Doping and sports - 2011
2011
In 2011, 1,432 doping controls were conducted in Belgium in competition context, 44 of which were atypical, 40 had abnormal results and 11 were refused, resulting in a total of 3.6% positive doping tests. Out of competition there were 739 tests, 30 of which were atypical. The inspectors also visited fitness centers, 106 tests resulted in 11 atypical values, 18 abnormal results and 3 refusals, giving a total of 19.8% positive tests.
In the Netherlands, 2,593 doping controls were carried out in 2011, of which 23 resulted in the use of prohibited substances, 5 were refused or had poor cooperation and 3 concerned failure or incorrect completion of the 'where-abouts'.
11,200 doping controls were conducted in Spain, of which 1.1% were positive.
Denis Owald (1947-), the Swiss president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, revealed that the doping controls cost 35 million euros annually. But the reliability of the test results was even more worrying.
"WADA recently had a series of identical samples tested in two different labs. The first one found one positive case, the second seven. That is disturbing. It is imperative that the samples are treated in ultra-efficient laboratories."
According to David Howman, the New Zealand Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the trade in doping products would be much more lucrative than that of drugs.
"Our biggest problem is that criminals make more money by selling steroids than by selling heroin. In addition, it is also safer for them because some products are legally available in many countries. This means criminals easily make one hundred dollars out of a Dollar. They sell not only to athletes, but also to the army or to schools."
A study by the Université de Besançon examined the life course of 755 riders who had competed the Tour de France between 1947 and 2009. It was found that they all had an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias due to hypertrophy of the left ventricle. 22% of these riders needed a pacemaker.
A group of experts claimed that 29% of the participants admitted the use of doping at the 2011 Athletics World Cup and that this number increased to 45% during the Pan-Arab Games.
Research in France revealed that four cyclists, three football players and a basketball player had died of heart failure between June 2003 and February 2004. The professional riders Marco Pantani (1970-2004) and José Maria Jiménez (1971-2003) were noted in those deaths. In the same period, many athletes had to stop their activities due to heart problems. Until March 2007, six more deaths from young cyclists were added. In February 2011, the number grew by seven young riders who died from the consequences of a sudden cardiac arrest. All these deaths were suspected of being related to doping, although congenital heart injuries and heart muscle disorders were mentioned as the official cause.
In April 2011 the German radio station Deutschlandfunk reported that the physicians' office and the offices of the Olympiastützpunkt (OSP) Thuringia in Erfurt had been thoroughly searched because there was a suspicion of 'unauthorized use of drugs for doping purposes'. It was a method whereby the athletes were drained 50 ml of blood, that blood was then treated with UV light and then injected back. Further research revealed that it was Dr. Andreas Franke, who had treated several athletes over the years with this method. Fourteen cyclists, five athletes, speed skaters, a handball player and a wrestler, including many minors as well as 800-meter runner Nils Schumann (1978-), speed skaters Claudia Pechstein (1972-) and Judith Hesse (1982-), cyclists Marcel Kittel (1988-), Patrick Gretsch (1987-) and Jakob Steigmiller (1990-) and Jamaican long-jumper James Beckford (1975-) were the best known. As an excuse, the doctor stated that he only drained 50 ml of blood and that this maximum amount was allowed. One year later it came out that he used 60ml of blood. During the ensuing court case, there was heavy debate as to whether or not this method should be considered doping.
In an interview with the German daily newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung, Professor Werner Franke (1940-), affiliated with the Deutschen Krebsforschungszentrum of the Heidelberg University, stated:
"The phenomenon of sudden death can now be predicted via DNA. It affects people with a specific genetic constellation. If such a person is also given heart-strengthening medication for doping purposes, things are out of control. The damage of doping with anabolic steroids shows much later of course. The death of shot putter Ralf Reichenbach or the sudden death of swimmer Christel Justenl are an example of this. Both, like many others, know the doping story particularly well because of the statements they made themselves."
Belgian Professor Peter Van Eenoo (1973-), head of the Ghent doping lab, stated that EPO use would result in fifty to one hundred cyclists in life-threatening situations in the next ten to twenty years if the doping use in Flanders was left undisturbed. Due to the EPO, their own red blood cell production would no longer work, so they would need a life-saving blood transfusion every three days.
According to the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, the investigation by the Padua prosecutor revealed that the doping network around the Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari (1953-) represented an annual turnover of 15 million euros.
Baseball
In August, American Mike Jacobs (1980-) had to miss the first fifty games of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox because he had used the growth hormone hCH, after which his team fired him.
In December, insanely high concentrations of testosterone were found in the urine of American Ryan Braun (1983-), which forced him to leave fifty games without pay. Braun challenged that decision. With two against one, a committee of three experts acquitted him in February 2012 because, according to them, the control procedure had not been carried out correctly. Not much later, however, it became known that the name Braun appeared in the administrative lists of the American rejuvenation institute Biogenesis three times. The Coral Gables clinic in Miami was part of that chain and Braun would have paid twenty and thirty thousand dollars for the delivery of growth hormones. The player denied but in July 2013 he was suspended 65 games plus all post-season games, which meant a loss of $ 3.25 million in income.
Venezuelan Eliezer Alfonzo (1979-) of the Colorado Rockies was suspended 100 games when he was caught on the use of prohibited substances for the second time. Three years earlier, when he was employed by the San Francisco Giants, he already had to watch 50 games from the sidelines.
Basketball
O. J. Mayo (1987-), guard at the Memphis Grizleys, was suspended for ten games and was not paid his 405,109 dollar wages during that period because he tested positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Mayo put the blame on an over-the-counter (OTC) product, but refused to say what he had taken. After a new doping violation in 2016, he was permanently banned from the NBA.
Cricket
After the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, Upul Tharanga (1985-) delivered a positive pee on Prednisone and Prednisolone. The Sri Lankan cricket player was only suspended for three months because he needed those products to treat his asthma.
Cycling
In a leaked, confidential document about the individual assessment of the 198 riders who were checked before the start of the 2010 Tour de France, each of them received a 'suspicion index' of 0 to 10. The higher the number, the greater the doping suspicion. Two riders scored a 10, Spaniard Carlos Barredo (1981-) and Ukrainian Jaroslav Popovych (1980-). Swiss Fabian Cancellara (1981-) and Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (1979-) with eighteen others scored 0. The final winner of the Tour de France Alberto Contador (1982-) had received a 5, but eventually traces of Clenbuterol were found in his blood.
The Spanish police arrested 26 suspects in a large-scale doping investigation. Among those arrested, a manager of a top team that produced European and world champions. In house searches, the agents seized 700,000 units of various stimulants, such as anabolic steroids, growth hormones and EPO. Even an illegal laboratory was dismantled in the Alicante area.
French cycling promise Fabien Taillefer (1989-) confessed that he had started using prohibited products in 2009. The police had started an investigation into the 2007 Paris-Roubaix for juniors winner.
"With the help of a number of people I started doping. I no longer thought about important things like training, healthy nutrition and sleeping. I replaced it with forbidden substances. I cooperate with the police and hope this helps to get my punishment to decrease."
A total of twelve people were involved in the doping investigation.
On his own initiative American Tyler Hamilton (1971-) handed in the gold medal which he won in the time trial of the 2004 Olympics in Athens at the IOC. That should have been done before, but his positive test for blood doping could not be repeated because the frozen B sample was unusable. He was then suspended for two years. In April 2007, the Tinkoff Credit Systems team put him inactive after it became apparent that he was involved in the Operación Puerto doping case. After a new positive test in April 2009, Hamilton put an end to his sporting career. In May 2011, he confessed his entire doping history and accused Lance Armstrong (1971-) of using EPO. During the 2012 Games in London the Olympic Committee decided to remove Hamilton definitively from the honors list.
American David Clinger (1977-), a former teammate of both Lance Armstrong (1971-) and Floyd Landis (1975-), was suspended by the Usada for life after being caught a second time in the use of anabolica. In 2009 he had already been suspended for two years for the use of testosterone.
Unknowingly, Spanish rider Xavier Tondo (1978-2011) shook the Spanish sport world to its foundations. Seven amateur athletes, including cyclists, bodybuilders and weightlifters, were arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil after Tondo sent the police an email he received, offering him EPO, growth hormones, Nandrolone and Clenbuterol. The products were stolen from hospitals in Barcelona and Portugal. Tondon died a dramatic death the same when he was crushed between his car and a garage gate.
In 2008 Wim Vansevenant (1971-) stopped his cycling activities and took over the farm from his parents. In June 2011, customs at the airport in Zaventem intercepted an Australian package adressed to Vansevenant containing TB500 pills, a new doping agent that stimulates muscle growth in horses and improves their endurance.
In September, the Leuven correctional court handed down a judgment in the doping case involving the notorious 'pot Belge'. Former caretaker Freddy Sargent (1943-) had already been sentenced in France to four years in prison and he now was sentenced to one year in jail with a fine of 15,300 euros. His wife received six months of conditional and the same fine of 15,300 euros. Between 1999 and 2005 both had sold at least 1,227 bottles of 'pot Belge', a cocktail of morphine, heroin, caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines and corticoids.
Former Belgian rider Jean-Marie Vernie (1961-) was sentenced to one year in jail with a fine of € 45,000, while Sargent's son and daughter were suspended for eight months.
Since former Belgian cyclo-crosser Kipcho Volckaerts (1978-) was one of the customers, he had to share in the legal costs.
In June, Argentinian Juan Pablo Dotti (1984-) tested positive for anabolics and amphetamines after the three-day Tulsa Tough, which earned him two years of watching from the side. He accepted the penalty but started in competitions again two months later. This extended his suspension for another two years.
In November, the French cycling association suspended Grégory Baugé (1985-) for a year because he had not correctly filled in his where abouts. Because the suspension was retroactive, he had to surrender the 2010 world sprint and team sprint titles.
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) issued a lifelong suspension for Phil Zajicek (1979-) after the American was caught for doping use for the third time and also because he had asked witnesses to commit perjury.
After victories in Argentina, Chile and the Dominican Republic, Chilean Marco Arriagada (1975-) tested positive for stanozolol during the Vuelta de Chile. It earned him a four-year suspension.
German Patrik Sinkewitz (1980-) was caught using human growth hormones during the Lugano Grand Prix. He was already punished for testosterone use in 2007, which caused him to leave T-Mobile. Because he cooperated well in the investigation, he was then given the mild sentence of a year. He acknowledged his EPO-use and also accused other riders of doping abuse. For this second offense he now had to leave for eight years.
Italian Pasquale Muto (1980-) was caught using EPO during the Giro dell'Appennino. He received a two-year suspension, after which he finished his carriere.
Belgian cyclo-crosser Tom Vannoppen (1978-) tested positive for cocaine after the Belgacom GP, which earned him a two-year suspension. In 2008 he had already been caught using cocaine.
Football
During an internal check AS Roma caught three 16-year-old players on the use of doping.
During the women's World Cup, five players from the North Korean team were suspended for eighteen months because anabolic steroids had been found during a check. The female team physician who injected the product was given a six years ban, the team was not allowed to participate in the 2015 World Cup and the North Korean Football Association was fined 400,000 dollars.
During the World Cup U17 in Mexico, no fewer than 109 players tested positive for clenbuterol.
"This is not a doping problem but a health problem," FIFA spokesperson said, "In Mexico, calves are often given clenbuterol, putting top athletes at risk of having too much clenbuterol in their bodies after eating such meat. That is highly likely the cause of this unusually high number of 'doping cases'."
In the Mexican selection that qualified for the semifinals of the Gold Cup, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (1985-) and the players Francisco Javier Rodriguez (1981-), Edgar Duenas (1983-), Antonio Naelson (1975-) and Christian Bermudez (1987-) were replaced after being caught using Clenbuterol.
Alexander Rybka (1987-), goalkeeper of Schachtjor Donezk and of the Ukrainian national team, tested positive for diuretics and was suspended for two years.
Dino Najdoski (1992-) and Milovan Petrovik (1990-) of the Macedonian first-class team Rabotnicki tested positive for 4-Methyl-2-hexanamine after the European Championship match against Lazio Roma. A few days later, the club management reported that the entire team had taken that product and that they had discarded their medical staff for that reason. UEFA suspended both players for one year, physiotherapist Darko Velcevski for three years and team physician Mihajlo Ivanovski for two years. The club was fined $ 30,000 and was not allowed to participate in UEFA competitions for a year, which later was converted to four years conditional.
Diego Maradona (1960) revealed in an interview with the German daily newspaper 'Die Welt' that the Argentinian players were given a doping product in their coffee in 1993 just before the decisive World Cup qualification game against Australia, allowing them to run faster. Thanks to the doping, Argentina qualified 1-0. Julio Grondona (1931-2014), the Argentinian vice-president of FIFA, knew about this and alledgedly ordered that no checks should be carried out after the game.
After this explanation, the good man obviously reacted:
"We never gave anything to our players. The fact that no checks were made was solely to protect Maradona, since at the time he already had drug problems."
In his book 'Red', British international Gary Neville (1975-) explained how some players received an astonishing effect at the 1998 World Cup before the start of the game against Argentina:
"... some players started the injections of Glenn's favorite French doctor Rougier. It was different from what we were used to at Manchester United. After a few injections, some boys felt a burst of energy."
Ivorian Kolo Touré (1981-) moved from Arsenal to Manchester United for 16 million euros. But in May he was caught using prohibited drugs, which suspended him for six months.
In the sports program 'La Tribune' from the Belgian TV channel RTBF, Bertrand Crasson (1971-) revealed a lot of details about the doping use in Italian football, where he played for Napoli from 1996 to 1998.
"Juventus' striker, Alessandro Del Piero gained a lot of muscle mass in that period and Gianluca Vialli even had to get oxygen during the rest of the matches. But that was all allowed back then. I myself received an infusion twice a week. They said that it was mineral salts, but what if that was a lie? "
Commentator Rodrigo Beenkens (1963-) added that 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' had revealed that 39 former Calcio players had died of Charcot's disease, a disorder of the peripheral nervous system that reduces the strength and size of the muscles.
Yineth Varón (1982-) defended the Colombian goal and that of CD Generaciones Palmiranas. In June during the World Cup in Germany, she was sent home by FIFA after a positive nandrolone test. Afterwards she received a two-year suspension.
In December 2011, German-born Brit Simon Mensing (1982-) tested positive for methylhexaneamine in the Scottish league, for which he was suspended for four weeks.
Czech David Bystron (1982-2017) delivered a positive pee on metamfetamine after the UEFA Cup match against the Russian team FC BATE Borisov and after the confirmation of the B-sample he received a two-year suspension on which his club FC Viktoria Plzen dissolved his contract. In 2017 he committed suicide.
Ice skating
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended Wesley Lommers (1993-) for two years, one of which was conditional and imposed him a fine of 3,000 Swiss Francs. This was due to the fact that the Dutchman had appealed against the two-year suspension that the Dutch association had imposed on him for the use of anabolics during the 2009 Dutch championship. In addition, he demanded 1.5 million euros in damages.
Mixed Martial Arts
Brazilian Thiago Silva (1982-) won his fight against American Brandon Vera (1977-), but the check afterwards showed that the delivered urine was not of human origin. He was temporarily suspended and he admitted during the hearing that he had delivered synthetic urine to cover up the anabolics injections. 33.750 dollar fine and one year suspension was the verdict.
Powerlifting
88 positive cases were recorded in the tests commissioned by the International Powerlifting Federation.
Rugby
When Japanese Ryohei Yamanaka (1988-) got caught using anabolica, he had a original excuse: he took it to grow his mustache.
British Martin Gleeson (1980-) played for first-class Salford Manchester and was also selected several times for the English team. After he tested positive for methyl hexaneamine, he was suspended for three years.
Skiing
Est Andrus Veerpalu (1971-), gold medalist on the 30km at the 2001 World Championships in Lahti in Finland, but also winner of the 15km at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, announced in February that he stopped cross-country skiing. A virus infection was supposed to be the cause of his forfeit for the World Cup in Oslo, later it was discovered that the week before the announcement of his farewell he had been caught using growth hormones.
The Ukrainian biathlon team won the silver medal at the World Cup but was later disqualified because high concentrations of ephedrine were found in the blood of Oksana Khvostenko (1977-).
Austrian cross-country skier Christian Hoffmann (1974-) received a provisional suspension in December 2009 for use of doping. On the day of the verdict, he announced his farewell. The final decision was made in December 2011, he was given six years, but in July 2012 the sentence was reduced to two years. One month later, Hoffman returned to his earlier decision and took part in the 50km national championship. At the beginning of January 2013 he won the Mountain Attack in Saalbach-Hinterglemm with a four-minute lead.
Swimming
The international swimming federation FINA published an impressive list of doping sinners from 2011.
Received a two years suspension: swimmer Ksenia Atamanskaya from Kazakhstan for use of fenoteril, water polo player Adam Maklari (1982-) (photo1) from Hungary for methandione, water polo player Zsolt Lutter (1983-) from Hungary for refusing a check, swimmer Zetao Ning ( 1993-) (photo2) from China for clenbuterol, swimmers Stachin, Surya Prasad Sharma and Nithiyanandan from India for stanozolol, swimmer Juha Korhonen (1980-) from Finland for testosterone, water polo player Alexey Bushin from Russia for cannabis, swimmer Nazih Samer (1990- ) from Jordanie for nandrolone, swimmer Michal Rubacek (1986-) (photo3) from the Czech Republic and swimmer Carlos Vivieros Madariaga (1989-) (photo4) from Colombia for methylhexaneamine.
Harrison Jones (1989-) (photo1) from USA for cannabis, swimmer Vinicius Waked (1987-) (photo2) from Brazil for furosemide, swimmer Mirela Olczak (1993-) (photo3) from Poland for methylhexaneamine, swimmer Tosan Boyo from Nigeria for dexamethasone.
Eight months for swimmer Miguel Rodrigues (1983-) from Portugal for methyl hexaneamine.
Six months for water polo player Alexander Bodyakin from Russia for furomeside, swimmer Abdul Rehman Al Bader (1989-) (photo) from Kuwait for methylhexaneamine and swimmer Ashrakat Abdel El Shehawy from Egypt for dexamethasone.
Five months for water polo player Botond Szalma (1982-) from Hungary for cannabis.
Four months for swimmer Boris Loncaric (1989-) from Croatia for methyl hexaneamine.
Three months for water polo player Alex Popoviciu (1990-) (photo1) from Romania and swimmer Muhammad Al-Ghaferi (1987-) (photo2) from United Arab Emirates for methylhexaneamine, swimmer Dinko Geshev (1987-) from Bulgaria for cannabis.
Two months for swimmer Enrico Catalano (1983-) (photo) from Italy and water polo player Jan Novak from Czechoslovakia for cannabis.
Tennis
American Robert Kendrick (1979-) was suspended for a year after the French Open at Roland Garros because of a positive test for methyl hexanamine. He also had to hand in the prize money he won.
In the French newspaper Le Monde, French former tennis player Yannick Noah (1960-) argued for the legalization of doping in sports.
"Let's stop being hypocritical .... It is best that we legalize doping so that everyone can use the 'potion'."
Noah also accused the Spanish football players, cyclists and baskettball-players.
"It is impossible that they discovered training methods that nobody else has come up with yet? The Spaniards have exaggerated a little bit in recent years."
Track and Field
Researchers from the German University of Tübingen had confidential discussions with some World Cup participants in South Korea. It showed that 29 to 34% of the 1800 athletes had broken the anti-doping rules in the twelve preceding months. The research was funded by WADA, but the IAAF vetoed the publication. Professor Rolf Ulrich, who led the investigation, complained that the investigators were forbidden to talk about the results and claimed that the IAAF was blocking the investigation.
Beside the traditional doping controls also the biological passport of every athlete was investgated for the first time at the WC in Daegu. A total of 2,000 blood samples and 500 urine samples were collected.
During the Commonwelt Games, eight Indian athletes tested positive for anabolic steroids. Among them the rising stars on the 400m Ashwini Akkunji (1987-), Mandeep Kaur (1988-) and Sini Jose (1987-). Subsequently, Minister of Sport Ajay Maken (1964-) dismissed Ukrainian athletics trainer Joeri Ogrodnik, who was in charge of six of the eight athletes who were doped. All six were women who focused on the 400 meters.
German Margot Eppinger (1952-), who participated in the heptathlon at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics for West-Germany, stated in an interview:
"During the Munich Olympics people were still talking about doping, but in Montreal all hell broke loose. In 1976 our sport had changed radically. On arrival in the athletes' village there were shaving machines in the bathroom, because a lot of female athletes had to shave, but also stood out because of their heavy voice. Even more frustrating were the indications that the doping problems were not limited to the Eastern bloc. Even at our training camp in Malaga rumors about doping were circulating."
Portuguese distance runner Hélder Ornelas (1974-) was suspended for four years after abnormal values were found when checking his biological passport. It was the first athlete to be found guilty by a panel of three hematologists.
Croatian Sandra Perkovic (1990-) won the gold medal in discus throwing at the World Championships, the European Championships and the Olympics. In June the news came that during the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix and the Golden Gala in Rome she was caught using methylhexanamine. As an excuse, she said she had been drinking Nox Pump, not knowing that the American energy drink contained prohibited products. She did not ask for counter expertise. The Croatian Athletics Federation suspended her for six months and the IAAF agreed to this mild punishment because she was convinced that Perkovic had not consciously used prohibited substances and that she did not know that the energy drink contained prohibited substances. Because of the suspension she missed the 2011 World Cup.
Russian 100m runner Anna Gurova (1981-) had used methyltestosterone which meant she had to leave for two years.
At the European indoor Championship, Russian Yevgeniya Zinurova (1982-) won the 800m, but she had to surrender the gold medal when her biological passport indicated doping use. She also received the associated two-year suspension.
In August American Mike Rodgers (1985-) competed the 100m at the Lignano meeting. Afterwards it became known that Rodgers was suspended for nine months due to a positive test for anabolics.
Just before the start of the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, a doping test revealed that Brazilian runner Simone Alves da Silva (1984-) had used EPO during the Troféu Brasil de Atletism, as a result of which she was not allowed to participatie in the Games.
During the Pan American Games in Guadalagara. Venezuelan Marielys Rojas (1986-) won the silver medal in high jump The doping test afterwards showed that she had been on norandrosterone. Handing in the medal, deletion from the result and two years of suspension was the verdict of WADA.
When the French customs authorities questioned former hammer thrower David Chaussinand (1973-) about the possession of performance-enhancing drugs, the Frenchman claimed that the large quantity was for his own use and would certainly not be resold
"These are products for which I have psychological guidance."
Chaussinand finished eleventh at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but it turned out that his personal record of 80m99 was due to Metenolone and Clenbuterol. For this he was suspended for three years, after which he ended his sporting career. In 2002 he published the book 'Confession d'un dopé' (Confession of a doped person), but everything turned out to be just a show.
Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings (1982-) was suspended for life after the national championship because he tested positive for a masking agent. That marked the end of his career because in 2004 and 2005 he was suspended for two years due to high testosterone levels.
After he was arrested in December 2010 as part of Operation Galgo, a large-scale investigation by the Spanish court into the use of doping in athletics, Alemayehu Bezabeh Desta (1986-) confessed that he wanted to inject the bag of blood that was found with him. It earned the Spanish 5,000m runner of Ethiopian origin two years of suspension.
British athlete Bernice Wilson (1984-) was suspended for two years, because of testosterone and clenbuterol use. The main culprit was her Greek lover and trainer George Skafidas who had forced her to do the doping. In 2015 she was caught again and again it was George who had done it. He had replaced her vitamin pills with anabolics. In 2016 Skafidas was suspended for life.
Nigerian-Spanish hurdlerer Josephine Onyia (1986-) used dimethylpentylamine, for which she was suspended for two years. It was not her first offense. In October 2009, the International Sports Tribunal (CAS) announced that she had been suspended for two years due to two positive controls for methyl hexanamine. Eleven days later after her win at the 100m hurdles of the world athletics final in Stuttgart, Germany, she tested positive for clenbuterol. During the 2015 Spanish Championship she tested positive again and that meant a lifelong suspension.
In 2012 the blood and urine samples of the World Championship in Daegu were re-examined with newer techniques. This revealed that Bulgarian sprinter Inna Eftimova (1988-) had used growth hormones and Ukrainian 1500m runner Nataliya Tobias (1980-) together with her fellow countrywoman 400m specialist Antonina Yefremova (1981-) had used testosterone. All three of them were suspended for two years, meaning they could not participate in the 2012 London Olympics.
Triathlon
In November Austrian Michael Weiss (1981-) was suspended for two years because he had used blood doping for a mountain bike competition in 2005.
Weightlifting
Chinthana Vidanage (1981-) from Sri Lanka, gold medalist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in the category up to 62 kg, was suspended for four years after a positive methylhexanamine doping test during the Asian Weightlifting Championships in China
Russian Dmitry Lapikov (1982-) won the title in the category above 105 kg at the European Championships in Kasan. Afterwards he tested positive and had to surrender the gold medal with a two-year suspension on top. Moreover, it turned out a little later that it was not his first mistake. In 2016, during the re-testing of the samples of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, it came out that he had won the bronze medal with the help of stanozolol. He also had to surrender that medal.
Chilean Cristián Escalante (1976-) tested positive for methylhexaneamine just before the start of the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, which earned him a ban for those Games.
