)

 

[Stephanie]

The Russian Skating Union says rival teams tricked its athletes into doping, and it’s got the lie-detector proof: https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/03/0...to-doping-and-it-s-got-the-lie-detector-proof

 

[Kultakissu]

The Russian Skating Union says rival teams tricked its athletes into doping, and it’s got the lie-detector proof: https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/03/0...to-doping-and-it-s-got-the-lie-detector-proof

What is going on

 

[poths]

The Russian Skating Union says rival teams tricked its athletes into doping, and it’s got the lie-detector proof: https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/03/0...to-doping-and-it-s-got-the-lie-detector-proof

I've said it before, the fact that the drug wasn't on the banned list is just semantics. It's a performance enhancer and further evidence that drug cheats are ALWAYS a couple of steps ahead.

I am caught between disdain for those desperately trying to get ahead, and the simple fact that they were allowed to cheat because testers were so far behind.

Ultimately, anyone on Meldomium demonstrates a significant lack of integrity and willingness to go to any lengths to secure victory/$$$$. Which is why I really don't feel sorry for any of them

Word on the street is, they have all underestimated the amount of time it takes to leave the system and that masking agents supposed to work, did not.

I would be far more understanding if someone like Sharapova had declared the use of the drug over the past 10 years. But it appears she didn't & there's only one reason why.....

 

[morqet]

http://tass.ru/en/sport/861193

The latest defense is that all these athletes have been the victims of lab mistakes.

 

[Sedge]

That's a lot of athletes at a lot of varied events.....were they all tested in the same lab?

 

[Kultakissu]

http://tass.ru/en/sport/861193

The latest defense is that all these athletes have been the victims of lab mistakes.

Both deliberate sabotage and lab mistakes? Geez, these athletes can't catch a break!

 

[marbri]

They all need to get together and present a united defense. It can't be both a lab mistake AND deliberate sabotage from athletes on "other sports teams". And at the very least in Sharpova's case she just came out and confirmed the test was accurate, that she was taking it.

I won't rule out the theory a potential masking agent failed.

 

[poths]

They all need to get together and present a united defense. It can't be both a lab mistake AND deliberate sabotage from athletes on "other sports teams". And at the very least in Sharpova's case she just came out and confirmed the test was accurate, that she was taking it.

I won't rule out the theory a potential masking agent failed.

Which is what I think the potential sabotage refers to.... "The drug you told me would hide the drugs I'm taking, didn't do the job you said it would...."


Reminds me of Marita Koch's (WR over 400m) letter that was uncovered from the 80's in which she wrote to the GDR athletics doctor complaining that someone in the camp was on MORE drugs than her. I'm also still convinced that Carl Lewis reconciled taking Ben Johnson's medal and playing the victim, with a simple "he is on more drugs than me, so it's not fair....". Pathological.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Hey guys! How r u?

Ive been out of the country for a week and away from FSU

Can someone give me a brief recap of the past 18 pages?

is this mostly a Russian/Eastern Euro thing? I havent seen any comments about skaters outside of there?

So, it was legal until January? Why did Bobrova take it? In fact why would any athlete take it?

I was really into their programs this year!

Who will Russia send instead?

Any other skaters effected? Thank YOu!

 

[marbri]

Probably easier to catch up by reading first 2-3 pages to get the answers to your questions. She is the only figure skater involved at this point.

 

[Vagabond]

The Russian Skating Union says rival teams tricked its athletes into doping, and it’s got the lie-detector proof: https://meduza.io/en/news/2016/03/0...to-doping-and-it-s-got-the-lie-detector-proof

I love how the source of that article is a news service called Soviet Sports. Too funny!

 

[Vash01]

Hey guys! How r u?

Ive been out of the country for a week and away from FSU

Can someone give me a brief recap of the past 18 pages?

is this mostly a Russian/Eastern Euro thing? I havent seen any comments about skaters outside of there?

So, it was legal until January? Why did Bobrova take it? In fact why would any athlete take it?

I was really into their programs this year!

Who will Russia send instead?

Any other skaters effected? Thank YOu!

Read posts #20 & #22 as a start.

Don't know yet if athletes outside of Eastern Europe/Russia were affected. I am wondering if this drug has been commonly used in this part of the world?

Some are waiting for results of the B sample.

Maria Sharapova failed the Meldonium (the drug we are talking about) drug test, due to her own negligence (didn't read the email).

I don't know the medical details but athletes have been taking it as muscle relaxant; it's a drug for the heart (someone correct me if this is wrong).

Bobrova was taking it last year but stopped taking it (long before Jan. 1st, 2016) after WADA made it illegal. She failed the drug test at the Euros. Dmitry says someone put it in her body without her knowing it; don't know who.

Stepanova-Bukin will replace B&S at worlds.

They have not announced yet if other figure skaters were affected.

 

[julieann]

She took it last year knowing it was going to be banned. And she never said she needed it for a heart condition. Again, I ask, why take would she take something that she didn't need?

Drugs a prescribed off label all the time to help other conditions. I take Topamax for my migraines but its intended use is for epilepsy.

 

[Yazmeen]

One other scientific point. Half-life is a basic determinant of how long an agent will stay within the bloodstream/body systems. In nuclear medicine, we always used the rough estimate of 4 half-lives for the 6-hour half-life agent technetium (IOW, 24 hours) after which its pretty much gone. For most drugs, their concentration needs to reduce to 5% or lower for the concentration to be considered negligible, and roughly 4 to 5 half-lives will accomplish this. That earlier post with the estimate of 24 hours was a good estimate for this drug to have disappeared from Bobrova's bloodstream.

HOWEVER, many things affect drug elimination. Route (eg, kidneys vs GI), state of hydration, and especially the person's own metabolism and any other illnesses/conditions they have that may slow down elimination. This is why, for example, that you try to avoid drugs eliminated through the urine in patients with chronic kidney disease. We don't know how Bobrova received the drug in regards to whether she took it on her own or it was administered to her with or without her knowledge. That said, whoever did administer it may have miscalculated or believed the drug was gone after a reasonable period of time, yet it turned out it wasn't metabolized that fast.

I will state, though, that the concept of rival team sabotage (I'm interpreting that article as meaning non-Russian teams) or one lab actually testing ALL these athletes with off-kilter analyses as having a pretty remote chance of actually happening. But if it did, I want a portion of the movie rights...

 

[Yazmeen]

Drugs a prescribed off label all the time to help other conditions. I take Topamax for my migraines but its intended use is for epilepsy.

Good point, although I just spent the last few days writing CME on migraine, and anti-epileptics are pretty commonly used in migraine, off-label or not. This is a very different case - this drug was not intended to be a supplement.