Doping Technology Revealed

Newspapers reported the recommendation of World Anti-Doping Agency that Russia should be excluded from Rio de Janeiro Olympic this summer for the top story on front page on Tuesday. Media was interested in how Russian government involved in a series of the unsportsmanlike conducts and its technology of deceiving doping test. The sports festival of peaceful world is again in the crisis of its devaluation.

The investigation team of WADA found that the organization for examination in Moscow had realized 577 cases of Russian athletes who were “positive” on doping tests. They included 139 cases in track and field, 117 in weight lifting and other sports including paralympic games. The result was reported to Ministry of Sports and 312 cases were registered to be “negative,” under the order of high-ranked officers of the Ministry.

The method of deceiving doping test was too interesting for Japanese media to ignore. In Sochi Olympic 2014, Russian government established “huge machine” of escaping doping test. Eminent Russian athletes stopped using drug for a certain period of time before Olympic games for extracting pure urine, which was kept in a refrigerator of Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB.

During Sochi Olympic, agents of FSB in the secret waiting room received specimen of Russian athletes through “rat’s hole” on the wall of doping examination room at night. Then the agent run to the next building where pure urine is prepared and exchange the content of the bottle. It is still a mystery how Russian government invented the technology for opening the bottle with high security.

The investigation also found new technology of drug insensitive to doping test. The “cocktail” they invented was composite of three kinds of steroid diluted in a grass of whisky, which could be ingested through mucous membrane of mouth. Athletes can use it like Listerine.

Olympic Committee of United States required WADA or International Olympic Committee for appropriate major penalty on major violation. Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized WADA as introducing politics in Olympic. It looks like a usual blaming game in international politics.

Behind that, there is a structural decline of the value or dignity of Olympic. When the Western nations boycotted Moscow Olympic 1980, protesting Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, it was only Los Angeles that ran for 1984 Olympic. Olympic was no longer an event worth pouring huge money into. Then, IOC change the course to making Olympic a great commercial opportunity, taking great amount of money for TV broadcasting and commercial sponsoring. That caused Olympic being showcase of national prestige, in compensation with governmental investment. It is focused whether the penalty against doping can be an opportunity for Olympic to return back to a genuine sports event.