Six athletes from four countries competing in four sports were involved in anti-doping proceedings this week, excluding the strange case of Franconia, a British horse that tested positive due to a human staff member’s recreational use of horse tranquilliser. The major news is that former professional cyclist Pirmin Lang, who confessed to a long list of doping offences, has served a backdated two year ban due to the substantial assistance he provided to authorities in the Operation Aderlass investigations into the blood doping customers of Dr. Mark Schmidt.

The Sports Integrity Initiative has identified 21 athletes from eight countries, competing in three sports (cycling, cross country skiing, and triathlon) who have been sanctioned for their involvement in Operation Aderlass to date (see table below). Lang is now free to compete or coach again, although whether he will be welcomed back into the cycling community remains to be seen.

The sanction issued to Indian 100m runner Prince Chaudhary has caused some confusion. On 27 October, India’s national anti-doping agency (NADA India) published a list of sanctions detailing a four year ban issued to the former U16 champion. It has been reported that the ban has been halved, however this has yet to be confirmed by NADA India.

NADA India published its 2020 Annual Report this week, which revealed that 17% of tests it conducts result in an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’). This percentage is far higher than the 1% or 2% typically reported by NADOs, however it was bolstered by 22 AAFs for probenecid reported by junior rowers, announced by NADA India in June last year.

Another major story involved the cancellation of Frankie Dettori’s riding of Franconia to victory in the 2020 Abingdon Stakes at Newbury. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) found that a staff member’s recreational use of the horse tranquilliser, ketamine, caused Franconia to test positive after the race. 

Despite three horses in his care having recently been administered ketamine, trainer John Gosden told the BHA he had never heard of the substance. Two other horses from Gosden’s stables have been involved in cases involving positive tests for controlled medications on raceday during the past 18 months (click here and here).

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Decision links

Franconia (details);
Arjun Yadav and Prince Chaudhary (details);
Olga Vorobyova (details);
Anastasia Bragina and Zarif Valitov (details);
Pirmin Lang (details).