Vladimir Salnkiov, the president of the Russian Swimming federation and a four-time Olympic gold medalist, says that the retests of doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games have proven that Russian swimmers were not using banned substances at those meets.
Salnikov made the comment’s to Russian news R-sport after 31 athletes were caught in a re-test of medalists’ samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and 23 more re-tests came back positive for the 2012 London Olympics.
While the IOC has been very tight-lipped about who the athletes are, which sports they play, and which countries they come from, but the Russian Olympic Committee has made it publicly known that they’ve been notified that Russians are responsible for 22 of those 54 positive tests. That same Russian Olympic Committee has requested that all of the re-tests be thrown for faulty results out after at least 4 “B” samples came back negative.
As for swimmers, though, Salnikov is marking it as a badge of confidence that doping controls are working within the swimming federation, despite allegations that a now-deceased Moscow Laboratory director would remove swimmers from the testing pool in exchange for money, an allegation that Salnikov called “abusrd.”
Several Russian swimmers have been suspended for positive doping tests since the 2012 Olympics, including recently World Champion Yulia Efimova, who is currently under proceedings for a second doping violation; and 2012 Olympian Yana Martynova, who recently had a four-year sentence confirmed.
No information has leaked out yet as to whether any of the 32 non-Russians who tested positive in the sweep were swimmers.
Yeah, highly recommended – checking on the muscle-content /body-build and gait-technique of some key US. Ladies on “centralized nutrition” swim USA programs too…..
Ahh so Russian swimming are not guilty of sending doped up olympians to the olympics. They are smart enough to do it all before hand in the 4 years prior. I do not believe every russian athlete is on performance enhancing drugs or even knows/cares what they are on- but it seems that they are caught in a culture of doctors giving them every drug cocktail possible aka Sharapovas 30 meds a day and Efinovas as well. Sometimes thats still not enough for them and they can walk down the road and get the illegal stuff, as one of the runners said ‘if normal people can take it why can’t we’.
Just like all products must show whats inside… Read more »
Well this is disappointing.
I , on behalf of all Anglo Saxons & west European stock have a plan to take back what is rightfully ours – World Sport.
Russia has 1/6 of the earth’s land – how did that happen ? – & if usually angelic swimmers were also involved we could wipe them out of everything .
I can get rid of Africa easily enough by luring their few good athletes away with $$$ & Euros & pounds & whatever those Gulf states use . South America did have a flowering of sport under their ‘leftie’ systems but we’ve got the last laugh . Now our junta friends have been re- imaged & they’re back!… Read more »
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state in Australia, Canada and The United Kingdom(pre Brexit). Uniting under YOUR Queen is the solution Gina……you’ve just got to convince the Americans that she is better than Trump. Her Teutonic roots will be persuasive enough to win over Western Europe. Problem solved.
Yeah that could work but unfortunately she’ll be dead soon.& then we will ALL have Charles.
May be I do not understand something: is Vladimir Salnikov guilty that he had courage to say NO to Mr Kamaev & co? And besides, is Victor Conte (Balco Co) or coach Salazar also Russians as well as Doctor Mark Bonar who doped more than 150 elite British athletes ? And 211 blood bags in Spain also recently imported from Russia? I do agree on Martynova, Efimova – the rest is politically motivated bull sh… You do not like Mr. Putin? Me too! I do agree – no mercy for Russian track-and-field, but how it all relates to swimming?
Perhaps I’m naive but I’m on Vladimir Salnikov’s side….and if you care about clean sport, you should be too. He might have the toughest job anywhere in swimming these days where his daily duties include 1. Being the face of and cleaning up this mess. 2. leading Russia into the post-meldonium/every-other-performance-drug era. 3. Bracing himself every time his phone beeps wondering if the Efimova decision is in. 4. Trying to not be the fall guy after Russia disappoints in Rio (and they will). 5. He isn’t in a position to blame higher ups. 5. Creating a system where he has to convince a new generation that fruit smoothies/yogurt and as good as injecting jet fuel into backsides. WE ALL WANT… Read more »
He appears to just be sitting there collecting his salary and not making a much of a difference just as any other bureaucrat would do. I dont think their medal performance can get any worse. He needs to get due process for Efimova asap this thing is brutal that it takes so long to reach a decision. The truth is we have no idea what he is doing.
Perhaps you’re right….he doesn’t have twitter, snapchat or Instagram so we don’t know what he’s eating for lunch nor do we know if he has hands are dirty. We do know that Salnikov does have an abundance of street cred in international swimming for his accomplishments as a swimmer and I’d like to believe he’s one of the good guys in this debacle. He’s doing the impossible on a daily basis, trying to please the win-at-all-costs apparatchiks and defending his swimmers. I hope I’m right.
Means nothing as only fools get caught in competition drug testing. Russia barely won any medals anyway and I thought that was who the testing was focused on.
Doping is endemic in Russian sport, and it’s state sponsored. Unfortunately that’s a matter of public record now.
Vlad trying his hardest to spin this, but has an impossible task before him.