No Medals Archives - Tena Stetler

Feb 15th Olympic Doping Scandal – AGAIN – Can You Believe It?

Olympic doping scandal – Again! Well, I was forced to grab my soapbox from under the bed, dust it off, and take a stand. I’m not sure which infuriated me more, the fact that some of the 2022 Winter Olympic hard-working athletes will not get a medal ceremony moment, acknowledgment for their accomplishments or because Russia dopes (15-year-old skater) again and got away with it for now. WHY? Because the International Olympic Committee and a hastily assembled CAS panel will permit Kamila Valieva to compete on the ice. I don’t care that she is only 15 years old. SHE tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication. Does Valieva have a heart condition none of us was aware of? Odds are against that thought. Why would she take it? TMZ is thought to give endurance athletes a boost because it may help the heart work more efficiently, enhances the body’s ability to utilize oxygen under stress. In other words, the drug may give the athlete a performance enhancing edge making the difference between a gold over silver or bronze performance Or not placing at all.

Which brings up another question in my mind. Are Russia’s athletes so sub-par that they can’t compete on a level playing field and win medals without doping?

Changes are needed. According to the WADA doping code, athletes under the age of 16 years receive special consideration, because it’s probably the adults in the room who are to blame if something illicit winds up in their young bodies. This may be why Russia’s latest blatant violation of the doping rules involves a minor. They knew what they were doing and of the outcome.

However, the CAS committee in Beijing ruled Monday — Vaileva, as a “protected athlete” by virtue of her age, would suffer “irreparable harm” if she was not allowed to compete. What about the “Irreparable harm” to the other women skaters that played by the rules, passed their drug tests, and spent most of their lives chasing their Olympics dreams, yet, will not get to stand atop the podium because Russia chose to dope a 15-year-old “phenom” favored to add to their gold medal count. Knowing if they got caught AGAIN, she was a protected individual. If Valieva is such a “phenom” why did she need to dope? Food for thought.

All this may have been avoided if the Olympic Committee had taken a strong “no doping” stand back in 2014 at Sochi when dealing with a country that ran a massive doping scheme. If Russia had been kicked out of an Olympics or two, at the least, the country may have thought twice about trampling over the international doping rules like so much gum on their shoe. Maybe, just maybe they would have cleaned up their act before the 2022 Olympics. It’s a long shot, but now we will never know.

Immediately after the CAS decision was announced outrage sparked around the world including the United States. Not to mention ordinary citizens! An athlete testing positive for an illicit drug being allowed to compete then may eventually be stripped of any medals she wins (one can only hope) is ludicrous! I believe the irreparable harm is to those skaters who compete against her, win medals, and will go home without a ceremony or medals. Just my opinion. What’s yours? Tell me what you think in the comments.

Having got that off my chest (thanks for reading), I’m jumping down off my soapbox and shoving it under the bed again, for now.