– The targeted doping testing must be tougher for athletes, who are on a list of those who can be assumed to do something. I don’t think international sports follow this up well enough, says former professional cyclist Mads Kaggestad. Among the Olympic athletes in Paris with previous doping convictions are profiles who have won gold and medals in both the Olympics and the World Cup. It is clear after news got the Anti-Doping Database to set the official list of registered participants for the Paris Olympics against the list of doping cases. – Athletics clearly has the most doping cases. It is interesting that there are as many as 12 athletes in tennis, says Trond Husø and recalls that there have been very few doping cases in the biggest tournaments, such as Wimbledon and the French Open. Husø runs the doping database. The overview from there shows that there are at least 105 Olympic athletes in Paris, from a number of countries and sports, who have had a verdict or decision against them in a case where they have broken the doping rules. The number could be higher towards the Summer Games, which start in the French capital next week and last until Sunday 11 August. Because the list of participants is updated until the games start. After news took out the start list on Monday, almost 300 new athletes have been added. These 300 have not been checked against the doping list. – I fully understand those who say that athletes convicted of doping should not be allowed to take part in the Olympics and WC when they have deliberately cheated. But it’s not always black and white, says Mads Kaggestad, who comments on the Tour de France for TV 2. Photo: TV 2 He points out that there are several sides to the matter. – We all agree that it is a good principle that you should have the right to return when people have served a sentence, says Kaggestad. At the same time, he emphasizes that it is an issue of whether athletes may have achieved a lasting benefit from the use of doping, which they can still benefit from with bigger muscles and better capacity. Simona Halep won Wimbledon in 2019. Three years later, she tested positive for doping, which led to a ban. Photo: AP More profiles Athletics, tennis, equestrian sports and weightlifting have the majority of the athletes on the doping lists. Over a third of the former Olympic athletes convicted of doping are track and field athletes. Ruth Jebet won Olympic gold in the 3000 meter hurdles in 2016. In 2018 she was exposed for EPO use. Now she is back as an Olympic athlete. Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP Among the former Olympic athletes convicted of doping are, among others: The Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, who has won both the French Open and Wimbledon. She was first banned for four years after a positive test during the US Open in 2022. The sentence was later changed to nine months. Ruth Jebet, gold winner in the 3000 meter hurdles during the 2016 Olympics and former world record holder. Jebet, who runs for Bahrain, was exposed for using the endurance drug EPO in 2018 and was banned for four years. British sprinter Chijindu Ujah. After Ujah tested positive for doping at the 2021 Olympics, Ujah and the British relay team lost their 4x100m silver medal. He was initially banned for four years. The sentence was later changed to 22 months. Chijindu Ujah was banned for 22 months. It happened after he tested positive for two banned substances during the Tokyo Olympics. He was acquitted of deliberate doping, but served his sentence. Now he’s back Photo: JAVIER SORIANO / AFP – My claim is that there are few who come back after being banned and are just as good at athletics, says Vebjørn Rodal. The Olympic gold winner in the 800 meters from 1996 is now news’s athletics expert. Until last year, he was also on the board of Antidoping Norway. The former top athlete points out that he now knows the doping problem from several sides. – You have a principle of punishment, sentence and completed sentence. This is how democracy and the legal system are, says Rodal about athletes taking part in the Olympics after completing their suspension period. Former Olympic champion Vebjørn Rodal. Photo: Sigmund Sagberg Andersen / news He himself does not believe in a doping-free Olympics this time. But at the same time, he believes that the doping hunt now has a preventive effect. The ban on previously doped athletes has been a controversial topic in the Olympics. The IOC itself has tried to ban athletes previously convicted of doping in the Olympics, but was not supported by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2011. At the time, Thomas Bach, who is now IOC president, said that he would do what he could to change the regulations. Since then, little has happened. SPOKESPERSON: Mark Adams of the IOC. Photo: Marko Djurica / Reuters – It’s been 13 years, so it’s been a while. Thomas Bach, along with several others, wanted a lifetime ban once upon a time. But it was not legal in terms of human rights. The sentence must be related to the crime, says IOC spokesman Mark Adams. When asked by news about what the IOC thinks about over a hundred former doping convicts taking part in the Olympics, Adams now defended their participation. – Everyone has the right to some form of rehabilitation in most countries, so I don’t see that there is a problem. Of course, we want to see a doping-free Olympics. We work hard for that, and we have therefore set up a separate doping authority to carry out independent testing. Approximately 80,000 tests have been taken of athletes between March and June. That’s a big number, says Adams. Nations with the most Olympic athletes with previous doping convictions These are the nations with the most athletes in the Paris Olympics who have received judgments and decisions against them in doping cases: Brazil – 12 athletes Italy – 7 athletes Ukraine – 6 athletes USA – 6 athletes Source: Anti- doping database When the New York Times reviewed the Olympics in 2016, it turned out that 31 medal winners had previously been banned for doping. In the Rio Olympics, there were a total of at least 120 athletes who had previous doping convictions. One of these was the Russian swimmer Julija Efimova, who was booed by the crowd during these Games. She also had to endure harsh comments from her rivals. – It was absolutely terrible. It was like a war, she said after the Games in an interview with the BBC. It became controversial around Julija Efimova’s participation in the Rio Olympics in 2016. The Russian swimmer won two silver medals. Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP Efimova had then first been sentenced to a 16-month ban for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. The Russian swimmer was eventually cleared to participate in the Games. It ended with two silver medals. Kaggestad was himself a professional cyclist during a period in the 2000s when the cycling field was permeated with doping. He has previously reacted strongly to the doping culture, which prevailed in the cycling field at the time. Kaggestad sees that the issue of athletes returning after doping convictions is full of dilemmas. He believes you have no choice but to let the athletes participate. But he asks doping hunters to be on the lookout for these athletes. – It is very important that they are followed up during the period they are banned, says Kaggestad, who now comments on the Tour de France for TV 2. Paris is now preparing for the Olympics, which start next week. The Eiffel Tower is already decorated with Olympic rings. Photo: Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters Over 2,000 doping cases Husø in the Anti-Doping Database points out that there are over 2,000 cases a year, where athletes are involved in doping cases or receive a verdict. The list of previously convicted Olympic athletes contains names that have been sentenced both for breach of the obligation to report, prohibited methods and prohibited substances. – What surprises me is that I see that athletes are still caught for substances like Stanozolol. Athletes have been taken for it for years, says Husø, who uses open sources such as international special federations, national anti-doping agencies and CAS in his work with the registration of doping cases. Therefore, there may be more athletes with doping convictions, as it may be that doping cases have not been made public or published by name. Published 20.07.2024, at 21.19
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Over 100 athletes in the Paris Olympics have previously been convicted in doping cases – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
