On the needle

What sports is difficult to imagine without doping scandals

The history of professional sports is closely intertwined with the use of illicit drugs. Some species are already impossible to imagine without doping scandals. I understood, in what disciplines the easiest to catch the dishonest athlete.

Cycle Racing

Professional cyclists have started taking banned substances at the dawn of the development of the sport. Seriously address the issue of cycling organizers decided only in the early fifties of the twentieth century - it was then that appeared the innovative methods of detecting banned substances in the body. The cornerstone was the death of Tom Simpson, who died from an amphetamine overdose (the effect is to increase the activity and vitality, reduce fatigue, to increase the ability to concentrate and decrease need for sleep) on the 13th stage of the stage race "Tour de France". This happened in 1967.

Time passed, but the problem remained. The doping scandals in cycling today are growing like mushrooms after rain. One of the most high-profile doping revelations became the story of the victorious American Cancer Lance Armstrong, who is the only athlete, seven times finisher "Tour de France" was the first in the overall standings (1999-2005). And all would do if, in an interview with the athlete did not say that, without stimulants like cycling race win is not possible. Reward quickly found his hero in 2012, Lance was disqualified for life for doping and stripped of all titles won since 1998.

Do not stand aside, and our athletes. One of the most successful Russian road cyclist of recent years Olga Zabelinskaya in July 2014 caught using a banned fat burner. However, the verdict in her case has not yet been announced, which means that there is hope for a favorable outcome. But one of the best racers of the last decade Russian Denis Menchov in the best hope was too late: in the same July, he was banned for two years for doping rule violation. The results of the athlete on the "Tour de France", shown to them in 2009, 2010 and 2012, have also been canceled.

Athletics

Up to 80-ies of doping in athletics were isolated, could not find full confirmation and caused a wide public resonance. Participants of the first scandal was the Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. In 1988, he won the race world record for 100 meters in the final of the Seoul Olympics, and the next day the forbidden Stanazol was found in an organism Canadian (increases strength and endurance), one of the most widely used steroid drug products to this day. For violation of the rules Johnson was disqualified.

The unification of Germany opened the secret of the success of the former athletes athletics world leader of the German Democratic Republic. Most impressive history of European champion 1986 in the shot put Heidi Krieger. At the request of the coaching staff since adolescence athlete taking anabolic steroids and male hormones, which is why the body irreversibly changed, and in 1997 went to Heidi on operation on sex reassignment, becoming Andreas. Case Krieger was made public, and in 2000 testimony athletes (athlete's?) Helped to prove the guilt of the former President of the German Sports and Gymnastics Union of the GDR Manfred Ewald and former vice-director of the sports medical service of the GDR Manfred Heppner, who were found guilty of harming 142 athletes including minors.

In Russia itself, "doping" the discipline of recent years has walking trails. The result of the most high-profile revelations domestic walkers began a two-year suspension of Olympic champion Elena Lashmanova. In January 2014 in the doping sample the country's leader women's team was found deadly drug - metabolite GW1516 (gene doping).

One of the most prominent Russian experts in the fight against doping, GW1516 - is a scientific and technological revolution in medicine and sport. Technologies developed for the treatment of serious diseases of our time, scale and in secret have been used in illegal sports medicine. GW1516 reconstructs the work of genes in the human body. The drug, invented in the United States, has been tested on mice, which after its application were running 60-70 percent longer and farther than their conventional counterparts. However, sufficient studies have been conducted on humans. There is a suspicion that the use of GW1516 able to rebuild the work of human cardiac muscle, which can lead to fatal consequences.

Biathlon
One of the most popular winter sports are also not remained aloof from the doping scandals. But, oddly enough, the first case of the use of banned substances by athletes was recorded only in 2000. The sample for doping Finnish biathlete Outi Kettunen showed the presence of the steroid - Nadrolone, which helps to quickly and build muscle without significant contraindications. Annual athlete punished by disqualification.

Unfortunately, today the main supplier of doping scandals in biathlon - is Russia. In December 2008, there was a really massive "catch" our biathletes: just three members of the main team - Albina Akhatova, Catherine St. George's and Dmitry Yaroshenko - were caught on the use of illicit drugs. The trio received a three-year disqualification without the right to act not only in the Games of 2010, but also in the home Olympics in Sochi. Strange but true - most recently at the St George's had a second puncture. Another suspension from competition for eight years, put an end to even the theoretical return of Catherine. However, on February 21 this year, a few days before opening the re-doping tests St. George announced his retirement.

Thunder in late 2013 came the disqualification Irina Old. Tyumen biathlete was the main hope of the women's team at the Olympics in Sochi. All who knew and coached Staryh, did not believe that the athlete deliberately went to the use of illicit substances. First coach athletes Valery Kondakov assumed that someone could mix with her specially prohibited substances in food. However, this did not save Russian woman from a two-year suspension.

Ski race

Here mass "capture" of athletes also started only at the beginning of zero, although in 80-90 there were a lot of rumors. In 2001, while in ski sports world championships in Lahti, Finland just six riders were caught on the use of a prohibited substance HES (hydroxyethyl starch). This drug belongs to a group of medicines that generally are not stimulants anything but hinder detection laboratory stimulants. Therefore, they are included in the taboo list.

The consequences of the scandal appeared to Finnish skiing catastrophic. The national team of the country has lost not only a few won medals (including gold in the men's relay and silver in the women), but also the best skiers (all six disqualified for two years), coaches (lifetime suspension from sporting activities), as well as most of the sponsors.

The first unpleasant experience associated with the use of banned substances by Russians, took place in 1997 on the cross-country skiing World Cup. Six times Olympic champion Lyubov Yegorova has been convicted in application bromantan (aka bromantane aka Ladasten, domestic miracle potion, which gives extraordinary power athletes and endurance) and disqualified for three years.

His most big doping scandal in the domestic skiing took place in 2002, during the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. In the body of Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova was detected erythropoietin - a hormone that allows you to dramatically improve aerobic blood. Conclusions from this story Russian skiers did not, and in 2009, the eve of the Games in Vancouver, on an artificial new generation of erythropoietin were caught Olympic champions Evgeny Dementiev and Yuliya Chepalova and promising Natalia Matveeva and Nina Rysin. Later the number of disqualified joined the famous skier Nikolay Pankratov. All were suspended from the sport for two years.

The result of the measures taken was the change in leadership of Federation of Russia ski races (FLGR). With the arrival to the presidency of the legendary Helen Vyalbe scandals Federation became a party to circumvent our team, but also the past victories are no more.

Swimming

On the application of prohibited substances in swimming first began in the XIX century. The pioneers not only in this form, but also in sports in general have become Dutch. In 1865, at a tournament in Amsterdam several swimmers caught in the use of stimulants - according to an ancient tradition of the Dutch athletes relieves stress. Disqualifications then managed to escape as the anti-doping legislation at the time it was not simple

The first official event took place at the Munich Olympics in 1972. American swimmer Rick Demont caught on ephedrine, which is designed to help in the fight against excess weight. The athlete was stripped of his gold medal won in the 400 meter freestyle. However, later it turned out that Demont was asthmatic and had medical permission to medicine. But even 29 years later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has refused to review the results of competitions.

Among the Russian athletes, the most scandalous was marked by three-time world champion Yulia Efimova. In January 2014 in the doping sample athletes discovered a substance from the class of anabolic steroids. Later athlete stated that enjoyed fat burner, not knowing that the prohibited substance is included in its composition. Recognition is not saved from disqualification Efimov: athlete suspended from competition for 16 months.

Of very recent cases - disqualification Sergey Makov. In the national team of Russia in October 2013 Macs set a world record in the mixed relay at the World Cup in Moscow, later in his doping sample was found ostarin - drug for building muscle. A year later, the athlete was handed a disappointing verdict - two-year disqualification.

"Clean"

Despite the constant flow of news about the next to catch the athlete or the emergence of new advanced methods of anti-doping, there is sports, where the percentage of the use of prohibited substances is negligible. To those, above all, it is football and ice hockey. In recent years, Russian football has been taken about two thousand samples, and only three of them tested positive. On one occasion it was revealed in 2010, 2011 and 2012 - the athletes across on diuretics, stimulants and cannabis, or, in other words, by his own stupidity. After all, no one does not stimulate anabolic activity of the brain, but because team sports are included in the category of "clean".