Bobrova and Soloviev out of Worlds

[julieann]

Ukrainian biathlete tested positive for meldonium January 10 2016 (had taken dose in November 2015):

http://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/ukrainian-biathlete-tests-positive-for-meldonium/

I'm a bit confused, for this athlete, if the drug was taken while it was still legal according to WADA standards why would he be in any trouble?

Same for Bobrova, if was taken prior to Jan 1? Sad new no matter what but it seems shady.

 

[Xela M]

I feel sorry for B/S individually, because the difficulties they overcame along the way. But for Russian federation using all sorts of drugs to "help" athletes, no, not sorry at all. You get what you deserve. That's all I'm saying.

Really? You think other feds don't use drugs to help athletes? Really?

That's very naive and just plain wrong

 

[Ananas Astra]

Maybe her ban could be shortened as it was the case with Larionov back in the days?

 

[forthewin]

Really? You think other feds don't use drugs to help athletes? Really?

That's very naive and just plain wrong

Where did I say other federations don't use drugs? The fact is Russian federation is the one we are talking about here. And this is not the first time they infamously make the headline. What they do is wrong, and you trying to get other federation involved doesn't make it right. I would say the same with any cheating federation.

 

[Yazmeen]

This is a drug meant for angina (chest pain) and myocardial ischemia/infarction (diminished blood flow to the heart muscle/heart attack). It's not approved for use in the United States for any indication, and it has been studied for use in neurological disorders.

Of note, the drug was found to improve the exercise capacity of patients with stable angina. I don't know the details, but it appears that it is popular in Russia as a sports supplement. I found this description of basic mechanism of action (without get into the deep science): Meldonium has a positive effect on energy metabolism of the body, increases working capacity, body endurance of physical and mental load, and easily activates the central nervous system.

As a physician, the only conclusion I can come to is that an athlete without known heart disease would use this as a performance enhancement drug. And if it was on the list and she tested for it, then there is no recourse but to institute a ban. And if I am reading this correctly that she was voluntarily using it last fall, the concept that someone else was slipping it to her during a competition this year without her knowledge doesn't exactly fly in my book. Every athlete is responsible for knowing every substance they put into their bodies, even those administered by someone else. I'm sorry this had to happen to a talented team at this point in the Olympic cycle, but it is her own fault. Period. At the very least, she and her team should have checked into what those injections she was getting at competition were before just taking them.

 

[rfisher]

I'm so sorry for both of them. I think it's even worse for a team because both skaters are impacted even if only one tested positive. What a shame for both of them.

 

[Yazmeen]

That's the saddest part of it - he got screwed through the negligence of others.

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

(((Dmitri)))

 

[Vash01]

Where did I say other federations don't use drugs? The fact is Russian federation is the one we are talking about here. And this is not the first time they infamously make the headline. What they do is wrong, and you trying to get other federation involved doesn't make it right. I would say the same with any cheating federation.

Did you even read the story before accusing the Russian fed of cheating in this case? Bobrova took the drug while it was legal. It became illegal on Jan. 1st of This year.

It is perfectly OK to make a reference to other feds, IMO because it relates to the story we are discussing. Some athletes do violate the rules and deserve to be punished, regardless of their country, but when an athlete takes it as medicine for pain, healing from injury, etc. that should be taken into account. A blanket ban like this is just not right, IMO.

 

[Katha]

I'm a bit confused, for this athlete, if the drug was taken while it was still legal according to WADA standards why would he be in any trouble?

Same for Bobrova, if was taken prior to Jan 1? Sad new no matter what but it seems shady.

No, it seems like it was concluded that she had taken it within days (?) of the doping test, so after January 1st. I think it's awful for Russian ice dance and B/S seem like really nice and no-drama people who work very hard. But I've got no idea what went down and I don't know them personally, so I don't think I can form an opinion here beyond that.

 

[Vash01]

This is devastating news. They have been through so much, with injuries. Now it seems all their hard work is going to waste. Unless the ban is shortened, they will miss the 2018 Olympics. I am very sad for them.

Can they(she and others in a similar situation) appeal? To who?

Russian ice dance seems to be in even worse shape than Russian men at this point. There is no 'future'. Among men at least there are some promising young skaters.

 

[Habs]

(Snip)
when an athlete takes it as medicine for pain, healing from injury, etc. that should be taken into account. A blanket ban like this is just not right, IMO.

There are lots of things that can be done for injuries and pain that don't involve illegal performance enhancing drugs. But nice try.

 

[altai_rose]

I'm a bit confused, for this athlete, if the drug was taken while it was still legal according to WADA standards why would he be in any trouble?

Same for Bobrova, if was taken prior to Jan 1? Sad new no matter what but it seems shady.

My understanding is that the half life of meldonium is ~6 hrs. Which means that the athlete must have taken the drug shortly (i.e., within a couple of days) before the drug testing, despite what the athlete may say as the date they last took the drug.

 

[Erin]

Did you even read the story before accusing the Russian fed of cheating in this case? Bobrova took the drug while it was legal. It became illegal on Jan. 1st of This year.

Did you even read this post? Because that is not what happened at all, according to the article linked in it:
http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...nd-soloviev-out-of-worlds.98108/#post-4732471

The test showed the drug was taken within 12 hours of the competition.

 

[Vash01]

http://www.sport-express.ru/figure-skating/reviews/974642/

Vaitsekhovskaya interviews Bobrova. Katya says she was aware since the fall that the drug would be illegal. She took it in the fall, but was sure she did not take it afterwards. She says she was very careful and checked all her drug labels. They did not have their regular doctor with them at Europeans; instead they had Dr. Philipp Shvedsky, who regularly works with Mozer group. They get "suppoting" injections from doctors on a regular basis during the competition.
Then Vaitsehovskaya adds that Shvedsky has been the cause of doping violation of a Russian roving team in 2007.
Bobrova has signed the waiver not to do the second probe (according to her, because she was sure that anything in her system would be proven to be residual), so there will not be a Probe B. The test showed the drug was taken within 12 hours of competition.

This doesn't make sense. Did she not know that she was being injected with this drug just before the Europeans? The earlier part says she only took it last year.

I don't know what Probe B is. Does it mean taking the test again, and she refused to take it?

Can the test differentiate between what was taken recently (after Jan. 1, 2016) and prior to that?

Regardless, this is a serious blow to their competitive career.

 

[Habs]

I have a very hard time feeling sympathy for any athlete caught with a performance enhancing drug in his or her system. Athletes are responsible for knowing what's in their bodies. Period.
And I say this as a fan of B&S.

The person I have empathy for in this is Dmitri.

 

[LarrySK8]

PEDs = cheaters. Got caught. Banned. No sympathy.

 

[morqet]

Russian ice dance seems to be in even worse shape than Russian men at this point. There is no 'future'. Among men at least there are some promising young skaters.

More teams than any other country this season making jgpf is no future? OK then.

And B/S were the only team in the top 6 at nationals with a skater over the age of 25. There's plenty of "future".

 

[altai_rose]

I don't know what Probe B is. Does it mean taking the test again, and she refused to take it?

Sample replicate (urine sample is taken at same time as probe A).

Can the test differentiate between what was taken recently (after Jan. 1, 2016) and prior to that?

Any standard urine test can differentiate between what was taken within hours-days and what was taken before (i..e, drug won't be detected or levels are much lower than therapeutic)....

 

[Vash01]

More teams than any other country this season making jgpf is no future? OK then.

And B/S were the only team in the top 6 at nationals with a skater over the age of 25. There's plenty of "future".

The top two junior ice dance teams are American, not Russian. The Russian teams are ranked at 3 and 5 currently. Hard to tell how they will develop. It's always tough to predict the juniors, but in the case of Virtue & Moir it was clear even when they were juniors that they were going to be something big. I don't see anyone with that kind of promise.

I don't see how B&S being in the top 6 at Nationals proves that the future is good for Russian ice dance. Who are these promising young teams you are talking about? I am not impressed with S&K, S&B and I&Z. None of them has the potential to win an Olympic medal in 2018, and 2022 is questionable too. Each team has one talented skater but not both. In order to beat the North Americans they are going to need much higher quality teams.

 

[Vash01]

PEDs = cheaters. Got caught. Banned. No sympathy.

Do you always post like this? I am surprised that you were not already on my ignore list.

 

[Xela M]

Can Dmitri please team up with Elena? Pretty please? He's such an amazing dancer!

 

[MarieM]

Can Dmitri please team up with Elena? Pretty please? He's such an amazing dancer!

No way. He's a hard worker, she's a diva. Won't work.

 

[Sylvia]

The 2016 Prohibited List was published by WADA on September 29, 2015 and went into effect on 1 January 2016: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/science-medicine/prohibited-list

From the "Summary of Modifications - 2016 Prohibited List" document dated 16 September 2015: https://wada-main-prod.s3.amazonaws...ohibited-list-summary-of-modifications-en.pdf
"Meldonium was removed from the Monitoring Program and added to the Prohibited List."

 

[Coquelicot14]

I can't say I'm surprised, but it's interesting how some people are ready to crucify over a drug that was LEGAL until January of THIS year. How many of your favorite athletes were taking it up until then?
I'm not saying she is excused, but "Cheaters" really? Over something that JUST became banned?

 

[Vash01]

Given the state of Russian ice dance, I wonder if the RSF needs to start identifying potential singles skaters (male and female) that could get into ice dance? I know the switch to ice dance from singles is difficult, and it takes a long time (one full Olympic cycle) for the teams to gell.

Vasilisa Davankova is in Israel as an ice dancer, from what I read here on fsu. Can she go back to Russia and find a partner there?

May be they need to use their political power to make Tiffany and Jon eligible?

I am grasping at straws.

I am just sad that Russian ice dance is this state right now. They used to dominate ice dance. Many of my most favorite ice dance teams are Russian. This is a blow to not just B&S's career but to Russian ice dance as well. it's not like B&S were going to win an Olympic medal in 2018, but I saw them as the anchor, while other teams were developing.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Does that mean Elena/Ruslan will replace them? or is it too late?
Since when Meldronate is a "muscle/sports" drug? It's a "business meeting" enhancement LEGAL medicine/drug, blood flow to the brain, etc......

 

[MarieM]

Stepanova and Bukin are going.

 

[Vash01]

Does that mean Elena/Ruslan will replace them? or is it too late?
Since when Meldronate is a "muscle/sports" drug? It's a "business meeting" enhancement LEGAL medicine/drug, blood flow to the brain, etc......

I think Stepanova-Bukin are next in line. I&Z would be elevated to the next substitute.

If S&K and S&B finish 6 & 7, Russia could regain 3 spots. Am I correct? It won't be easy but if they skate clean in every phase of the competition, may be. Realistically, only 2 spots next year for Russian ice dance.

 

[Coquelicot14]

Given the state of Russian ice dance, I wonder if the RSF needs to start identifying potential singles skaters (male and female) that could get into ice dance? I know the switch to ice dance from singles is difficult, and it takes a long time (one full Olympic cycle) for the teams to gell.

Vasilisa Davankova is in Israel as an ice dancer, from what I read here on fsu. Can she go back to Russia and find a partner there?

May be they need to use their political power to make Tiffany and Jon eligible?

I am grasping at straws.

I am just sad that Russian ice dance is this state right now. They used to dominate ice dance. Many of my most favorite ice dance teams are Russian. This is a blow to not just B&S's career but to Russian ice dance as well. it's not like B&S were going to win an Olympic medal in 2018, but I saw them as the anchor, while other teams were developing.

John and Tiffany are eligible and will be competing at more high profile events starting next season. Not only that but Stepanova/Bukin are a very decent team. The problem is not the lack of good teams, but lack of star power which we have grown accustomed to from Russian ice dance. In all honesty though, I never thought B&S had it to begin with, they had solid results but no "spark"...