Sotskova busted for doping

[Tinami Amori]

Sure, Sotskova contributed to the Russian ban in 2018 and not the institutionalized doping system that was put in place for the Sochi Olympics. You have to love this logic (not to take away from what Sotskova allegedly did, but come on).

I think Auerbuch made this comment figuratively, as in "infractions like that don't help the reputation". I am very surprised he said this, that was not necessary at all.

 

[Bigbird]

I think Auerbuch made this comment figuratively, as in "infractions like that don't help the reputation". I am very surprised he said this, that was not necessary at all.

Maybe we really don't know the half of it. Maybe Maria is just the beginning of things to come? I found his comments a bit odd considering....

 

[Tinami Amori]

Maybe we really don't know the half of it. Maybe Maria is just the beginning of things to come? I found his comments a bit odd considering....

If you are hinting that there is "doping", then no! Auerbuch said what he said because he knew that Maria missed few tests, which means she is irresponsible and not a doper. And if she was taking weight pills, then she is simply stupid.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

If prior to the 2020 Olympics she had missed any test, she would not have been allowed to compete. These so called missed tests could easily be a problem of what she thought was an retired athlete, she probably was not filling in the whereabouts provision as well.

 

[mjb52]

I read somewhere that meldonium was just a common o-t-c drug during the Soviet days. Looking it up, it seems like it's been around since the 1970's: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldonium I wouldn't call that a "new drug." I don't question WADA's decision to ban it but I wonder at times about some aspects of the way this issue was covered in the States and how the name meldonium was used to create a sensationalized effect b/c it sounds so foreign and spy movie like. But I wasn't following the issue closely at the time so this is based on having looked into it earlier this year b/c I was curious.

 

[Tinami Amori]

If prior to the 2020 Olympics she had missed any test, she would not have been allowed to compete. These so called missed tests could easily be a problem of what she thought was an retired athlete, she probably was not filling in the whereabouts provision as well.

Auerbuch's comment is confusing. He is trying to say that "athlete's irresponsible behavior contributes to the team not having a flag at the Olympics". But he used "wrong specifics" such as linking Maria's missed tests to no flag at 2018 Olympics. Maria missed tests after she decided to quit skating (or lost interest in skating) and not before Olympics 2018, but did not inform the proper authorities of her decision and was still listed on RUSADA active athletes list.

 

[Bigbird]

If you are hinting that there is "doping", then no! Auerbuch said what he said because he knew that Maria missed few tests, which means she is irresponsible and not a doper. And if she was taking weight pills, then she is simply stupid.

That's what I'm saying. How does he know that? Isn't that sensitive information?

 

[Tinami Amori]

That's what I'm saying. How does he know that? Isn't that sensitive information?

I am guessing that now when it is a "scandal" more of sensitive information is floating around. RUSADA management made a statement that they have no idea how it made the press, they did not speak to anyone. Some "insiders" spilled the beans...

 

[kwanfan1818]

and if he'd had a non-athlete girlfriend, she would not have been sanctioned for what happened.

I agree with your post, but I remember when we were discussing Kostner's case, someone posted about a source that showed that the girlfriend of an athlete was banned from venues when they determined she helped him dope. Obviously not the same as being barred from competing, but their tentacles extend beyond athletes.

 

[barbarafan]

I gave it to iptmy son to help pull off peripheral fluid and reduce the chances of pulmonary edema. We had to use oral potassium as well to counter the sodium losses. It's possible she used this to fit into her wedding dress, but it's risky taking more than a dose or two, especially at higher dose levels. Long term use is a delicate balance. Given the drug and the circumstances, this seems like an unfortunate series of events and I hate that for her.

My aunt was given Lasik by IV this spring for water on the lung. (She was P##ing constantly from it & right at beginning of ******in a busy hospital not fun) She was then on reduced doses by perscription for quite a while. I could not imagine her figureskating while taking it....But then she is 94.

 

[Tinami Amori]

This recent article more or less puts facts and numbers in places.

РУСАДА с 2017 года семь раз проверило на допинг фигуристку Сотскову - ТАСС

По информации источника ТАСС, спортсменка дисквалифицирована на 10 лет за нарушение антидопинговых правил

tass.ru

RUSADA tested Sotskova 6 times, from pre-Olympic season 2017 to March 2020 (when she no longer skated).
- 3 times in 2017, 2 times in 2018, and 1 time in 2019 (she got married in Fall 2019).

Just as an FYI, the article mentions that the most tested skaters (by RUSADA) since 2017 were: Bukin - 14 times, Stepanova- 11 times. Samarin, Tukhtamysheva and Zagorski - 9 times (each).

Sotskova is accused and given a suspension on 3 counts:

• missing 3 doping tests
• giving false (invalid) medical exception document
• prohibited substance (furosemide) found in one of her tests.

 

[kwanfan1818]

My questions would then be:

1. When in 2018 was she tested? She went to the Olympics, and one would hope that she passed the 2017 test and any 2018 tests that occurred before the OWG.

2. When in 2019 was she tested? Was it before or after she stopped competing?

3. Which test did she fail? If not the last, why wasn't she suspended on the basis of that test?

 

[Tinami Amori]

My questions would then be:

1. When in 2018 was she tested? She went to the Olympics, and one would hope that she passed the 2017 test and any 2018 tests that occurred before the OWG.

2. When in 2019 was she tested? Was it before or after she stopped competing?

3. Which test did she fail? If not the last, why wasn't she suspended on the basis of that test?

My understanding is that all the infractions started from Fall 2019 (when she chose to have family instead of skating) to March 2020. The previous years where all fine.

It can work like this. She did a test in Fall 2019, just before her wedding when she was taking the pills to lose weight. Then after the Fall 2019 to March 2020, is when she gave up on skating and did not bother giving her location for RUSADA agents to test her, and during that time she learned about one of the earlier tests showing diet drug, did not want "bad name" regardless, and came up with a medical excuse from an unlicensed medical practice.

 

[caseyedwards]

Lol she wasn’t even an athlete at the time

 

[Coco]

Here's a thought....since retirement is probably a time of significant change, emotions, etc., a federation should have someone in the home office whose job it is to make sure all athletes who was retired are officially retired for purposes of drug testing.

 

[Sylvia]

It can work like this. She did a test in Fall 2019, just before her wedding when she was taking the pills to lose weight.

But do we know when she got married officially? In her July interview, she made it sound like the exchange of rings/paperwork signing had not taken place yet and that the formal celebration would take place next year: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/sotskova-busted-for-doping.107585/page-2#post-5862063

 

[kwanfan1818]

The timing of the failed test and the wedding makes sense. I get that it's the athlete's best interest to not have a Fed file on behalf of the athlete, so that it's coming from the athlete's mouth, and that even had she filed for retirement with the Russian Fed, it wouldn't have trickled down officially.

What's odd is that if she'd missed multiple tests after she'd retired definitively, wouldn't RUSADA have left a note on her door and/or sent her a letter or email to notify her or the Russian Fed that she'd missed a test, and that, at least after the second one, she'd think that she needs to get herself off that list? Or do they keep it under wraps until they bust the person or track the person down at someone else's house?

The worst case scenario should have been that she knew she'd failed the last drug test and that pushed her into retirement, instead of leaving it open-ended. If she had rolled with it, she'd be facing two years suspension while retired and completing her GITIS degree, and then, after her suspension was over, and she had her degree, she'd be hired as a choreographer, because she could say, plausibly, that she was retired, took the drug to lose weight for her wedding as a one off and messed up the bureaucratic stuff. Now she's likely barred from rinks for a decade.

 

[Tinami Amori]

But do we know when she got married officially? In her July interview, she made it sound like the exchange of rings/paperwork signing had not taken place yet and that the formal celebration would take place next year: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/sotskova-busted-for-doping.107585/page-2#post-5862063

She married officialy (paperwork signed at ZAGS) sometime in Summer 2020, as far as i recall and what newspapers say. They plan to have a formal wedding party for guests later. She made her IG account private now, so it's hard to tell.

In the interview with Sokolovskaya her coach (back then in July 2020) she said "I knew that Maria is quitting and getting married in November 2019.... ".

Завершившая карьеру Сотскова выходит замуж - 8 июля 2020 - Sport24

Участница Олимпиады-2018 Мария Сотскова, завершившая карьеру в возрасте 20 лет, выходит замуж.

sport24.ru

So Maria was mentally "done with skating" as far as Fall 2019, which makes sense why she treated RUSADA rules and tests as irrelevant to her.

 

[MacMadame]

She can always appeal, btw. I suspect CAS would lower her suspension.