doping

WMA president gives Russians hope of competing in international masters meets in 2019

Russians wanting to compete in international masters meets may have reason to celebrate. On Christmas Day, WMA Prez Margit Jungmann wrote me: “I had the occasion to discuss the Russian case with IAAF President Lord Sebastian Coe in Monaco the day after the council decision [regarding the Russian ban being lifted] and to explain the difficulties for masters to get approval as neutral athlete. IAAF and WMA are looking together to find a solution that allows masters to become the approval of neutral athlete. This is a difficult process, but for the moment I am hopeful to find a solution….


USATF masters are subject to snitch program — as cyclist, 59, was

Nobody is safe. That’s my takeaway from an exchange of email I had Thursday with Brad Horn, a spokesman for USADA — the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. I queried him on how 59-year-old cyclist came to be sanctioned for refusing an out-of-competition drug test. I wanted to know where he was when he was solicited. (Brad doesn’t know yet.) But he said: “Ultimately, this case was the result of target testing, based on credible information received through USADA’s Play Clean Tip Line. USADA makes available a number of ways to report the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs in an effort to protect clean…


Two dopers still listed in WMA world outdoor results nearly 2 years later

In late December, we learned that M50 high jumper Oleg Kramar of Ukraine had failed a doping test at the Eurovets Ancona indoor meet in April 2016. So he was handed a 4-year ban. Recently, WMA corrected results from 2017 Daegu indoor worlds, where Oleg’s name went from second to DQ. So you’d expect results from Ancona and 2016 Perth outdoor worlds to change as well. (Oleg won silvers at Ancona and Perth.) But nope. Results still show him untouched. I’m unsure if medals have been redistributed. Same for suspended M55 Perth world champion Volodymyr Shelever of Australia. His name…