Missed drug tests, tampered results and restricted access to drug testers. Those are just some of the findings in a report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the progress of testing Russian athletes for doping.
The report was published just two days before the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is due to reach its decision on the participation of Russian athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
While the document revealed there were more than 50 “adverse analytical findings,” including 49 cases of meldonium – the substance which Maria Sharapova was recently handed a two-year suspension for using – there were plenty of other concerning findings.
736 tests requested of athletes were declined or cancelled, with some athletes taking measures to avoid taking drug tests. One such athlete was “observed running away” from the notification area after finishing a race, while another left the stadium mid-race.
The report also detailed instances of athletes providing military cities as their locations, where doping control officers (DCOs) were threatened and intimidated, and other cases of restricted access for DCOs including being delayed by security guards and officials refusing to provide the officers with a list of present athletes.
Athletes at the national weightlifting and Greco-Roman wrestling championships were, as a result, not tested, and the report stated there was a laboratory at the freestyle wrestling championships which was often visited by athletes.
Perhaps the most incredible part of the report was a passage detailing the case of one athlete who attempted to tamper the results of her test:
1 Athletics athlete used a container inserted inside her body (presumably containing clean urine). When she tried to use the container it leaked onto the floor and not into the collection vessel. The athlete threw the container into the trash which was retrieved by the DCO. The athlete also tried to bribe the DCO. Eventually the athlete provided a sample which subsequently returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF).
To check out all the indiscretions and issues found by WADA, the full 23-page report can be found here.
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