Three weeks before the start of the European Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg, the Russian team lost one of its leaders: Olympic champion in discus throwing Natalya Sadova was convicted of doping. The message about the positive test “A”, received last week, left very little hope, however, they quickly died out. On Sunday in the Cologne anti-doping laboratory, the test “B” was not even opened at the request of the athlete herself. Given the nature of the methandienone discovered (specifically, its involvement in the group of anabolic steroids), this means one thing: Sadovaya does not have to count on indulgence from the International Athletic Federation (IAAF).
Moreover, it is “punctured” by doping for the second time. The first nuisance of this kind happened to Sadova in 2001 at the World Championships in Edmonton. Then a Russian disco-gun discovered caffeine banned at that time in the blood and deprived of the won gold medal. However, it was decided not to impose a disqualification on her, since caffeine was soon removed from the list of prohibited drugs.
On May 28, after the victory of the Russian woman at the Thales-FBK Games international competitions in the Dutch city of Hengelo, the specialists of the Cologne laboratory took another doping test from her. Two days later, at a tournament in Czech Ostrava, Sadova showed the best result of the world season - 67 meters 24 centimeters. However, all these successes were crossed out by shocking news: the doping test “A” revealed the presence of prohibited drugs in the athlete's body. Pursuant to IAAF Rule 38.2, Sadova was barred from competing until a decision was made by the IAAF Disciplinary Tribunal. In anticipation of a verdict, the athlete went to rest at sea.
“For us, the message from Cologne became a bolt from the blue,” said Mikhail Sadov, husband and trainer of the disks, to Izvestia. “We are still in shock.” Natasha, in general, can be said to have received a birthday present (on July 15 she turned 34 years old. - Izvestia). Honestly, I don’t know which drug is in question. Perhaps he got into Natasha’s body as part of dietary supplements or vitamin complexes that we use to restore strength after training. Unfortunately, there are many fake drugs in Russia right now. But since that happened, we are ready for sanctions by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Izvestia, unlike Mikhail Sadov, managed to find out on which drug the athlete “fell asleep”. We are talking about methandienone - a substance from the group of anabolic steroids, which helps to quickly build muscle mass. It is hardly necessary to talk about its getting into vitamin supplements. Perhaps that is why the athlete sent a letter to the IAAF and WADA with a request not to open the “B” test. According to the head of the anti-doping inspection of the Russian Olympic Committee, Nikolai Durmanov, this should accelerate the decision to disqualify the athlete. And then in two years Sadovaya will have time to prepare for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Otherwise, the trial could take months, and the result would be the same.
True, the punishment of an athlete can last not two years, but for the rest of her sports career. This will happen if the sanctions applied to her in 2001 are equated with disqualification. Then, according to the rules of WADA, a life-long excommunication follows. Although Nikolai Durmanov hopes that this will not happen. In his opinion, Sadovaya’s caffeine content in Edmonton was so insignificant that it can be ignored altogether. At the same time, according to him, the voluntary written recognition of the disk cover should not aggravate her guilt.
What is methandienone?
The drug methandienone (another name is methandrostenolone) belongs to the group of anabolic steroids - a class of pharmacological drugs that enhance the processes of protein synthesis in cells, nucleic acids and various enzymes. Thanks to the use of the drug, enhanced muscle tissue growth is achieved. Methandienone is most widely used in bodybuilding.